Wize Core English Textbook > English Writing Overview

What is the Rhetorical Triangle?
Each speech act consists of a speaker, an audience, and a topic. 
These three components make up the three points on the rhetorical triangle. 
As one of the components changes, the entire speech act changes. 
This premise is the same for written communication. 

Wize Concept
What works with one context changes when one point on the triangle changes.

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Topic
The topic is the idea/content. 
Each piece of writing has some sort of topic. 
Being able to identify the topic is key to analyzing the text. 
As well, being able to articulate your own topic for a piece of writing is the first step in drafting.

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Purpose
Working together with the ideas/content, the purpose is the shape that the content takes. 
Is the purpose...
artistic? 
poetic? 
persuasive? 
narrative? 
expository? 
Each of these approaches provide a different "way in" to the same topic.

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Audience
There are various audiences for any given text. 

The approach to the text depends on the expected audience. 
Is writer superior to the audience in terms of knowledge? 
Is the audience mature/immature?
 Is the audience specialists/generalists?