Written Communication Jan 2013

Common Topics and Commonplaces of Environmental Rhetoric

Derek G. Ross Auburn University

Abstract

Common topics are words or phrases used to develop argument, and commonplaces aid memory or catalyze frames of understanding. When used in argumentation, each may help interested parties more effectively communicate valuable scientific and environment-related information. This article describes 12 modern topics of environmental rhetoric, identified from 125 interviews, and discusses them in relation to their topical fluidity and managerial, generative, and encapsulated utility: “Al Gore,” “balance,” “common sense,” “environment as setting,” “experience,” “extremism,” “man’s achievements,” “pragmatism,” “proof,” “religion,” “recycling,” and “seeing is believing.” Findings suggest that “environment” is a complex topic with many potential implications—using topics common to environmental rhetoric to shape argumentation may facilitate more productive environment-related communication.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2013-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088312465376
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism argument
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (9)

  1. Lambrecht (2023)
    Working to Resonate: Rhetorical Mapping of Disciplinary Stances about Technolog…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Jack (2022)
    Chronotopic Expertise: Enacting Water Ontologies in a Wind Energy Debate in Ont…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  3. Söderberg et al. (2022)
    Internal Deliberation Defending Climate-Harmful Behavior
    Argumentation
  4. Carter (2021)
    The Construction of Value in Science Research Articles: A Quantitative Study of…
    Written Communication
  5. Walwema (2021)
    Rhetoric and Cape Town’s Campaign to Defeat Day Zero
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 9 →
  1. Cloud (2016)
    Communicating Climate Change to Religious and Conservative Audiences: The Case …
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  2. Vandendaele et al. (2015)
    Beyond “Trimming the Fat”: The Sub-editing Stage of Newswriting
    Written Communication
  3. Ross (2014)
    Defining “Research”: Undergraduate Perceptions of Research in a Technical Commu…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Walsh (2013)
    Resistance and Common Ground as Functions of Mis/aligned Attitudes: A Filter-Th…
    Written Communication

References (87) · 12 in this index

  1. Abbey E. (1999)
    The monkey wrench gang
  2. 10.1037/0021-9010.69.2.334
     ↗
  3. Agarwal A. (1991)
    Global warming in an unequal world: A case of environmental colonialism
  4. Allen (1996)
    Ethics and Visual Rhetorics: Seeing's Not Believing Anymore
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Aristotle (2007)
    On rhetoric: A theory of civic discourse
Show all 87 →
  1. 10.1353/book4677
     ↗
  2. 10.1353/aiq.2001.0001
     ↗
  3. Beloit College. (2010). Beloit College mindset list. Retrieved from http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php
  4. 10.1080/17524030903230165
     ↗
  5. 10.3109/a036858
     ↗
  6. Billington D. P. (2006)
    Big dams and the New Deal era: A confluence of engineering and politics
  7. 10.1093/mind/LXX.280.534
     ↗
  8. 10.1525/9780520341715
     ↗
  9. Burton G. O. (2012). Topics of invention. In Silva rhetoricae. Retrieved from http://rhetoric.byu.edu/canons/…
  10. 10.1177/1461445603005002308
     ↗
  11. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1998.tb01726.x
     ↗
  12. Campbell J. A. (1993)
    Landmark essays on rhetorical criticism
  13. Cantrill J. G. (1996)
    The symbolic earth: Discourse and our creation of the environment
  14. 10.1080/17524030903509758
     ↗
  15. Ceccarelli (2004)
    Neither Confusing Cacophony Nor Culinary Complements: A Case Study of Mixed Met…
    Written Communication
  16. Charney (2003)
    Lone Geniuses in Popular Science: The Devaluation of Scientific Consensus
    Written Communication
  17. 10.1177/0963662504044108
     ↗
  18. Christmann R. (2012). Voters should reject Crabtree’s radical environmental agenda. Retrieved from https://se…
  19. 10.1177/1461445603005002004
     ↗
  20. Clark G. (1996)
    Green culture: Environmental rhetoric in contemporary America
  21. CNN.com. (2008). Yellowstone seeks to balance nature, cell phones. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2008/TEC…
  22. 10.1080/10510977809367962
     ↗
  23. 10.1080/00958960309603490
     ↗
  24. Creswell J. W. (2003)
    Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches
  25. Dawkins R. (2006)
    The selfish gene
  26. DeLuca K. M. (1999)
    Image politics: The new rhetoric of environmental activism
  27. Dobrin S. I. (2009)
    Ecosee: Image, rhetoric, nature
     ↗
  28. Dombrowski (2000)
    Ethics and Technical Communication: The Past Quarter Century
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  29. 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x
     ↗
  30. FAHNESTOCK (1998)
    Accommodating Science: The Rhetorical Life of Scientific Facts
    Written Communication
  31. Fahnestock (2004)
    Preserving the Figure: Consistency in the Presentation of Scientific Arguments
    Written Communication
  32. FAHNESTOCK et al. (1988)
    The Stases in Scientific and Literary Argument
    Written Communication
  33. Gelpe M. (1974)
    Southern California Law Review
  34. 10.1037/0033-295X.103.3.592
     ↗
  35. 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00058.x
     ↗
  36. Glaser B. G. (1967)
    The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research
  37. 10.2307/1386911
     ↗
  38. 10.1037/0003-066X.39.4.341
     ↗
  39. 10.1037/0033-295X.103.3.582
     ↗
  40. 10.1080/17524030903509725
     ↗
  41. Kempton W. (1995)
    Environmental values in American culture
  42. 10.7591/9781501727399
     ↗
  43. Killingsworth M. J. (2005)
    Appeals in modern rhetoric: An ordinary language approach
  44. Killingsworth M. J. (1992)
    Ecospeak: Rhetoric and environmental politics in America
  45. Kingsnorth P. (2012). The new environmentalism: Where men must act “as gods” to save the planet. Guardian. Re…
  46. Kirsch G. (1999)
    Ethical dilemmas in feminist research: The politics of location, interpretation, and publ…
  47. 10.1177/0963662508096783
     ↗
  48. 10.1080/17524030903529749
     ↗
  49. Leff (1983)
    The Topics of Argumentative Invention in Latin Rhetorical Theory from Cicero to…
    Rhetorica
  50. Leff (1996)
    Commonplaces and argumentation in Cicero and Quintilian
    Argumentation
  51. Leiss W. (1998)
    The domination of nature
  52. 10.1109/HICSS.1992.183413
     ↗
  53. Li J. (2011)
    Science
  54. Luntz F. (2002). The environment: A cleaner, safer, healthier America. Retrieved from Environmental Working G…
  55. McKeon R. (1973)
    Philosophy and Rhetoric
  56. 10.1007/s002670010045
     ↗
  57. Miller C. R. (2000)
    Rereading Aristotle’s “Rhetoric”
  58. Miller C. R. (1985)
    Writing in nonacademic settings
  59. Miller H. I. (2004). Common sense environmentalism. Naples Daily News. Retrieved from the Competitive Enterpr…
  60. Pantin C. F. A. (1951)
    School Science Review
  61. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1998.tb01714.x
     ↗
  62. Perlman C. (1969)
    The new rhetoric: A treatise on argumentation
  63. Philippon D. J. (2004)
    Conserving words: How American nature writers shaped the environmental movement
  64. 10.1093/isle/11.2.161
     ↗
  65. Prelli L. J. (1989)
    A rhetoric of science: Inventing scientific discourse
  66. 10.1006/jema.2001.0494
     ↗
  67. Rieke R. D. (1975)
    Argumentation and the decision making process
  68. Ross D. G. (2008a). The commonplaces of environmental rhetoric: Resonation and perception of environmentalism…
  69. Ross (2008)
    Dam Visuals: The Changing Visual Argument for the Glen Canyon Dam
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  70. 10.1080/02691728.2011.634530
     ↗
  71. Stoll M. (1997)
    Protestantism, capitalism, and nature in America
  72. Tietge D. J. (2008)
    Rational rhetoric: The role of science in the popular discourse
  73. 10.1353/rap.2001.0032
     ↗
  74. 10.1038/486473a
     ↗
  75. 10.1017/CBO9780511809477.002
     ↗
  76. Walsh (2009)
    Marking Territory: Legislated Genres, Stakeholder Beliefs, and the Possibilitie…
    Written Communication
  77. Walsh (2010)
    The Common Topoi of STEM Discourse: An Apologia and Methodological Proposal, Wi…
    Written Communication
  78. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.07.008
     ↗
  79. 10.1126/science.155.3767.1203
     ↗
  80. 10.1088/0963-6625/1/3/004
     ↗
  81. 10.1088/0963-6625/2/4/003
     ↗
  82. 10.1017/CBO9780511818691
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 20 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Res Rhetorica Apr 2026
    Logos in ancient Greek discourse on rhetoric: An overview ↗
    Arkadiusz Sokolnicki
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  2. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Apr 2026
    Psyche or Soma?: An Analysis of the Medical Debates Over the Diagnosis and Treatment of “Transsexualism” ↗
    Samantha Rippetoe
    rhetorical criticism argument archival research
  3. Argumentation Mar 2026
    (Mis)representing the Opposition and Rhetorical Success: Experimental Evidence on Faithful and Inaccurate Reformulations ↗
    Ramy Younis
    rhetorical criticism argument
  4. Poroi Feb 2026
    Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗
    Bruce Bowles
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  5. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Feb 2026
    Making Amends to the Dead: Reparative Ethos in Veteran Expressions of Survivor’s Guilt ↗
    Kayla Rhidenour; Robert Mack; Kristen Cole
    rhetorical criticism argument