Technical Communication Quarterly Mar 1998

A Longinian concept and methodology for technical communication

Jeff Todd Texas A&M University

Abstract

The rhetorician Longinus advises writers to “transport”; their readers by aligning the readers’ perspective with the writer's. The methods for transport are five “fountains”;: high thought, emotional appeals, figures of speech, notable language, and arrangement. This essay develops a Longinian concept and methodology for technical communication by comparing his ideas to current scholarship and then applying them to two technical texts. It shows how and why technical writers employ stylistic elements to achieve transport.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1998-03-01
DOI
10.1080/10572259809364623
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Tham (2025)
    Design and Deliberation: Reimagining Rhetorical Arrangement in Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Moran et al. (2011)
    A Bibliography of Works Published in the History of Professional Communication …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Todd (2008)
    Breaking Professional Boundaries: What the MacCrate Report on Lawyering Skills …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Todd (2003)
    Teaching the History of Technical Communication: A Lesson with Franklin and Hoover
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Todd (2000)
    Burkean Invention in Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (10)

  1. Dombrowski (1995)
    Post‐modernism as the resurgence of humanism in technical communication studies
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Scott (1995)
    Sophistic ethics in the technical writing classroom: Teaching<i>nomos,</i>delib…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. MENDELSON (1993)
    A Dialogical Model for Business Correspondence
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Goodwin (1991)
    Emplotting the Reader: Motivation and Technical Documentation
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Killingsworth et al. (1989)
    Amplification in Technical Manuals: Theory and Practice
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 10 →
  1. Butler (1986)
    The Function of Metaphor in Technical Discourse
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Childs (1986)
    Where Techne Meets Poesis: Some Semiotic Considerations in the Rhetoric of Tech…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Gross (1984)
    Style and Arrangement in Scientific Prose: The Rules behind the Rules
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Whitburn et al. (1978)
    The Plain Style in Scientific and Technical Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Whitburn (1976)
    Personality in Scientific and Technical Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓
  1. Halloran S. Michael (1978)
    10.1080/10510977809367982
    Central States Speech Journal  ↗
  2. 10.1177/002194368502200102
     ↗
  3. 10.1080/00335639009383932
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network →

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