Vocabulary

For each entry, you must put the word and its definition (its main one at least—feel free to copy and paste from an online dictionary) and then must use the word in a sentence. An added pronunciation is often helpful. You are more than welcome to pull the word and its sentence directly from something you have read; the sentence does not have to be original. If, however, you choose to use someone else’s words, please use quotation marks and give the author and title. Also be sure to put your name at the end of your entry for credit; if you don’t, I won’t know who posted what.

VOCUBULARY FOR DIGITAL RHETORIC

DSE (Digital social environment): A virtual space where users participate in communities of interest EX: "Online identities in these DSEs are raising many identity issues" (Nabeth) -Wendt 11/3

ENSCONCE: to settle or rest in a safe, comfortable, and sometimes secret place. EX: "I was relaxed on the tree trunk, ensconced in the lap of lichen" (__Living Like Weasels__ by Annie Dillard). ~ //Lauren Burton 9/13//

Ethos: the character or disposition of a community, group, person or something that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society. EX:"The ethos created by Wysocki addresses the expected academic conventions for linear argument and also challenges those exceptions" (__Understanding Visual Rhetoric__ by Mary Hocks)-Jake Champion 9/18/09

FLOW: Optimal experience EX: "In designing Web pages, or anything that people interact with, a prime goal must be the achievement of flow for the user:" ~Scott Berkun, "The Role of Flow" -Wendt 11/3

HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language: "the code that creates the text and graphic layouts known as web pages" Scanlan. -Wendt 11/3

HYPERTEXT: "beyond text" - allows users to move within a text or to other sites on the Internet. EX: Because of hypertext, a web reader will quickly leave your page if you are uninteresting. -Wendt 11/3 IGNOBLE: of low character, aims, etc.; mean; base EX: The suspect was accused of having ignoble intentions toward the victim. ~Kayla Montney 9/21

NEGLIGIBLE: insignificant, not worth mention EX: The negative consequences were negligible. ~Lauren Burton 10/15/09

Rhetoric: The art of persuasion by any available means. EX: President Obama's speech on Wednesday evening was a piece of finely crafted rhetoric: he convinced even some skeptical Republicans. ~Prof. Wendt 9/10

SERIF: a smaller line used to finish off a main stroke of a letter, as at the top and bottom of M. EX: "Sans-serif fonts are sometimes, especially in older documents, used as a device for emphasis, due to their typically blacker type color." (Wikipedia.org) -Margo Brines, 9/17/09

VICISSITUDES - changes is circumstances or fortunes, usually in a negative way EX: "You can't have a good life story without VICISSITUDES, and if the best you can come up with is that your parents refused to buy you a sports car for your sixteenth birthday, nobody will want to read your memoirs" (__The Happiness Hypothesis__ by Jonathan Haidt) ~ Lauren Burton 10/1/09