People use language daily to interact and communicate about anything, from describing a new pet to explaining a complex chemical reaction. We speak and write in a manner so that our message will make sense to the recipient and have the greatest impact. Rhetorical modes are one way we can accomplish this goal. Keep on reading for the for the definition, types, and examples of Rhetorical Modes.
Rhetorical Modes Definition
Simply put, rhetorical modes organize communication, meaning they are an established way to order rhetoric.
Rhetoric is any choice a communicator makes in an attempt to persuade their intended audience. Every time we speak or write, we have a purpose—whether to make a point, convince someone of something, or entertain—and rhetoric is the heart of achieving this purpose most effectively.
Whether spoken or written, rhetorical modes help authors organize their evidence and connect facts systematically for the audience's benefit.
Another term for rhetorical modes is patterns of organization because they often happen naturally during discourse to create a natural pattern of discussion or argument. Patterns of organization are predictable, which help the audience to anticipate the format of an argument. This helps eliminate misunderstandings or distractions as the audience makes sense of the argument.
Rhetorical Modes of Writing
No matter the context or topic, an author always has a goal in writing. Rhetorical modes allow writers to ensure their writing serves a particular purpose and achieves their specific goal. As a result, you can be sure your writing will be more articulate and persuasive.
Rhetorical modes are also important to have in your writing toolbox because they are like ready-made responses to essays. They give you, the writer, a sort of structure to follow as you write an essay.
For example, let’s say you’re taking an exam and the prompt asks you to review a topic and present a persuasive argument in favor of or against a common perspective. What do you do?
You will likely start to think about pieces of evidence you can provide to support whatever your claim will be. You might also think of ways to show the opposing argument as incorrect.
The prompt didn’t tell you to do these things, you just instinctively knew that these would be effective approaches toward convincing your audience. This is probably because you’ve been exposed to the persuasive rhetorical mode in some fashion or another.
A solid familiarity with different rhetorical modes is especially useful for timed exams. Armed with this knowledge, you can reduce the amount of time it takes to develop a strategy for your written responses.
There are other kinds of rhetorical modes that are perhaps less well-known than persuasion but work in much the same way for quickly and systematically forming essays.
Rhetorical Modes Types
There are many rhetorical modes and four basic types under which they can be categorized. The categories are:
These four categories are responsible for covering the range of ways a writer or speaker might construct their rhetoric.
It is possible to use more than one type of rhetorical mode within a single piece of writing.
Exposition
The word exposition comes from the word expose, and we often use it in the phrase “expository writing” to describe a kind of writing that explains something.
To expose means to make something known by uncovering it.
The purpose of expository writing is to educate the reader or to explain something. Because of this, it is frequently used in professional and academic writing where it is appropriate to use an educational tone.
Tone is the stylistic means by which a writer conveys their attitude in a piece of writing. This can be in literature or academic and professional writing.
Some examples of expository rhetorical modes are illustration, cause and effect, classification, and process analysis.
Narration
Writers use narration as a rhetorical mode to tell a story or to describe a scene. For narration to be most effective, the story or event should be organized into a logical pattern; typically, chronological order makes the most sense for narration.
Chronological order is a way of organizing an event from beginning to end. You might also call chronological order linear order, or time order, because it denotes a movement through time in one forward direction.
Fictional writing often uses narration to move the story forward. The designated timeline helps the reader not only understand the series of events, but also to put themselves in the story and experience it personally. Narration is also helpful in any context where chronological order is essential.
Argumentation
Also known as persuasive writing, argumentative writing tries to get the reader to think in a specific way or take a specific action. Argumentation relies heavily on logic to persuade the reader of the author’s claim, but sometimes it also uses emotion or the author’s authority to be persuasive. Argumentative writing always has a call to action for the reader.
A call to action is an appeal made to the audience to get them to take some action related to the topic of discussion. The call to action could be as simple as considering using vinegar instead of toxic chemical cleaners, or as complex as changing their political or religious stance.
Argumentation also typically involves a discussion of opposing perspectives. This is known as concession.
Concession is a rhetorical device where the speaker or writer addresses a claim made by their opponent, either to acknowledge its validity or offer a counterargument to that claim.
By including a concession in your argumentative writing, you illustrate that you have a solid understanding of the topic.
Several types of rhetorical modes can be argumentative, including compare and contrast, analogy, and persuasion.
Description
Like narration, description is a rhetorical mode in and of itself. Description is a tool writers use to make their writing come alive—they do this with language that appeals to the five senses. This helps immerse the reader in the words on the page, making the item described more real.
Descriptions can be either objective or subjective; objective is a factual account of something, while subjective is the view from a single person’s perspective.
Examples of rhetorical modes that can use descriptive writing include narration, process analysis, and definition.
Notice that some rhetorical modes can use different types of writing mentioned here. For example, a process analysis could be written with an explanatory slant (i.e, exposition) or a descriptive slant (i.e., description), depending on the purpose of the writing.
Rhetorical Modes Examples
Rhetorical modes can be either complex or basic. This simply means that some rhetorical modes are more complex and use a more detail-oriented approach to the subject, while others are more shallow and don’t involve as many complex details.
Below are some examples of both complex and basic rhetorical modes.
Basic Rhetorical Modes
Basic rhetorical modes are those that remain on the surface of the subject. In other words, these rhetorical modes don’t necessitate as much of a thorough discussion of the subject as complex rhetorical modes. Some examples of basic rhetorical modes include illustration, classification, and analogy.
Basic rhetorical modes are like taking a straight road directly to the point.
Illustration Example
The rhetorical mode of illustration (also known as exemplification) uses detailed examples to make abstract ideas concrete, or general ideas specific. This rhetorical tool does more than describe something or narrate a series of events; it can turn the object of discussion into a symbol or an idea representing something bigger.
Shakespeare uses the bulk of the space in his sonnets to express the problem and then delays the resolution until the final lines. For example, Sonnet #34 (1609) is twelve lines of complaint and dismay because he feels the sun betrayed him, but it ends in the final two lines,
“Ah, but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,
And they are rich, and ransom all ill deeds.”
The example of Sonnet #34 illustrates the point made in the previous sentence; that Shakespeare liked to save the resolution of his poems for the final few lines. The author doesn’t need to provide much more information beyond the point they’re trying to make and the example that illustrates the point.
Analogy Example
Analogy is the process of comparing two seemingly unrelated things to highlight the characteristics they share. Analogy is best used in a situation where you’d like to explain something highly complex or unfamiliar to the audience. As with illustration, you don’t have to give a lengthy explanation or complex details of the subject in this rhetorical mode.
There are two basic types of analogies: literal and figurative. Literal analogies compare two things based on literal, real similarities. For example, when scientists test medicines on mice in laboratories, they are saying that mice are similar to human beings in medically significant ways.
Figurative analogies draw a comparison between two things that are highly unrelated to highlight a certain characteristic that they both share. Take for example the statement, “You have to be busy as a bee to get good grades.” The only similarity to a bee that a student should strive for is their productivity level. Otherwise, human students and bees are not at all similar.
Complex Rhetorical Modes
Complex rhetorical modes are a category of the more intricate rhetorical modes. These patterns of organization typically go into a deeper examination of the topic than the basic rhetorical modes. Rhetorical modes such as cause and effect, argumentation, and definition are complex because the author must have an intimate understanding of the topic to write about it in these ways.
Complex rhetorical modes require more information about the topic, and so the writer has to take a more complex route to the point.
Cause and Effect Example
Establishing a cause-and-effect relationship between two things is difficult because you must prove that one thing caused another.
For example, simply stating that you think a new movie adaptation of Gone With the Wind (the cause) will generate new interest in the book (effect) is not enough. The person making this claim must prove this is true by establishing a cause and effect relationship with these three criteria:
The cause must happen before the effect
Whenever the cause happens, the effect must also happen
There must not be another factor that could explain the relationship between the cause and the effect
To claim that a new movie version of Gone With the Wind will cause for there to be new readers of the book, you have to take a closer look at the situation and perhaps other similar situations for comparison and see what you find.
Would a new Gone With the Wind movie come before the renewed interest in the book? Yes.
Can a movie release cause for there to be new interest in an older book or story? Yes. (We can look to other examples of movies generating readership of classic books, such as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or It by Stephen King.)
Are there any other valid factors that could explain the relationship between the new movie and people reading the book? No.
Definition Example
Definition seems like a simple enough way to approach a subject because we do it so often, but it is a complex method of speaking about something.
For example, in order to define a classical school for someone who doesn’t know what it is requires you to intimately understand how a classical school works, and what makes it different from other schools. You need to be so familiar with it, that you can explain this information to someone else.
Classical schools are a school choice that uses a traditional classroom setting and curriculum that focuses on history-based learning that exposes students to great minds of the past, and on producing learners that self-educate.
From here, you would want to explain and define a few more of these terms, such as “traditional classroom,” “history-based learning,” and “self-educate.”
The Most Common Rhetorical Mode of Writing
There are ten major rhetorical modes, which are:
Narration
Process analysis
Definition
Cause and effect
Description
Classification
Compare and contrast
Argument/ persuasion
Problem and solution
Illustration
Remember, you can use different rhetorical modes in one piece of writing. Also, you can approach a particular rhetorical mode from any of the major rhetorical mode types (e.g., exposition, narrative, descriptive, and argumentative).
If there was one type of rhetorical mode that was more common than the others, it would be exposition. Exposition uses facts and data to explain information to someone, which is why it is commonly used in academic, professional, and even journalistic writing.
Depending on the author’s message, several rhetorical modes can use an expository approach. For example, think of the many ways you could write about and explain summer school with an expository lens:
Narration – Tell a personal story about an experience in summer school that helps the reader understand how it works
Definition – Define what summer school is
Compare and contrast – Compare summer school to traditional school, and contrast any differences
Argument/ persuasion – Present an argument either for or against summer school
Classification – Categorize the students that would benefit from summer school
Each of these approaches to the topic of summer school are expository because they explain some aspect of summer school. Regardless of which rhetorical mode you choose for a particular piece of writing, knowing how they work will help keep your writing organized and reduce the amount of time it takes to plan out a writing project.
Rhetorical modes - Key takeaways
- Whether spoken or written, rhetorical modes help authors organize their evidence and connect facts systematically for the audience's benefit.
- Another term for rhetorical modes is patterns of organization because they often happen naturally during discourse.
- Rhetorical modes are an important tool to have in your writing toolbox because they are like ready-made responses to essays.
- Rhetorical modes can be either complex or basic.
- The four types of rhetorical modes are:
Exposition
Narration
Argumentation
Description
Explanations 
Exams 
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