Research and Analyses

My research and analysis experience on various issues, from editing to Aristotle, is one of the focuses of my portfolio. Listed below are some examples of my research and analyses.

Ethical Implications of Aristotle’s Influence on Technical Communication

Ethical Implications of Aristotle’s Influence on Technical Communication

In this research project, I use Aristotle’s writings on ethics, expediency, and rhetoric to analyze how the application of Aristotle’s teachings has informed technical communication’s tendency to focus on logic and expediency as the essential means of persuasion in technical communication.  I use feminist theories, disability studies, and research on identity to argue that this practice and teaching serves to dehumanize, other, and ignore the individual audience member, consumer, user, and others with which technical communicators communicate (from ethnic groups to people who are differently abled).  I analyze three technical communication textbooks from the past thirty years to show that technical communication pedagogy and practice has moved toward a more complex understanding of the ethical implications of technical communication, which has led to a better understanding of audience, user, writer, and the “humanity” of technical communication. I use Steven Katz’s article, “The Ethic of Expediency: Classical Rhetoric, Technology, and the Holocaust,” as an example of one of the ways Aristotle’s writings have influenced technical communication and as a demonstration of how technical communication pedagogy and practice has the power to humanize.

The Art of Ethical and Effective Editing

The Art of Ethical and Effective Editing

In this research project, I explore how the editor’s role in the process of writing a text affects the relationship between the author and editor and vice versa while balancing ethical and effective communication.  I explore some of the ways the editor’s position has been described, how an editor can enact these roles, and the ethical implications these roles have on human society in the context of: editor as peer, editor as authority, editor as shaper of a community, editor as creator of meaning, and editor as diplomat.

The Art and Craft of Editing for Style

The Art and Craft of Editing for Style

In this research project, I argue that it is of utmost importance for editors to understand what style is in general, what their author(s) individual style is specifically, and what the best way to understand style more fully is in order to be an effective editor and to create an effective text.  I review the current popular definitions of style; determine how these definitions have informed the editing of style; determine why editors need to understand what style is, in general, and what their author’s style is, specifically; determine the most effective ways an editor (or anyone) can understand style; and advocate a redefinition of style that assists an editor’s understanding of style and covers many of the ways style is defined today.  Although I do not directly refer to ethical editing, this project led me to the discovery of the vital importance of ethical and effective editing strategies.

Summation and Conversion of Style

Summation and Conversion of Style

In this analysis and synthesis, I asked what “style” is and its relationship to rhetoric.  I took the readings, discussions, and analysis done in the class Rhetoric and Style to try to define style in a way that is a complex synthesis of multiple perspectives on style.  I use Burke, Butler, and Berkenkotter, among others, to confront the myth of “transparency” in style and how it relates to ethics in communication.

Metaphor Analysis Part 1 and Part 2: Metonymy to Synecdoche

Metaphor Analysis Part 1 Metaphor Analysis Part 2

In these analyses, I take Stephen King’s On Writing and analyze the ways King uses metaphor to describe the writing process. I argue that King is a synecdoche for “author,” which means the metaphors he uses to describe the writing process reveal the synecdoche for the editor’s role in the writing process: an intermediary in the magical process that expresses/produces truth. I use Kenneth Burke’s concepts of “style as ingratiation” and “piety” to analyze aspects of the metaphor. This is an example of my analytical and critical thinking skills and the ways the editor-author relationship can be understood and practiced, which has implications for the ethics of that relationship and the subsequent communication.

Dehumanization and Demonization: The Evil Monsters of Myths and Real-life, The Use of the Words “Evil” and “Monster” to Demonize and Dehumanize Violent Criminals

The Use of the Words “Evil” and “Monster” to Demonize and Dehumanize

In this research project, I analyzed the rhetorical use of the word “monster” and “evil” to define certain individuals, communities, or cultures as non-human.  I asked what it means to be non-human, and what our responsibility is to those who are considered non-human by society.  I used feminist, narratological, and literary theories to deconstruct the rhetoric of those words use on violent criminals.  It demonstrates the importance of understanding the rhetorical purposes and effects of our words (by everyone from professional communicators to politicians) and how we can use them responsibly and ethically.