Web Site Interpretation Exercise

Interpretation

works with the results of analysis to argue what those results mean. Description and analysis are composed of essentially factual statements; the statements are more or less accurate, and can be proven with evidence from the message under study. With interpretation, we move to inferable, arguable statements - and to insight.

Interpretation brings insight to how the rhetorical message works. But insight is gained not just by looking at a thing on its own; it's gained by comparisons: figure against ground, or message in a context, or message in relation to similar messages, or message in relation to other possible messages...

Thursday in class

Start a page off your wiki name page titled WebSiteInterpretation?. Use this page for notes during class.

The MSU Moorehead web site is structured, in part, by visitor identity or user role. There are entry pages to subsites for Future Students, Current Students, Distance Learners and so on. Each subsite is tailored by the rhetors to persuade visitors to act or think in particular ways by helping them assume a role in relation to the rhetor. That is, the Parents pages assume that parents will want certain kinds of information presented in particular ways so they can do parental things. But the pages will also define the kind of parent they are addressing by casting the parent-audience in a particular Parental role.

In class, we'll look at the Future Students page and some of its subpages, describing and analyzing them with an eye to how they define the Future Student visitor's role and relationship with the rhetor. That is, we'll be going in with the interpretive question

In class, you'll have a chance to collect notes to build on.

For Tuesday

Look again at the Future Students page and one or two subpages. You choose which. From those pages,

Ground your interpretation in our observations in class.

• Focus your interpretation using the visitor's role model we've been working with, or one of the interpretive questions on pp 96 - 97. Start by stating which question you're going to address in your interpretation - that helps you get focused - and then proceed with your notes.

and

• Draw openly on a comparison in forming your interpretation (pp 98 - 101): Look at a similar messages, for instance, or another site. A good comparison site in this exercise is our own BSU Prospective Students subsite. Incoming Freshmen is a good comparison page off of Prospective Students

Keep your eye in how the messages work.