The Classical Canons

An adaptation of Aristotle’s classical canons for modern writers includes the following stages:

• Invention: How do writers generate their ideas so that they are most effective for the audience?
• Arrangement: What principles of order, structure, or organization do writers use that will lead to an effective text for the audience?
• Style: What choices do writers make with sentences and words so the text will be most effective for the audience?
• Delivery: How do writers get their texts to the audience on the Internet, with graphics and hot links, and so on?^[1]

Aristotle included an additional canon of memory that does not fit neatly within this modern version. In antiquity, the question of memory would address how writers might commit their text to memory prior to delivering it, but most writing today—except for presentations—does not have to be memorized for oral delivery. However, we can adapt this classical canon for modern purposes by placing the memory question as part of the invention process: how might writers tap into the cultural memory of their audience?