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Introduction to Community

Savannah Sandstrum

This paper will examine embodied rhetoric while using the website of NASA. Since

NASA is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal

government, there are various expectations that a reader of NASAs website might have. NASA

is responsible for the civilian space program and aeronautics and aerospace research. There are

multiple rhetors for this text such as researchers, editors, astronomers, scientists who are all

credible resources, unlike other websites that are created by people who have intentions to attract

viewers, such as People Magazine, rather than provide true facts. The creators and editors for the

website of NASA ensure that the main values of NASA, as well as credibility, are maintained

when articles and videos are uploaded. The organization of NASAs main values are providing

evidence-based information, safety, teamwork, excellence, and integrity. These values are to

ensure mission success when they execute any missions in space or research in general. When

people use the NASA website, they have expectations and assumptions. Is there valid research

and claims that are backed by science? Are there videos and images of NASAs research and

activities? According to Knoblauch (2012), people using the website will choose to use

embodied rhetoric after their expectations are met in order to apply meaning to the website.

Knoblauch (2012). Because of the assumptions that NASA is fact-based and has a credible ethos,

people will use embodied rhetoric to apply meaning to the website by using visual, auditory, and

somatosensorial senses initiated by the website.

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Introduction to Text

The rhetorical situation revolves around four concepts: rhetors, audience, exigence, and

constraints. NASAs rhetors include NASA, their article editors, and their researchers. NASAs

audiences mainly consist of educators, students, researchers/scientists, and anyone who has an

interest in space. NASAs website can be used by students and educators to find information

related to space exploration. Researchers use information from the NASA website to create

innovative technologies based on credible research provided by NASA. The exigence of the

website is to provide accurate information about space exploration and future projects to the

public. The constraints of the website are the amount of grant money they are given which can

inhibit their ability to create better technology to further their research to be put on the website.

The official website of NASA only allows the person to use three of their five senses,

seeing, touching, and hearing. The website can be viewed at any time of the day and on any

device with Internet access. Because of this specific physical form of the website, there is no

smelling or tasting involved that can contribute to the expectations surrounding the actual text.

People can touch the website by using a device that has a touchscreen. Even though there is no

tangible form of the website, people are able to navigate the site by touch. There are also videos

and NASA TV, a live broadcast of shuttle launches and current images of the International Space

Station. These videos have sound embedded in them, so the audience can hear what is being

broadcasted. The design of the website has a significant amount of information that is well

organized. Because of this professionalism and easy access, it confirms the expectations that

people have when visiting NASAs website. People can navigate the website by using the menu

section of the website. There is even a tab for audiences that identify their audiences (media,
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educators, students) and what material they might want to be searching for. The purpose of

NASAs website is to inform the public about space exploration and Earths condition as well as

include any information from research that could benefit humanity and Earth. This a form of

communication for NASA to educate and notify the public what is scientifically happening. The

audiences are able to rely on this text due to its scientifically driven purpose and the message of

the organization.

Methods

I referred to the embodied rhetoric groups slideshow to find the analytics that they came

up with. They found that in embodied rhetoric, the five human senses play a significant role in

creating and meeting expectations when reading a text (Dickinson, 2002). I used this finding and

applied it to the NASA website. I asked myself, what senses does the website incorporate when

a person is using it? The website is not a tangible object; therefore, it was difficult to analyze

what senses are used during the reading of the website. In Dickinsons (2002) paper, he analyzed

the authenticity and expectations of Starbucks. A person can go to Starbucks and experience all

of the five senses (smelling, tasting, touching, listening, and seeing) by going to the store and

buying a beverage. One cannot physically enter a website and smell and taste anything. A person

can only experience the website by using their vision, hearing, and touching to a certain degree.

This is very different from analyzing a menu in a restaurant where all senses are utilized because

the Internet is virtual with no physical form, yet it can still connect people and their information.

Embodied rhetoric gets somewhat complicated because rhetoric must be about bodies as much as

minds because our bodies know, make meaning, and interact (Downs, 2017). I determined that
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even though there is no physical form of the text, embodied rhetoric can still be used by someone

who is using NASAs website.

Analysis & Findings

Since I determined that only three of the five senses can be used while interacting with

the website, I started with the touching element, which is also the first interaction a person has

with the website. When someone uses a computer or device, they have to use their hands to

manipulate the device to get to the Internet in order to open up the website. NASA website is not

difficult to find via a search engine; therefore, the user maintains their expectation that NASA

has valid logos because the website is the first site to appear on the search engine. After the

website has been opened, there are multiple images, menus, and links that are on the homepage.

These visuals aid the way that NASA is representing the organization itself, an independent

agency of the executive branch of the United States. The website user can tell that the

organization is credible and professional based on the layout and accessibility of the website by

using the sense of vision. Thus far, the manipulation of the website via touch and visual elements

are allowing the users expectations to be met which is a major part of embodied rhetoric. The

last sense that is utilized is the auditory sense. NASA provides many videos, live feeds, and

broadcasts on the website. People can see what is happening scientifically as well as what the

organization is doing at that moment. The main audience of the website is people who want to

find information about either NASA or their research and findings. The audience creates

expectations before and during the usage of the website. Through the use of their visual,

auditory, and somatosensorial sense, their expectations are met which indicates that embodied

rhetoric is a rhetorical device used by the website.

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Discussion & Meaning

People will use embodied rhetoric to apply meaning to NASAs website by using visual,

auditory, and somatosensorial senses because NASA has established logos as a professional

organization. Websites are difficult to analyze for the usage of embodied rhetoric because there

is no physical and tangible aspect of the website; therefore, a person cannot use all of their senses

to create expectations. Because the website relies mainly on the visual and auditory features, the

website can help further establish NASAs logos. It is important to remember that in order for

there to be embodied rhetoric, the expectations created by most of the human senses must be

met.
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Works Cited

Dickinson, G. (2002). Joes rhetoric: Finding authenticity at starbucks. Rhetoric Society

Quarterly, 32(4), (pp. 5-27). doi: 10.1080/0277394029391238

Downs, D. (2017). Rhetoric: Making sense of human interaction and meaning-making. E.

Wardle and D. Downs (Eds.) Writing about writing: A college reader. (pp. 457-483).

Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.

Knoblauch, A. (2012). Bodies of knowledge: Definitions, delineations, and implications of the

embodied writing the academy. Composition Studies, 40(2). (pp. 50-65).