Rhetorical Preferences in Persian Writing

Abstract

A widespread assumption in the contrastive rhetoric field is the linearity/circularity dichotomy which suggests that eastern countries writing are characterized by indirection. This study examines the rhetorical preferences of Persian writing. A total of 320 essays taken from forty sophomore students studying English translation were analyzed. They were supposed to write an essay for eight weeks in different genres. To determine Persian writing style models by Chesterman, (1998) and Monroy and Scheu (1997) are used. Texts are analyzed in order to fit into one of the categories Chesterman has classified. Results indicate that Persian students, alike English learners, prefer directness in text and paragraph organization. In other words, they try to discuss their thesis statement directly at the beginning of their writing in order to support it in the rest of the paragraphs. Moreover, an examination of students essay reveal that the rhetorical preference of Persian language is linearity, the style English writing follows.