Rhetorical relations and the rhythm of the discourse

[William Mann]

Dear Cesare and all:

I would love to see a study of rhetorical relations and the rhythms of
texts.  Unfortunately, I do not know of one yet.

    Two reactions:
                        1.  Possibly the ideas have been explored under
other terminology.  Certainly Rhetorical Relations have been called by many
other names, grouped into categories, etc.  Perhaps Poetics, as a field, has
the work already done.
                        2.  If RST does not help, perhaps it could be made
helpful.  The set of relations is redefineable within the framework.   I
have documented about 4 more since the 1988 paper, and there is a recognized
need to repair certain areas of RST.  I encourage you to do new definitions
of criteria for observers (analysts)  to use.

I wish you every success.

Bill Mann

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cesare Rocchi" <rocchi at ITC.IT>
To: <RSTLIST at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 12:15 PM
Subject: [RST-LIST] Rhetorical relations and the rhythm of the discourse


> Dear all,
>
> I'm looking for some research study that concerns
> RST and the rhythm of discourse.
> In particular I'm looking for answers to the following questions
> (from a computational perspective):
>
> -
> how particular configurations of rhetorical relations affect the rhythm
> of the discourse ?
>
> -
> is it possible to identify how a RR affects the
> flow of discourse (e.g. a sequence tends to highlight the continuity
> among its parts whereas a background tends to break the rhythm by
> providing
> contextual information that helps to understand the message of the
> nucleus) ?
>
> -
> how rhythm affects the communicative effect of a text (are there
> "boring texts" and
> "well-structured texts")?
>
> -
> perhaps I need to integrate these issues with a study concerning rhythm
> and punctuation ?
>
> I'm open to every suggestion and any kind of discussion.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> -c.
>
> --
> +---------------------------------------------+
> |                Cesare Rocchi                |
> |             Research Consultant             |
> |   at ITC-IRST Povo I-38050 (TRENTO) ITALY   |
> |     http://tcc.itc.it/people/rocchi.html    |
> |---------------------------------------------+