[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-598560-105":59,"doc-detail-598560-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-intenteffect-tactic-a-practice-of-rhetorical-listening","The Intent/Effect Tactic - A Practice of Rhetorical Listening","","The article develops the intent/effect tactic as a researched, theoretically grounded classroom strategy for responding to racially problematic statements without direct confrontation. Drawing on rhetorical listening, it reframes how speakers evade accountability by emphasizing racially neutral intentions while downplaying negative effects. After explaining the conceptual difference between intent and effect through the “Chief Wahoo” controversy, it describes identifying the tactic through analysis of a focus group of first-year composition students discussing race-related topics.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-intenteffect-tactic-a-practice-of-rhetorical-listening/598560/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-intenteffect-tactic-a-practice-of-rhetorical-listening/598560.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"A glass of water","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-22","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the intent/effect tactic used for in the article?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It is used to disrupt racially problematic statements by exposing how speakers highlight neutral intentions to evade accountability for negative effects.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the article distinguish intent from effect?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Intent refers to what a speaker claims motivates an action, while effect refers to the harm or offense produced. The mascot controversy is used to show how these frames can be treated differently by supporters and critics.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why does the article avoid direct confrontation as a teaching strategy?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The tactic enables teachers to introduce complexity and challenge underlying assumptions without discouraging productive classroom conversation or stymieing discussion through argument.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},598560,1792633183,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090760832,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","The Intent/Effect Tactic: A Practice of Rhetorical Listening  \nMeagan Rodgers  \nUniversity of Science and Arts of Oklahoma  \nLike many English instructors, I have taught in predominantly white classrooms and heard wellmeaning white students utter racially problematic statements like “I’m not a racist but…”(Bonilla-Silva and Foreman 50, Williams 164) and “My ancestors didn’t own slaves…”(Trainor“’My Ancestors’”140) . Terrence Tucker’s reports from the classroom sound similar: “[T]he students who enter my classroom believe that instances of racist activity are isolated incidents, residue from a bygone era that no longer affects them or their thought processes”(134) . When working in these kinds of classrooms, it’s not always clear how to most effectively respond. Asan antiracist teacher, I don’t want to let problematic assertions lie untouched; neither, however, do I want to discourage students from sharing their evolving thoughts in class. Jennifer Seibel Trainor describes this conundrum: “I do not consider direct confrontation or argument to be a useful classroom strategy, but I am haunted by the idea that such [racist] sentiments go unchallenged and by my desire to teach more effectively against them”(“My Ancestors” 144) . In 2005, Krista Ratcliffe offered rhetorical listening as a tactic for “interpretive invention”(1) that enables users to develop multiple meanings behind racially problematic assertions, thereby enhancing the possibilities for teaching against such statements. By encouraging rhetors to invite  \nmultiple interpretations to problematic statements, Ratcliffe expands the possibilities for productive communication.  \nIn this article, I offer a researched, theoretically grounded tactic (derived from Ratcliffe’s rhetorical listening) that teachers can use to disrupt racially problematic statements while avoiding the confrontation that can stymie productive conversation. I use the term intent/effect tactic in two ways: first, as a technique a rhetor can use to evade accountability for the negative effects ofa racially charged action by highlighting racially neutral intentions; and second, as a pedagogical tactic teachers can use to expose such evasion. The intent/effect tactic is already implicitly present in various discursive contexts, though it is not deliberately acknowledged. After illustrating its presence and arguing that instructors should recognize and deploy the tactic intentionally, I explain how the tactic is an extension of Ratcliffe’s rhetorical listening that allows teachers (indeed, anyone analyzing discourse) to bring to light some of the unstated assumptions underlying racially loaded statements. This enables teachers to introduce complexity into classroom situations without needing to be confrontational.  \nOrigins of Intent/Effect  \nI identified and developed the intent/effect tactic as a result of analyzing a conversation among four first year composition (FYC) students as they talked about racial topics. After detailing the origins ofthe intent/effect tactic, I demonstrate how this tactic can be used to frame and analyze discursive tactics that have long been present in conversations, public discourse, and scholarship.  \nTo explain the difference between intent and effect as I am using these terms (and to introduce an example that I will return to later in discussing the focus group I studied), consider the Cleveland Indians, a major league baseball team, and their mascot, Chief Wahoo. The  \ncontroversy over the mascot can be productively analyzed by considering the intent behind the mascot and the effect of the mascot. First, consider the history of the mascot. The Cleveland team took on the name “Indians” in 1915, shortly after the death of Louis Sockalexis, one of the first Native Americans to play baseball professionally (Steinhaus) . Native American activists object to the team name and mascot, calling representations like Chief Wahoo “the last racist icons” of American sports (Bean) . Tea","cbCaibMdKMDScBAM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibMdKMDScBAM","pdf",278372,18,"English","# The Intent/Effect Tactic: A Practice of Rhetorical Listening\n## Origins of Intent/Effect","[{\"question\":\"What is the intent/effect tactic used for in the article?\",\"answer\":\"It is used to disrupt racially problematic statements by exposing how speakers highlight neutral intentions to evade accountability for negative effects.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article distinguish intent from effect?\",\"answer\":\"Intent refers to what a speaker claims motivates an action, while effect refers to the harm or offense produced. The mascot controversy is used to show how these frames can be treated differently by supporters and critics.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article avoid direct confrontation as a teaching strategy?\",\"answer\":\"The tactic enables teachers to introduce complexity and challenge underlying assumptions without discouraging productive classroom conversation or stymieing discussion through argument.\"}]","The Intent/Effect Tactic - A Practice of Rhetorical Listening | PDF",1792087156,28]