ABSTRACT
What exactly is the appeal of white space in regard to the usability of text, especially in terms of the layout and design of electronic texts such as web pages? Recent work done in the research on silence in discourse may begin to explain the use and effect of white space as image-as non-discursive text important to the rhetoricity of web pages and electronic communication. White space within electronic texts is especially important because it can provide relief to a user who is otherwise overrun with content and options. Just as silence can be used to emphasize or amplify a verbal statement for maximum effect on an audience, white space allows for ease, even pleasure, in the usability of complex documents: it highlights by making room, and it is associated with materiality and luxury.
