ABSTRACT
This chapter presents examples where rhetors/designers draw the attention of learners to values, forms of knowledge, ethical principles, processes and practices of the social cultural world that they considered to be essential for the 'community' they represented. It can be said that the rhetor creates learning environments on the basis of an understanding of what is canonical, what ought to be learned, what all members of the community ought to be aware of, 'know' and adhere to. The rhetor becomes judge in assessing the effects of their prompts in the learning environment on a learner. Using examples of instances of communication in the public domain, classrooms and workplaces, the book shows that assessments, whether grounded in a 'curriculum' or another form indicating canonicity, have far-reaching effects on those being assessed and judged. Most of the time, judgement happens in entirely ordinary, banal and unremarkable circumstances, largely unknown to anyone other than the judge.
