This paper lists and describes inventionist themes that writers and writing teachers can use during rhetorical invention. It defines invention as the process whereby writers discover ideas to write about, and the inventionist as one who focuses on this discovery process, whether that focus be pedagogical or theoretical. The items included and explained as inventionist themes are (1) motivation, (2) ritual, (3) perception, (4) language and perception, (5) heuristics, (6) investigation, and (7) character. These seven themes are ordered hierarchically for the purposes of classifying material on rhetorical invention, diagnosing problems involving rhetorical invention within the writing process, and developing sequences of assignments based on the logical progression of one invention theme to another. (RL)