RHETORICAL TRIANGLE SKETCH

Please fill in the diagram below by replacing the italicized text, identifying the rhetorical elements of
your proposed text. In sketching these elements, you will be able to understand how the text is
functioning rhetorically and judge it as a (un)fitting response. From there, youll be able to decide which
elements will be most important in shaping your argument about the text.

Context: History? Current events? Conversation? Kairos? Previous works?

Exigence: Opportunity for change

that creates a reason for writing or,
the problem to be solved through
writing. It is this purpose that
brings the writer/rhetor into the
rhetorical situation (triangle)

Writer/Rhetor:
Who wrote or published the text?

Meaning:
Is it a fitting response?
Rhetorical
Audience:
To whom was it
directed at and
why?

Resources and Constraints

These could be found within the audience, within the
writer, or even within the context. It is also up to you
to reason whether or not a particular element is a
resource or a constraint e.g. Sojourner Truths
speaking as a black woman in 1851?

Text:
What is the object
of study? What is
the shape of the
text, visually and
literally? Tone?
Style?

Rhetorical Appeals Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Find examples of the appeals. Do not just describe the
writer, audience, or text. For example, for ethos, do
not just say Sojourner Truth, explain that her
ethos, or credibility, comes from being a black woman
and her ability to use the life experiences as examples
of her knowledge on the topic of rights.