ELIZABETH DORWART OCTOBER 17, 2017

THE RHETORICAL SITUATION

EVERYTHING YOUVE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SITCH

THE BIG THREE

AUDIENCE
WHO ARE WE WRITING FOR?
The audience is who the text is being crafted
for; whether it is an oral speech or a book,
there is always a specific audience in mind at
the time of creation. If an audience likes a
text, then it is successful. If an audience
dislikes a text, then it has failed. A speech
could be the most beautifully spoken, most
informative speech of all time but if it did not
reach the audience in the way that it wanted
BITZER AT IT AGAIN to (i.e. accomplish the purpose of the speech)
WITH COMMENTARY FROM VATZ then the speech has failed. The audience has
The rhetorical situation is what defines a text, as in why is this
the sole power of evaluating writing, the
text being created in the way that it is? Audience, exigence, and
constraints are the big three components of the rhetorical situation success of which will be judged by the
according to Lloyd Bitzer (Bitzer 6). The rhetorical situation is audiences reaction: good translates into
integral to the creation of any text because it is essential to effective, bad into ineffective (Ede and
understand why the text is being made, who it is being made for, Lungsford 158).
and what it can and cannot do or say.
So what is the situation? Well it can depend on the environment
as well as the three main components already mentioned. It doesnt
make sense to discuss your birthday when it is currently someone
elses birthday, does it? The situation that is created from the
environment dictates that you discuss the other persons birthday.
Rhetoric is language used for a purpose. That purpose can be to
persuade the audience or to inform them of something. The orator
decides what they want to tell the audience and what they want to
accomplish from speaking. A successful orator pays attention to the
rhetorical situation at hand and plays the audience well according to
the constraints and exigence of the situation. Not every situation is
rhetorical because not every situation needs language to satisfy a
purpose.

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Although Bitzer believes that
the situation dictates the
rhetoric, his theory is not the
only one. Richard Vatz states in
The Myth of the Rhetorical
Situation, situations
obtain their character from the
rhetoric which surrounds them
or creates them (Vatz 159)
basically saying the opposite of
Bitzer in that rhetoric defines
the situation.
Vatz does not believe that there are absolute traits of the
situation; he believes each situation is unique and decides what is
needed for that specific instance. The rhetorical situation is always
changing due to what is needed and a good orator should be able to
adapt to these situations and succeed with their audience no matter
what.
THE HISTORY OF THE RHETORICAL SITUATION
FROM THEN TO NOW
Lloyd Bitzer is often credited with the modern idea of the
rhetorical situation, but the truth is that it has been around long
before Bitzer was ever born. The history of rhetoric begins in Ancient
Greece when philosophy and oratory were two big aspects of Greek
intellectual culture. Greek philosophers and orators would work on
their strategies for when they would speak in front of audiences.
Persuading the audience to act or see the rhetors view was the sign
of a good speech and therefore a good speaker. Many intellectuals,
including Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, among others dedicated much of
their time to the study of rhetoric.
The rhetorical situation has been continuously studied
throughout time because many intellectuals believed that to hold
the key to persuasion was to hold the key to power. During the
Enlightenment, many people took interest in the rhetorical situation
again and added their own theories and ideas.
OCTOBER 17, 2017
EXIGENCE
WHATS THE PROBLEM?
Most times, a speech or text is written
because there is an issue. Are you persuading
the audience to vote a certain way? Are you
informing the audience of a hurricane that is
approaching? These are issues that need to be
addressed. The orator/writer cannot change
that fact that
there is an election or a hurricane, all they can
do is cause others to act in reaction to these
problems. The exigence cannot be changed.
All a successful writer can hope to do is
persuade. Persuasion is key with exigence
because the orator wants to gain something
from the audience, they want them to act a
certain way as a reaction to the issue. In order
to persuade an audience, it is essential for a
writer to maintain the three types of
persuasion: ethos the credibility of the
speaker, pathos playing on the emotions of
the audience, and logos getting the
audience to see the reason in their own
argument. Aristotle is credited with
categorizing these modes of persuasion in
Rhetoric.
CONSTRAINTS
WHAT ARE THE LIMITS?
Limits exist within any situation. These
constraints may be placed upon the writer
from the audience, the environment, or the
writers knowledge. For example, if an author
is writing a book for children, then they
should not include graphic violence or sex.
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The rhetorical situation may have been altered throughout the These constraints are placed because the
years to fit modern times, but it has also always stayed the same. audience does not want to read that, the
The rhetorical situation is the integral defining factors for any
author would not be successful at writing a
speaker or writer, whether they realize that or not. The rhetorical
situation is ever-present during the creation of any text, whether it is childrens book then. A successful orator
for a school project or a campaign speech. The rhetorical situation is wants to reach their audience while working
both defined by and defines the text at hand, without the rhetorical around the constraints set upon them; orators
situation, there is no text. want to be successful and show their
audience the knowledge that they have. This
Yes, the rhetorical situation is even present today! Twitter is an
extremely modern, unique genre that uses the situation to its
is shown in Platos Allegory of the Cave, it is
advantage. The rhetor aka the Tweeter must know their audience the job of the orator to work around the
aka their followers and what they want to hear. Not only that, but constraints of the environment (the cave) and
the speaker needs to figure out how to best say it within their speak the truth in order to enlighten their
constraints aka 140 characters. audience with the truth (the light outside the
cave causing shadows within). The truth is
The World Wide Web is unique in that anyone with access can be
the audience; so even if your blog is using tags about cooking and what the speaker has decided it is, if it is
youre assuming that only people interested in cooking are reading persuading the audience to take action or
your posts, you never know who can see what youre writing! This teaching them about a new subject.
has given an entirely new meaning to the word audience. In the old
days, speakers could see exactly who they were talking to and they
could alter their arguments based on live reactions and how they
thought the crowd would react. Once they were done speaking,
then it was over! But now, once its on the Internet, its out there
forever! You dont know whos going to read your work and you
dont know how theyll reactunless they comment online! Even
then, this audience participation is so different from traditional
rhetoric because its so delayed! People can be commenting your
rhetoric five years later!