Defining the Rhetorical Situation

Purpose What do you hope to accomplish? Why would anyone bother reading this? Are you trying to persuade? Do you need to inform?

The Rhetorical Triangle Speaker and Ethos Audience and Pathos Writing and Logos

Audience What does your audience already know? What does your audience value? What are your audiences’ needs? What biases might your audience have?

Genre What genre will be most appropriate for your purpose? What genre makes the most sense given your audience?

Voice How do you want to represent yourself here? As cheerful? Hopeful? Angry? Concerned? Do you want to sound authoritative or are you more likely to sound persuasive if your status as a student is plain? How will your voice affect your ability to persuade?

Formatting Does this genre call for traditional formatting, or are more diverse ways of presenting your information more effective? Will you use charts and graphs? Will you add photos? Are they necessary or just for appeal?

Problem Do you need to point out any sort of problem? Will your audience be quick to agree that there is a problem? Or will they resist? How much of the problem do you need to convey?

Appeals What appeals will be most important here? Is an emphasis on logic important? How will you establish your credibility? What do you want your readers to feel? How will you accomplish this?