*The Rhetorical Situation* The purpose of writing

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Con/text

Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation – T.R.A.C.E. TEXT READER AUTHOR CONSTRAINTS EXIGENCE

TEXT What does the text say? What kind of text is it? 

Who seems to be the intended audience? READER Who seems to be the intended audience?

What do you know or can you assume about the writer? AUTHOR What do you know or can you assume about the writer?

Values, assumptions, material considerations. CONSTRAINTS Values, assumptions, material considerations. Text Reader Author

Textual Constraints How is writing a book different from writing a newspaper column where you have a certain number of column inches available?  How is a poem different than an essay? What type of language is used?

Reader Constraints Does the source account for who it is aimed at? What values does the reader have that will effect what the author can and can't say and what will and won't be persuasive?

Author Constraints What values constrain the author? Are their things that an author has to overcome just because of what they look like?  Does the author have ready-made credibility for some reason, or do they have to earn it by telling a story or using certain language?

EXIGENCE Motivation Did something happen that sparked the need for communication?   Is there something in the world the author is trying to change? What is the author's purpose?

Rhetoric is EVERYWHERE! Fiction

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Poetry

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