Understanding the rhetorical situation

rhetoric Rhetoric is how meaning is ascribed to artifacts, ideas, situations and that there is never a non-rhetorical use of language. Aristotle defined it as the “available means of persuasion.”

Rhetorical situation What else is going on with a text aside from the words themselves? Meaning can be derived from multiple levels in a text, not just from the surface level. Usually the rhetorical situation refers to the audience, purpose, genre, and context of a piece of writing.

Occasion and kairos The occasion is whatever motivates or prompts you to write. The occasion is simply the immediate cause or pressing need to write, whether assigned to you by someone else or just determined by you to be the reason for your desire to write. Sometimes this is referred to as kairos or “the right, opportune, or most appropriate moment to speak” You have to know when it’s the right time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MiAIfq0HZs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmF-6wP2Ze8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhnXWJmKbU4

purpose Your purpose in writing is the effect you wish to have on your intended audience. Major purposes for writing include expressing your feelings; investigating a subject and reporting your findings; explaining an idea or concept; evaluating some object, performance or image; proposing a solution to a problem; and arguing for your position and responding to alternative or opposing positions. What is your purpose? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyIcz7wUH0

audience Your knowledge of your intended audience should always guide and shape your writing. If you are writing for yourself, you can just list ideas, express your thoughts, or make informal notes. If you are writing to explain an idea or concept, you should think about who needs or wants to know about your idea. To whom do you want to explain this idea? Are there likely to be novices or experts on the topic? You have both an intended audience (who you envision you are writing for) and an actual audience (who actually reads your piece). And those two audience may be exactly the same or VERY different. Mitt Romney’s 47 percent comment at a Republican dinner.

Mode, medium, genre The Mode of communication is the type of communication such as oral, visual, digital, or print. The Medium of communication is how you are communicating within that mode such as a speech would be a particular medium within a mode of communication. However, within the medium of speeches there are different Genres such as wedding toasts, presidential addresses, debates, etc. The genre you choose can be represented as the kind, type, or form of writing that you select that abides by particular rules or tendencies., but it is much more complex that. Genres are normalized ways of communicating among a group of people. Within genres, there are always certain expectations that the user or audience has for that particular genre. Genres are often a reflection of the interests, needs, and conventions of a particular group of people. Every genre has particular conventions and expectations. In college, you may write in a variety of genres, including e-mail, personal essays, lab reports, summaries, reviews of research, analytical essays, discussion board posts, and scientific or business reports. http://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/listen-to-justin-timberlakes-my-love-in-13- different-genres

context As both a reader and a writer, you must consider the rhetorical and social context. When you read an essay or other text, think about the author, the place of publication, the ongoing conversation about this topic, and the larger social, historical or cultural context. In other words, context is all the other “stuff” that exists outside the text that could affect the way that the writer composes the text. A lot of older adults don’t “get” this commercial or sketch because they lack the cultural context to understand why it’s funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRibRj770J8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

Music knowledge or generational context?

Thinking Rhetorically Does the author use personal experience? Excerpts from other sources? Statistics? What does (s)he choose to use and why? From what historical or cultural context is the article written? Why do you think this piece was written? Does it refer to an event in history? Why do you think (s)he chooses to do this? What is the author’s nationality? What cultural considerations should be considered when looking at what angle the author chooses? (e.g. The views of how the elderly should be cared for would differ from culture to culture.) e.g., in a speech by Eli Weisel about the war in Iraq, he uses the words “conflict” and “intervention” in place of the word “war”, softening the negative associations that are connected to “war”.) What organizational choices has the author made and why did (s)he make them? Why would (s)he choose to break down paragraphs or lines in a certain way? What does that say? What sentence structure does the author favor? Does the author favor complicated sentences or sentences that are more simple and easy to understand? (Sentence structure can also give clues about the author’s intended audience.) Does the sentence structure convey a certain mood or theme? (e.g., A passage that demonstrates anger may use short, choppy sentences.)