Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab

What is a Rhetorical Situation? –Rhetoric: Using language to persuade –Rhetorical Situation: The circumstances in which you communicate

The Rhetorical Situation

The Author or Writer Culture, personal characteristics and interests affect the topic and how it is written.

Factors which can affect writing include: Age Experiences Gender Location Political beliefs Interests and Attitude Education

Purpose: Your Reason For Writing What is the author trying to accomplish?

Presentation (Genre) and Tone Category or type of writing Genre hinges upon purpose and the needs or expectations of the projected audience. Examples: fiction, autobiographical story, news article, review, letter to the editor/editorial, rhetorical analysis, criticism, persuasive essay

Audience: To whom are you writing? Many of the same factors which affect the writer also affect the audience –Age –Social class –Education –Past experience –Culture/subculture –Expectations –Attitude

Text or topic The piece of writing and what it says The topic should be appropriate for the rhetorical situation.

Context (Exigence) The real life situation which generates the need for writing Context is influenced by –Time –Location –Current events –Culture

Rhetorical Situation Writer/Author Purpose Audience Topic or Text Context Culture Presentation (Genre) and Tone

What this means… You need to be aware that a rhetorical situation exists every time you write. You need to adapt your writing depending on your purpose and your audience. Knowing the rhetorical situation will give us tools to help us understand, read and write argument.