Rhetorical Situations Essay

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Rhetorical Situations: An Everyday Life Occurrence Many people are not aware that rhetorical situations are seen in everyday life. This concept can be described with many examples, whether it is the attorney that shapes his language to convince a jury of his client's innocence or a presidential candidate speaking to the US citizens. Four constituents, according to Grant-Davie, are considered when looking at a rhetorical situation. They include exigence, rhetors, audiences and constraints. We will explore these more in-depth throughout this essay and will also focus on the writing process in regard to how these parts interact with each other during that process. Rhetorical Situations Defined To understand the concept of rhetorical situation there are a few definitions that we should discuss first. Grant-Davie (2011) defines rhetorical situation as "an activity, an event, or situation when it is shaped by language or communication that tries to get people to do something" (p. 101) or simply the circumstances in which communication occurs. Rhetoric is using language effectively to persuade, inform, educate, or entertain. The language or communication that denotes a rhetorical situation is called discourse. As referenced above, the four constituents seen in rhetorical situations are exigence, rhetors, audience and constraints. Exigence is the “problem or need that can be addressed by communication” (Grant-Davie, 2011, p.102). Rhetors are the people who generate the rhetorical situation. It is important in the reading and writing process to acknowledge the author’s purpose for writing as well as the planned audience; critical thinking during reading is helpful in understanding the motivation for writing. Constraints can include so many different things and are difficult to define, but Bitzer defines them as "persons, events, objects and relations which are parts of
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