Rhetorical Situation
When you hear the word "rhetoric," what do you think of? Many people have a negative reaction to the word. They picture politicians saying whatever necessary to get elected. However, rhetoric means more than that.
Rhetoric is actually the science or art of language. Therefore, when we think of the "rhetorical situation," we mean the where, when, how, and why surrounding communication. The rhetorical situation, then, refers to the purpose, audience, genre, stance, and design.
Purpose & Audience
When you signed up for this class (or any other class), you had a purpose for taking the class: either personal or professional, etc. When talking to different people about why you're taking classes, you may have explained it in different ways to different people...you may have included the same message but used different phrases, etc., depending on the audience. This is similar in writing. Writing has different purposes and it changes based on the audience.
There are several general purposes for writing, such writing to inform (newspaper articles & instruction booklets), persuade (editorials, campaign flyers, etc.) and to entertain (novels, scripts, etc.). Additionally, people often write to express themselves like in journals or letters, etc. For this class, you will be writing to inform and persuade readers.
Audience
Just like the audience in a theatre, the audience in writing refers to the people you expect to read your writing. The audience is an important consideration—in all types of communication. Think about the different ways you communicate with your family and friends and how different movies attract different audiences. Would you take a 6-year-old to see a rated R movie? Probably not. Think about how you talk to your friends or family. Would this always be appropriate in a professional setting like during a job interview? Probably not. This is why the audience is important to consider. The audience dictates everything in writing: the writing style, the genre you choose to use, the way in which you present your ideas, and the medium you choose (a blog, an essay, a business proposal, a scientific report, etc.).
It is also important to consider how much your audience knows about a topic. You don't want to assume your audience knows everything, yet, you do not want to treat your audience as if they know nothing either. Therefore, it is important to achieve a balance. In general, for this class, think of your audience as having a high school education and familiar with general topics. This means that in specific fields, some terms may need to be defined. You can also assume an unbiased audience; that is, your readers neither agree nor disagree with you before reading your essay. This is different for a controversial topic, however. For a controversial topic, assume that the audience is hostile and against your opinion. In this way, you want to gently persuade them of your stance.
Often the audience dictates the purpose, and the purpose may also dictate the audience. This is important to understand for all writing. Because this is a college class, your audience is often understood as your classmates
, although your purpose may be defined differently depending on the different assignments or courses. The combination of the two define the genre, the stance, the design, the writing style, organization, and tone. Academic writing has specific expectations (explained throughout the course), and it's important to understand these expectations in order to succeed in this class and all college classes.