The Rhetorical Situation*

Created by Dr. Gary Cale

for the Language, Literature
and the Arts Department

Elements of the Rhetorical

Situation
ost composition theorists agree that five

Writer
ements compose the rhetorical situation:
riter, purpose, audience, topic and context.Purpose
n understanding of each of these elements
nd its relationship to all the other elements Audience
ill help you through-out the writing process.
Topic
Context

The Writer
The writer has the most important role in the
rhetorical situation because the writer ultimately
decides what goes into his or her paperunless of
course an editor makes those decisions.
Inexperienced writers often view writing as a totally
egocentric activity. They produce what theorists call
writer-based prose,
which serves the purposes of the writer, but not
necessarily the reader.
Just as authors must be knowledgeable about the
intended readers, authors must be knowledgeable
about their own personal characteristics, points of
view, assumptions, and interests. These elements
help determine the kind of writing produced. In

The Writer
Who you are (at the time you begin to write)
obviously determines to a large degree what kind of
paper you can or will write. We are all a product of
our socialization. Some of the factorsthis list is
not exhaustivethat help determine what you think
about on any given subject include the following:
your age,
your experiences,
your gender,
your political beliefs,
your education,
your parents and peers,
your religion.

The Writer
For instance, I am a 50-year-old white American
male professor with a doctorate in education for
democratic social change, educated at the tail end
of the 1960s, who has taught for almost 30 years
and whose parents were poorly paid teachers. How
might I view the value of education? How might I
view traditional schooling practices? How might I
view the politics of education? How might I view
teacher pay?

The Writer
The quick (and short) answer is that I highly value
education, but hate schooling, find most politicians
to be hypocrites when it comes to public education
in particular, and think most teachers are
underpaid.
Is that what you thought? If so, congratulate
yourself. If not, then what led you to a different
conclusion?
How I write (and think) is a reflection of what I have
experienced, read, and been taught. What we see
(think and write, as well) is what weve been
trained or socialized to see. And that means all of
us have blind spots; we have unchallenged
assumptions about the world that colors how we
think and write. Recognizing and challenging our

The Writer
Lets consider a few other factors in a bit more
detail. Jot down answers to the following questions.
There are no right answers.
AgeHow might a sixty-year-old would write about
social security reform as opposed to an eighteenyear-old?
ExperiencesHow might someone who participated
in 1960s street protest write about them as opposed
to someone who had not?
Socio-economic classHow might a CEO write about
the subject of downsizing differently than a factory
worker?
Obviously, people change their mind, so it is

The Writer
So, lets say you are writing a paper about buying a
new car, the reinstatement of the draft, or the cost
of college. How might such factors as your age,
socio-economic class, experiences, family life and so
on affect the kind of information you would include
or the positions you take?

Purpose
The second element we will explore is purpose.
Successful writers have a clear purpose in mind when
they write. Students forced to take composition classes
often write without a clear purpose in mind. (Im
partially kidding. At the very least students are trying
to satisfy a requirement in order to pass a class.)
However, normally, writers know why they are writing
and what effect they want to have on their audience.
They have a clear reason for writing. This is why we
study composition.

Purpose
Knowing your reason for writing is of paramount
importance. Writing purposes can be best expressed
in an infinitive statement: to + verb. In the past, I
have written
to inform,
to persuade,
to tell a story,
to describe,
to entertain,
to shock.
Of course, the list above is not exhaustive, but it
does cover many of the kinds of writing you have
been asked to do in our classes. Think about the
kinds of writing you have been asked to do in high
school, college, or on the job.

Purpose
Let me expand on just a few of these purposes. (And by the way,
this concept applies to both written and spoken situations.)
Recently I wrote to inform a group of adult educators about the
results of an action research project I had conducted. (Recently
my kids spoke to inform me about a special feature on The Matrix
DVD.)
During the last election I wrote to persuade newspaper readers to
vote for a certain candidate. (Yesterday my daughter tried to
persuade me that she could do three sports in the same season.)
Just last week I composed a blistering letter to some of my lazier
online students, partially designed to provoke them into action.
(Recently my son tried to provoke me into discussing a closed
topic.)

Purpose and Genre

Related to purpose is genre. A genre is a category of
writing. For example, you might be asked to write
fiction, an autobiographical narrative or story, a
news article, a review, an editorial, a process
analysis or an argumentative essay. The genre you
choose hinges upon your purpose and the needs of
the audience or intended readers.
J.K. Rowling, an author of childrens stories, writes to
entertain her audience. Molly Ivins, a political writer,
attempts to persuade her readers to accept her
ideas and to engage in political activity.
Genres in this digital world of communication also
include text-messaging, emailing, blogging, and
more. What are you asked to do in each? How are
the expectations different or similar? How does the

Purpose
Successful writers, in brief, always have a purpose in mind
when they write. Successful students always understand the
purpose of the writing assignment they have been given. It
does you no good to write an informative paper (to inform) if
you were supposed to write an argumentative paper (to argue
for your position and against someone elses position). So,
pay attention to both purpose and genre.
Understanding the purpose of the assignment does not
guarantee a successful paper, but it does help. The same goes
for essay exams. Learning to read the code of essay exam
questions is invaluable. Summarize the main points of
authors A and B is not the same thing as contrast the main
points of authors A and B, is it?

Audience
The audience or intended readers, the group you
are writing for, is affected by many of the same
factors that influence the writer. Notice I wrote
group in the sentence above. Too often in
composition classes students imagine the teacher
as their only audience. (Too often, as well, teachers
give assignments where they clearly are the only
possible audience. We need to work on that, even
as you work on writing papers for a broader
audience.) So, when you formulate your audience
statements, carefully consider who might enjoy or
benefit from your paper. If the only person you can
think of is the teacher, you might produce a piece of
writing with limited significance. Successful writers

Audience
But for the moment, lets assume that you have a wider, or
at least different, audience in mind. So, what do you need to
consider about your audience in order to write effectively?
Well, at a minimum, you need to consider the following:
age,
social group memberships,
education,
group beliefs.
Why do any of these matter? Well, have you ever felt like
someone was talking down to you, treating you as if you
were a child? How did that make you feel? Did you listen?
Did the points he or she was trying to make resonant with
you? Or did you ignore them, darkly muttering under your
breath about what a jerk he or she was? If you are anything
like me, I would guess that the latter is true.

Audience
So, lets explore this concept in a bit more depth.
Lets say that you recently attended a fairly wild
party, perhaps even a kegger. How might you write
a letter to your parents about this party? To your
best friend from high school? To your grandmother?
To your priest?
How might you write a pamphlet about sexual
harassment for elementary school children,
fraternity brothers/sorority sisters, or work
supervisors?
Jot down the differences we might expect to find in
these letters. Jot down the differences we might
expect to find in these pamphlets. What accounts

Audience
Undoubtedly, some of you are quite willing to tell the truth
no matter what and so your letters would be basically the
same. Maybe wildness at a party would not bother your
grandmother, parents, or priest. But, I would be willing to
bet that many of you would chose your words very carefully.
You would include some details and omit others. Does that
make sense?
The same goes with the pamphlet on sexual harassment.
Elementary school children cannot understand concepts like
hostile work/educational environment or quid pro quo.
Clearly, for this audience the vocabulary would need to be
simpler and the examples given would need to be very
concrete and based on life experiences of young children.
Knowing as much as you can about your intended readers
and their needs is clearly important.

Topic
When you are given an assignment, what is the first
thing you think about? Id be willing to bet that the
topic is first thing you think aboutunless of course
your professor assigned the topic. When coming up
with your own topic, you should consider the
requirements of the writing assignment (genre,
purpose immediately should come to mind), the
required length of the paper, and the complexity of
the issue.
Many students attempt to write papers on very
broad topicswhich usually produces a very
general paper. Narrowing the topic, making it more
specific and focused, therefore, is a necessary first
step towards building a more coherent, complete,

Topic
So, lets pretend that you have been given a three-page
limit. In your notebook jot down which of these topics
might be too broad? Which might be too narrow? What
might be just right? (Sounds a bit like Goldilocks and the
Three Bears, doesnt it?) What factors did you weigh in
making your decision? Jot down your reasoning.
The causes of global poverty
The need for a new stoplight
The American social security crisis
The history of the Viet Nam war
The review of a new movie
A personal narrative

Topic
The causes of global poverty, the American social
security crisis,
and the history of the Viet Nam war are broad topics
and would undoubtedly require book-length studies:
However, the following topics should be narrow
enough to work:
the need for a new stoplight, the review of a new
movie, or a personal narrative.
Of course, the more complex the topic, the longer
the paper would need to be to cover all aspects. So,
even seemingly simple topics might take more
space than you have been given in the assignment.

Context
Lastly, we must consider the context. Context is
defined as the situation or occasion that
generates the need for writing. The context is
affected by the time period, location, current
events, and the cultural significance of events or
people under consideration.
For example, 2001 newspaper editorials about
terrorism were motivated by the 9-11 attacks.
Before this, terrorism was treated as an abstract
possibility. Articles about Iraqi civilian deaths are
written with different purposes in the United States
than those published in Iraqi newspapers.
Nanotechnology is written about much differently
today than it was in the 1990s. Keeping up-to-date

Context
In outside-of-school rhetorical situations, the topic, purpose,
writer, and audience are all affected by what is going on in
the world or local community. We write because we feel
compelled to speak or write. Discovering that the College is
considering raising tuition may prompt you to write the
Board of Trustees.
Clearly, if the paper has been assigned by a teacher, the
occasion is generated by your teacher. You are not writing
because you want to write (in many cases, anyway), but
because you have been required to write. In that case, you
must find a way to engage yourself in a topic that you do not
find interested. Dull papers are often the product of
disengaged students.

So What? And What Next?

In short, you need to be aware that a rhetorical situation exists
EVERY TIME you sit down to write. Each time you write, whether it
is for your professor or for the wider public, you need to examine
all the elements of the rhetorical situation carefully in order to
meet the needs of your audience.
Until you understand the nuances of the rhetorical situation, at
best you will be simply guessing as to what you should or should
not include in an essay. The more you know about the rhetorical
situation, the better chance you have of gaining control of your
own work.
Please print out this last slide if you wish 16-hour credit. Present
this slide and your notes to your teacher. This workshop is worth
1.5 hours.

So What? And What Next?

Undoubtedly you are currently working on papers for your
composition class and perhaps other classes as well. Before
you turn in those papers, make sure that you have carefully
considered all five elements. If the deadline is close at
hand, show your teacher evidence that you have used this
workshop to guide your thinking about your paper.
Please print out this last slide if you wish 16-hour credit.
Present this slide and your notes to your teacher. This
workshop is worth 1.5 hours.
If you have questions or comments, please send email to
gary_cale@jccmi.edu. Thanks.