The Rhetorical Situation

1. The Rhetorical Situation Context, Triangle, and Framework AP English Language and Composition Hernandez Subject Audience Purpose Context Motivation Writing is thinking.

2. Rhetoric ~ Using language effectively to persuade, inform, educate, or entertain. • Rhetorical Situation ~ The circumstances in which you communicate. What is a Rhetorical Situation?

3. The Rhetorical Situation

4. Your culture, personal characteristics and interests affect what you write about and how you write it. The Writer

5. Your age • Your experiences • Your gender • Your location • Your political beliefs • Your parents and peers • Your education • Your religion • Your ethnicity Writer: Factors which can affect your writing included

6. To + VERB • To inform • To persuade • To educate • To call to action • To entertain • To shock Purpose: Your Reason for Writing

7. Category or type of writing • Genres hinge upon purpose and the needs/expectations of the projected audience. • Examples ~ fiction, autobiographical story, news article, review, letter to the editor/editorial, rhetorical analysis, criticism, persuasive essay Genre

8. Emphasis on Author: writing for oneself in a diary or journal • Emphasis on subject: Science, journalism • Emphasis on Language: Poetry • Emphasis on Audience: Advertisements, popular fiction, or movies Different Genres

9. Target Audience • Intended Audience • Assumed Audience • Implied Audience • Many of the same factors which affect the writer also affects the audience • Age • Social class • Education • Past experience • Culture/subculture • Expectations Audience: To Whom are you Writing?

10. Misunderstanding who the audience is for the document. They often confuse themselves with the reader. Most Common Errors on Audience

11. May be broadened or narrowed depending on the length of your writing and your interest • Topics should be appropriate to the rhetorical situation you are in Subject/Topic: What you will write about

12. What is the subject? What is the occasion? Who is the audience? What is the purpose? Who is the speaker? Isn’t she cute? What is the tone?

13. Does your analysis change now that you know it advertises chocolate?

14. What is the situation, or “back story”? • What happened before the document that caused the document to be written in the first place? • The “situation” which generates the need for writing • Affected by the • Time period or timing • Location • Current events • Cultural significance Context/Motivation

15. No understanding what context is • Not telling the whole story • Not distinguishing between “conTEXT” and “conTENT” Most Common Errors on Context

16. You need to be aware that a rhetorical situation exists EVERY TIME you write. • You need to adapt your writing depending upon your purpose and your audience. What this means…

17. Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab Work Cited