Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.

“The Rhetorical Situation” by Lloyd Bitzer discusses what a rhetorical situation includes for a situation to be identified as a rhetorical situation. Bitzer states that a rhetorical situation occurs when an issue has the possibility of being changed in a positive way. Bitzer discusses that a rhetorical situation must include rhetorical exigence, audience, and constraints. Rhetorical exigences must be receptive of positive change and can only be changed through discourse. Bitzer explains that discourse is a type of social practice or a way of thinking.

Although Bitzer continues in the third section of his essay, by outlining the general characteristics or features of a rhetorical situation, it is his discussion of sophistical rhetoric that is most interesting. (11) He notes that a sophistic situation is one where a contrived exigence is, “asserted to be real... alleged constituents are due to error or ignorance,... and [it derives] from fantasy in which exigence, audience, and constraints may all be imaginary objects of a mind at play”. (11) He concludes that, “rhetoric is distinguished from the mere craft of persuasion which, although it is a legitimate object of scientific investigation, lacks philosophical warrant as a practical discipline”. (14)

Zarefsky broke this long definition apart and repackaged it into a function statement that a rhetorical situation is a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages (Zarefsky 9), and four components, namely the audience, the occasion, the speaker and the

In “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis”, the author, Laura Bolin Carroll describes the essentials of rhetorical analysis and how it helps us make decisions in our everyday life. She begins by explaining how we unconsciously analyze and conclude our perception of people when we meet them. This introduces the readers to rhetorical analysis. Rhetorical analysis is articulating imagery or surroundings that persuade us on our choices. Carroll believes that this is an important aspect and that we can make better conclusions if we utilize rhetorical analysis on our day-to-day encounters. She further states that there are three parts in understanding a context of rhetoric. They are (1) Exigence: events that require actions

Nevertheless, discourse plays a crucial role in the rhetorical analysis process, as Grant Davie explains, the process goes from establishing the subject to identifying where discourse comes from and finally evaluating its importance and point. Moreover, the chamber of commerce is trying to get primarily affluent individuals to move down to Winter Park, Florida. Moreover, to persuade them that living in Winter Park is everyone’s stereotypical American

The rhetorical situation refers to “a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages.” (Zarefsky, 12). The rhetorical situation analysis consists of four elements: audience, occasion, speaker and speech, each assessing the quality of speech. In this essay, I will analyze the rhetorical situation of the historical speech “The Challenger Address” delivered by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

review of the rhetorical situation for my assignment three. The purpose of this assignment is to

The rhetorical situation refers to “a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages.” (Zarefsky, 12). The rhetorical situation analysis consists of four elements: audience, occasion, speaker and speech, each assessing the quality of speech. In this essay, I will analyze the rhetorical situation of the historical speech “The Challenger Address” delivered by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

I find the four standards in which rhetorical articles can be evaluated the most interesting rhetorical concept we have discussed this semester. I find these standards intriguing because how a rhetorical piece is perceived is dependent on which approach one takes. When using an artistic standard, content is analyzed by the aesthetic elements and overall appeal of the rhetorical article. This type of standard is about sense perception and may be viewed as poetic. The means of which the rhetor created a virtual experience and invited participation controls how a message is received by the audience. From a response standard, the focus is to achieve desired effects. For a piece to be effective from a response standard, the rhetorical article must

SWA#3 Audience: Rhetorical refers to language used to persuade, inform, or entertain. The rhetorical situation is the circumstances, or medium used to persuade, inform, or entertain. The rhetorical situation of this paper is an explanatory easy, used to inform my audience of my contribution, interaction, language usage, and how my role influences my discourse community. Based on the rhetorical situation of this paper, the audience would most likely consist of people that are interested in my discourse community, or uninformed about the discourse community.

In the essay, “What is Rhetoric,” Covino and Jolliffe argue that there is no true definition of rhetoric because it has been around since people could communicate and is constantly changing, but there are main points of it that have stayed with it for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Rhetoric is composed of the “five canons,” invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery and the its major elements, the rhetorical situation, the audience, and “proofs”. The five canons are more like art pieces than anything else, mostly because the methods of determining them are so vague and abstract. Invention is the art of generating effective material; it requires the speaker to asses the audience to determine what he will write. Arrangement

Keith Grant-Davie's essay on rhetorical situations is an in depth explanation of rhetorical situations. A rhetorical situation is when a rhetorician or writer wants to change the way an audience see's or understands something by using discourse. Grant-Davie describes the four main parts of a rhetorical situation as being the rhetor, an audience, exigence, and constraints. The rhetor, is the speaker or producer that is trying to get an idea into the audiences head. The audience is anyone who is taking in the material that the rhetor is advertising. Exigence is the "problem" that the rhetor is addressing; the whole reason discourse was brought to light. Finally constraints are the boundaries the rhetor follows to butter up the audience. They

The first chapter introduced the reader to the art of rhetoric. He describes how rhetoric works through real life examples. He demonstrates ways that rhetoric persuades us like, argument from strength, and seduction. He tells the reader that the sole purpose of arguing is to persuade the audience. He showed that the chief purpose of arguing is to also achieve consensus, a shared faith in a choice.

In the view of Lloyd Blitzer, he explains what makes situations rhetorical that is identical to a “moral act”. His definition of a moral act is when you act or preform by any situation. He shows examples of different types of rhetorical analysis that happened in the past. Blitzer states that a rhetorical analysis is a change in reality. Therefore, he is saying that it is an action or new information that is to be addressed or known. He states that rhetorical analysis should be followed by a rhetorical method. Blitzer mentioned that there are three main components when writing a rhetorical analysis. One component to look for is referred to as exigence. Exigence is the reason you are proving something. Audience is the part of a rhetorical analysis that involves people that you are trying to get to understand your situation. Lloyd stated that everyone is being capable by the change of speech. From my perspective, Blitzer’s rhetorical audience consists only of people who are more likely influenced by discourse and have the possibility of becoming mediators of change. The final component is constraint. Constraint deals with limitation and restrictions in a rhetorical analysis. Charleston Hope provides a great opportunity to become involved and assist with its mission throughout the community.