The Rhetorical Situations

A rhetorical situation is a term used to reference any set of circumstances that involves at least one person using some sort of communication to modify the perspective of at least one other person. Rhetoric is defined as any communication used to modify the perspectives of others. Through different types of perspectives, people view situations differently. By the use of audience, purpose, stance, context, media, design, and genre the author can create something that the audience can easily understand and relate to the topic more successfully.

In English 101, students will be required to use rhetorical situations throughout the entire class. A student may not know the exact words or definitions of the rhetorical situations, but students use them every day of their lives. During this class, a student will have to present in a group to the entire class on one of the rhetorical situations listed below and they will have to explain, define, and list examples of it. The knowledge and understanding of rhetorical situations will make constructing papers for English 101 easier for students and they will have a greater understanding of the English language from it.

Audience
When an author is creating their work, they want to keep in mind of their audience. Audience is whom the writer is trying to reach through their words. Audience differs from different types of writing because not every person reads every type of writing. So when writes, the author must know who they are writing for and deliver the paper in a way which the reader will understand.

Purpose
Whether to analyze a text, write a narrative, or persuade a reader, the author must explain in their writing why it matters. They must define and describe the point that the author is trying to make. The key part is writing what you want the reader to take away from the paper.

Stance
Stance is a person’s view of position on a topic or their attitude towards it. One must make it clear to the reader of their opinion that the author holds in regards to the issue presented. One must avoid words such as could, might, and maybe because they do not give a strong position on a topic presented.

Context
The circumstances that the setting of an event, statement, or idea that are used in writing to help clarify the paper and give the audience a better understanding of the overall topic presented is the context of the paper. Through these details, the audience will develop a better understanding of the topic presented.

Media
Through different types of media, an author can deliver his or her message differently. By print, online, or orally the delivery and design can greatly differ and create a different result to the audience who views the result. The author could choose to present their information through a Microsoft PowerPoint or a Microsoft Word document. The author should choose to present their information in the best manner that conveys their idea.

Design
The author must decide how to best present their information. On whether they deliver it in all text or whether they choose to add graphs, illustrations, or headings that will make the data stand out more and look more intriguing. Even different types of fonts and styles that are applied to fonts make it things easier to understand and comprehend. One must always think of what is most appropriate for what they have and that the design will help achieve the goals of the paper.

Genre
Writing with different types of writing styles creates different genres of writing. Knowing the genre of a topic or paper, one will know the guidelines for formatting and style of writing. Different genres include an informative, analytical, persuasive, or a narrative; these all differ in style and provide different elements of writing to their respective audiences.