RHETORICAL SITUATIONS

Any situation, in which someone is communicating, has a rhetorical situation. Rhetorical situations are the conditions that affect writing, speeches, social media, and any other form of communication. There are many aspects that determine ones rhetorical situation. These aspects include genre, audience, purpose, medium and design, context, and stance. Each is equally important in rhetorical situations.(Lunsford et al). Every rhetorical situation is different requiring one to analyze how they need to approach what they are presenting. Writing a text to a friend and writing an essay for class are two very different rhetorical situations. If someone was writing a text message the writing would be much more casual containing emoji’s and slang words not having any specific structure, but if they were writing the essay it would be much more professional with a good paragraph by paragraph structure and a much less casual tone. Rhetorical situations differ depending on what is being presented.

Genre
Genre is very important part of any rhetorical situation. A lot of things have to be put into consideration when choosing the genre of whatever someone is doing. What a person is writing about has a lot to do with the genre they choose. If they are writing a story about something that happened to them they would choose a narrative genre, but if it were a report on something that happened in the news choosing an informative genre would be more appropriate. Whichever genre is used helps show what kind of rhetorical situation someone is in. (Lunsford et al).

Audience
The audience being presented to is a big aspect of rhetorical situation. The Lunsford et al defines it audience as “Those to whom a text is directed – the people who read, listen to, or view the text.” With writing as an example; it determines what someone writes, how they phrase what they are writing, and even the length of their writing. One has to think about the relationship they have to the audience, the expectations of it, how much the audience knows about the topic, and even what genre to choose (Lunsford et al). Writing a paper for a professor will be completely different in all aspects compared to writing a letter home to one’s family. Taking the audience into consideration is a large aspect of rhetorical situations.

Purpose
The purpose of what is being written or presented is another circumstance of rhetorical situations. Purpose is simply what the author is trying to get across to the audience; it’s their goal. This goal can be just about anything from trying to persuade someone to see a topic a certain way to just wanting to entertain the audience. No matter what the purpose of something is it will affect other circumstances of the rhetorical situation like the design and genre. If the purpose is to inform someone of how smoking affects their health they might choose to use charts and graphs to get their point across. The purpose of what is being communicated is a very important circumstance of the rhetorical situation. (Lunsford et al).

Medium and Design
Medium and design are how something is conveyed to the audience. This includes speaking, writing, digitally, posters, and many other types of communication. Different mediums and designs help to get certain points across. (Norton FIELD GUIDE to Writing). If someone lost a dog, for example, posting flyers with a picture of a dog and a caption saying lost dog and address and phone number would probably be the medium and design they would use. Posting the flyers would get the point across that they want to find their dog and help get the information spread around. The medium and design one chooses reflects the rhetorical situation they are in.

Context
Context is import in every rhetorical situation. Context is the “conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length.” (Lunsford et al). When thinking about these factors one has to think about what they can add or bring to the conversation or topic. Context has a lot of conditions and factors that are very pertinent to rhetorical situations. (Lunsford et al).

Stance
The stance a person takes is the attitude they have about the specific subject they are writing and is also a crucial piece of the rhetorical situation. A person’s stance can be anything from supportive to skeptical. (Lunsford et al). If writing an informative the person writing would want to be viewed as informed and more serious than casual that way the reader feels that the information presented is accurate. If they are writing a narrative it would be completely different with the author wanting to be seen as funny or angry. Tone and stance are portrayed through each other. “Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice.” (Lunsford et al). While “Tone reflects the writer’s STANCE: critical, playful, reasonable, ironic and so on.” (Lunsford et al). Every writer or speaker has a stance on the topic they are presenting.