https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-eRycqjzbg&t=2s
From Purdue OWL:
Each individual rhetorical situation shares five basic elements with all other rhetorical situations:
- A text (i.e., an actual instance or piece of communication)
- An author (i.e., someone who uses communication)
- An audience (i.e., a recipient of communication)
- Purposes (i.e., the varied reasons both authors and audiences communicate)
- A setting (i.e., the time, place, and environment surrounding a moment of communication)
Expanded definitions of these terms (& related others) can be found below:
Rhetorical Situation — a context within which a person or people are writing, talking, or otherwise pursuing a line of communication or idealogical exchange. Whenever we write, we do so within a kind of context that helps shape our rhetorical choices. To have a more complete understanding of a “conversation,” even if that conversation is a film or piece of music, you must be aware of the text’s purpose, its author, its intended audience, its stance, and the design considerations that occur within a given genre or medium.
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Purpose — All writing has a purpose: to explore, express, entertain, inform, persuade, demonstrate knowledge; to reflect and review, to record; to communicate. Your goals as a writer will be guided by what you want to say and what you want your audience to do, to think, to feel, to believe, to understand, and so on.
Exigence — “So what?” — Exigence is an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak. In other words, what is the present cultural, societal, economic, or political relevance of the text?
Author — Considerations of the author typically relate to their ethos, their credibility as published authors and thinkers. What kind of work is the author doing / composing outside of this one text?
Audience — A body of listeners or readers, real or imagined. You must consider their background and demographic information, their interests and motivations, etc.; ultimately, you are shaping your discourse and appealing to a particular audience because you want a desired response from them.
Stance & Tone — The words you use and the other ways your text conveys an attitude toward your subject and audience. A stance or attitude can be but is not limited to objective, critical, passionate, indifferent, biased, and so on. Just as you would speak differently to a boss than a friend (and perhaps with a different posture!), you must make likewise adjustments in your choice of words, images, comparisons, and so on.
Genre —Kinds of writing. Each kind has particular conventions of style and presentation. Reports, essays, poems, letters, instructions, jokes, restaurant menus—all different genres of communication.
Medium (Media) & Design — We communicate through many media, both verbal and nonverbal: our bodies (we wave), our voices (we whisper, we shout), and various technologies (we write with a pencil, send email, tweet). A written paper is different from an oral presentation with visual aids, which is different from a blog.
