Sie sind auf Seite 1von 4

Selina Pea

Professor Doutherd
English 5M
8 December 2017

Awareness of the Rhetorical Situation

For this course, an important assignment students completed was the rhetorical analysis.
According to Texas A&M Universitys writing center, A rhetorical analysis is an essay that
breaks a work of nonfiction into parts and then explains how the parts work together to create a
certain effectwhether to persuade, entertain or inform. This quote defines what a rhetorical
analysis is which is analyzing a type of writing; such as, a research essay, persuasive essay, or
informative essay. For this course, students analyzed a past essay and compared it to the type of
writing for their major by using the rhetorical situation as a guide. The rhetorical analysis was
the most impactful assignment because it led students to understand the concept of rhetorical
situation. Awareness of the rhetorical situation is the most important skill because it allows
students to write effectively within a classroom and work environment.
Before learning why the rhetorical situation is an important concept, students first had to
learn the components that make a rhetorical situation. In the article Rhetorical Situations and
Their Constituents by Keith Grant-Davie, the author states that rhetorical situation is composed
by: (1) exigence, which is the need to writing,(2) rhetors, who are the people that generate them,
(3) audience, who it is meant for, and (4) constraints, which are the writers limitations (Davie
347). Once students understood these key components of the rhetorical situation, they were able
to get a better understanding by analyzing these components from a past essay and the type of
writing in their field. Knowing these components is important because it will help students be
aware of their audience and limitations, which further helps them write a better essay.
While writing, it is important to be aware of the rhetorical exigence because it is the
reason, issue, or matter of motivation of the discourse (written or spoken communication or
debate). Davie best explains exigence by using three questions, What is the discourse about? [,]
why is the discourse needed? [and] what is the discourse trying to accomplish? (Davie
352-353). If students were to ask themselves these three questions while writing, the first
question will help students address their topic, issue, and list their facts and definitions. The
second question will help the writer determine the cause and values for writing, and the third
question helps them define the goals for the discourse. If students are aware of the rhetorical
exigence, they will know why they are writing, either to persuade or inform their audience about
a particular issue.
By doing the rhetorical analysis students got a better understanding of exigence by
analyzing it from their past essay and writing in their major. For example, one student in
particular chose her History Internal Assessment (research essay) and her major which is
business. Since the student had to analyze the exigence, she found that her exigence for her IA
was to demonstrate skill and knowledge. In contrast, for writing in the business field, she became
aware that the exigence was to persuade. Therefore, by reading Rhetorical Situations and Their
Constituents students first became aware of what is exigence, and by doing the assignment they
were able to get a deeper understanding since they had to analyze the exigence within two
different discourse communities.
Another key component from rhetorical situation is rhetors, which is an important
component to be aware of. According to Davie, rhetors [are] the people who generate them
and are the ones responsible for their discourse, such as teachers or bosses (Davie 347). It is
important for students to be aware of who their rhetors are so they know how to format, address,
or complete the rhetors writing requirements. For example, in this course students were required
to do reading responses that required a specific format, use impersonal language in their writing,
write with authority, and use MLA format. If the students did not adapt to these rules, their rhetor
(teacher) would penalize them for not using the right ones.
Similar to rhetors, the audience is another component from rhetorical situation that
students should be aware of. According to Davie, the audience can be the rhetor; but, can have a
secondary audience that act collaboratively or as individuals, audiences about whom the rhetor
knows little, or audiences that exist only in the rhetors mind(Davie 355). This quote implies
that an audience can be anyone. For this reason, it is important for students to be aware of who
their audience is, so they can figure out how they should address their essay. For example, if
students are aware of their audience, they would then know if they should write with formal or
informal, personal or impersonal language, or if they are just trying to inform or persuade.
Overall, it is important to know who the audience is because it helps students determine what
type of language they should use when writing.
The last important component from rhetorical situation that students should be aware of
are the constraints. According to Davie, constraints are all factors in the situation, aside from
the rhetor and the audience, that may lead the audience to be either more or less sympathetic to
the discourse (Davie 357). This quote implies that the constraints are the writers limitations
since the audience becomes more or less sympathetic. It is important for students to be aware of
their constraints while writing or in a speech because it allows them to avoid them or improve
them. For example, if a student is writing a research essay their constraints can be that they used
unreliable sources, or that their data does not support their argument. Therefore, if a student
knows this, they would be able to change their sources and data making their essay more credible
and well written.
If students are aware of what rhetorical situation is, they will be aware of what role they
play when making a persuasive speech, essay, or debate. In the article Davie states that
...rhetors who can define the fundamental issues represented by a superficial subject matter-and
persuade audiences to engage in those issues-is in a position to maintain decisive control over the
field of debate (Davie 352). This quote implies that if the rhetors (students) focus more on the
deeper meanings behind a issue, they will be able to persuade their audience. While doing a
debate or persuasive speech, it is important for students to know who their audience is to know if
their information is effective. If student's information is effective and focuses on the most
important points, they will have a higher chance of winning a debate. In addition, the author
states that ...the best rhetorical strategy for a negative constraint would be to address it directly
and try to disarm it-or even try to turn it into a positive constraint-or to say nothing about it and
hope that the audience over looks it too (Davie 358). This quote implies that students should be
aware of their limitations and overcome them by stating them directly, or not mentioning them at
all. If students are aware of their limitations, they will be prepared to respond back to their
opponent when presented conflicting facts.
In addition, if students understand the importance of a rhetorical situation, they would be
able to use the components as a checklist throughout their drafts before turning in a assignment
for a particular class or job. For example, if a student analyzes what is their exigence, audience,
rhetors, and constraints before turning in their final draft, they would be able to determine if its a
good essay. Students would be able to determine if its a good essay because they would be
aware of why they are writing, who is grading it, who it's directed to, and what are their
limitations. By knowing this, students would know how to address their essay with either being
formal, informal, persuasive, or informative.
Also, a benefit about knowing what is a rhetorical situation is that the components can be
used in either a History or English class, or in a Business or Child Development field. According
to Activity Theory: An Introduction for the Writing Classroom by Donna Kain and Elizabeth
Wardle, an activity system is a group of people who share common objects or motives,..[and] the
parts that make up an activity system are subjects, motives, objects, outcomes, objectives, and
tools (Kain & Wardle 277). This reading is important because it allowed students to see that
different communities can share similarities. For example, in all four communities (History class,
English class, Business field, and Child Development field) they could all can be working on a
research paper that follows similar guidelines. All of these communities would use similar tools
such as computers, books, or articles. All of their motives can be to either demonstrate
knowledge, or to persuade their audience. And a common rule would be to not plagiarize. If
students are aware that different communities share similar writing guidelines, it would be easier
for them to adapt to new ones.
In conclusion, doing the rhetorical analysis was the most important assignment because
students were able to analyze the rhetorical situation within their writing. Awareness of the
rhetorical situation is important because the components are what leads to constructing a good
essay. Exigence allows students to know why they are writing, making them address their topics,
keywords, important facts, or issues within their essays. Awareness of rhetors and audience helps
students determine how they must address their essay, and what certain formats or rules they
must follow. In addition, awareness of their constraints is important because it allows them to
avoid or know what to do with their limitations. By knowing about the rhetorical situation,
students would know what role to play when working on a persuasive speech or debate. Also,
awareness of the rhetorical situation allows students to use as a checklist whenever they are
working on an essay. This concept can be used within multiple communities;such as, a English
class, history class, or in a business work environment. For this reason, awareness of the
rhetorical situation is the most important skill within the course because it can be used as a guide
towards writing a good essay.
Work Cited
Grant-Davie, Keith. Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents. Rhetoric Review 15.2
(1997): 264-70. Print.

Kain, Donna, and Elizabeth Wardle. Activity Theory: An Introduction for the Writing
Classroom.

Rhetorical Analysis. ATM University Writing Center. Web. 2017.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen