1. The Rhetorical
Situation
The What?
ENC 3241 Day 3: Clayton Benjamin

2. What is Rhetoric?
 “The art of persuasion.”
 More broadly: “The newer sense of
“rhetoric” implies that whenever humans
communicate with other humans, they
seek to elicit any number of responses
ranging from understanding to emotional
reaction to agreement to enlightenment
or any one of almost limitless
reactions,”OWL Purdue

3. What is the “Rhetorical
Situation?”
 Elements:
◦ Author:
◦ Text
◦ Context
◦ Audience

4. Author
 Someone who uses communication for a
purpose.
◦ Eg: entertain, perform, persuade, educate,
instruct, sadden, punish...
 Factors of authorship:
◦ Age
◦ Income
◦ Expertise
◦ Location

5. Text
 The medium/media used to disseminate
the author’s intention.
◦ Eg: TV commercial, instruction manual,
speech, email, letter, book, YouTube video,
Prezi, PowerPoint, etc.

6. Context
 The situation in which the “writing” is
taking place.
◦ Eg: Time, Place, Culture, Online/Offline,
Current Events…

7. Audience
 The people who will see or hear the
message.
 Audience factors
◦ Socio-Economic Status
◦ Knowledge/Expertise/Education/Subject
Familiarity
◦ Political/Religious views
◦ Age
◦ Language
◦ Expectations

9. Applying Rhet Situation In Tech
Comm
 User Centered Design: design your
documents around your user (audience)!
 Who is your audience?
 What prompted the need for the
information you need to communicate?
(purpose)
 Who are you? (author)
 Which medium should be used to
effectively communicate? (text)

10. Due Next Time:
 Read Chapter 2!