Freshman Composition: Rhetorical Situations

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Rhetorical Situations

The 5-Elements of Rhetorical Situations in Writing

Experts in argument call angle, context, audience, purpose, and topic the five elements of the “rhetorical situation.” These elements give you an outline for concept-development when you first start working with your argument issue. They help you dig below the surface of the issue and determine what you are arguing about and what you are trying to achieve (Figure 1.4).

Figure 1.4 from Argument Today: Chapter 1

You've been given an assignment...an argument. When considering the rhetorical situation for this assignment, you want to gather your ideas in a way so that your issue is clear. By identifying the 5-basic-elements of the rhetorical situation, you will be better prepared for the argument you present to the audience—whether it is a written or verbal argument.

There are 5-basic-elements of the rhetorical situation that you will need to identify for any assignment: whether it is an argument or not. However, in our ENGL101 course, where all our assignments deal with defending an argument (viewpoint on an issue) you need to identify these elements before moving on to any research collection or development of ideas. You should begin by turning the elements—shown above in figure 1.4—into questions that you can answer.

Topic: What exactly will you be arguing about?

More-than-likely, your instructor has assigned you a topic. However, what is the approach to the topic s/he is looking for? What is the assignment asking you to argue for or against? Even if you do not know much about the topic now, by the time you complete your research, you will have a deeper understanding of the overall issue, which will result in a clearer view for what you will need to argue. To begin with, you simply need to go through the assignment prompt to understand what you will need to argue.

Angle: What new perspective will you bring to the table?

There have probably been numerous writings and discussions about your topic, but you want to add to the discussion and broaden the concept in a way so that you are not simply rehashing common ideas and viewpoints. You want to be original, unique, and give the audience something new to ponder to see the issue in a new light.

Purpose: What will you try to achieve in this assignment?

Often, an instructor will assign readings that correlate to the upcoming assignment. Let’s say that you have been reviewing the Classical model or argument, and this week you have been assigned a chapter from your textbook on ethical arguments. You also were assigned a section on documentation style and comma usage. Therefore, when you receive this assignment, you should assume that your instructor will want you to show proficiency in arguing ethically. Your goal will be to achieve skills in a persuasive argument using an ethical standard based on the assigned topic, with ethics as the style/mode of argument, and proper documentation (formatting) and comma usage will be necessary for showing proficiency of these concepts as well. The writing itself should succeed in persuading the audience that your viewpoint on the issue is the correct one to believe. To achieve this, you will need to strategically organize your argument using one of the models for argument: Classical, Toulmin, or Rogerian. If your reading assignments thus far have only focused on the Classical Model of argument, then you will need to see the key points dealing with that model, knowing that this argument model for writing will be another achievement your instructor will be looking for when your final version comes in for review.

Audience: Who is reading or listening to your argument?

When constructing an essay, you have a larger audience. An essay can be submitted to an instructor, newspaper, magazine, journal, etc. However, if you are assigned an argument writing to post into a discussion board forum, the audience narrows quite a bit. The audience is now limited to your classmate and instructor. Therefore, as your audience changes, so will your approach to the topic since different audiences know more-or-less about a subject than others. Keep the audience in mind as you outline your topic so that you know how much background or terminology to use or define.

Context: How will place, time, and medium shape your argument?

The context of the argument is based on when and how your audience will access the content. Your issue may not be as pertinent to an audience in one context compared to another. Given your intended audience, you will shape your argument toward persuasion of that group, in that location, in that time, in that medium.

PLACE: South/North, over-seas or North America, beach-community or a land-locked society, democratic or a communist government, cold or warm climate, and so on. What will be the physical location of the audience who will read or hear your argument? If you are writing for an online course, your audience may be a wider group than if you were writing in a brick-and-mortar classroom in a college in Indiana. However, even if the argument stems from an assignment, you need to consider who you are trying to convince to come to your side in the argument. While your paper may be a writing assignment for a letter-grade, there will also be a larger audience based on who the issue effects.

TIME: While issues come and go, perspectives of those issues linger forever in the written word, and therefore, you will want to consider two levels when thinking about the context of TIME for your writing: time of day and time in history. Will your intended audience be reading about this issue alone, at home, in bed 5-years from now? Will your audience be young adults who frequent cafes early in the mornings before going to college or work? What time will your audience be likely to read your argument? This factor will assist you in deciding your content organization, style, and design of the argument.

MEDIUM: The medium of something is how it is delivered: newspaper, video, printed essay, Facebook post, blog site message, journal submission, etc. The medium—delivery—of your argument will affect the message and organization in various ways. While you may have one expected medium for delivery of the argument, there may come a time when your medium will have to shift, and with that shift, your writing’s focus and organization must shift as well. Since we are discussing argument essays for our ENGL101 course, it is important to note that arguments today typically take place over electronic media: video, social media posts, online learning systems (Blackboard or Canvas), and blog sites. While paper is no longer the preferred mode of delivery—due to its lack of speed—it does win over electronic media in its potential for longevity. Something that is printed, published, and bound can become part of the discussion for a long time into the future. However, a video, post, or blog commentary may be lost in cyberspace, buried under the next message.