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Rhetorical Situations and Exigence - Blog 1

  • Writer: Caleb Molinari
    Caleb Molinari
  • Oct 17, 2018
  • 2 min read

When Bitzer says that rhetoric is situational he means that rhetoric is always occasioned by a situation it occurs in. Rhetoric always exists for a reason. Bitzer argues that this reason is always coupled with a situation that called for that reason. The rhetorical situation presents an opportunity for some rhetoric to exist. It is a specific combination of people, objects, and relationships that will allow some rhetorical discourse to occur.

Bitzer states that the rhetorical situation must exist for rhetorical discourse to occur. This means that the rhetorical situation occasions the rhetoric, and the rhetoric is occasioned by the rhetorical situation. Rhetoric does not exist without a rhetorical situation. Bitzer compares this relationship to a question and an answer. The question must exist for the answer to be given. If the answer was given without the question it would be meaningless. It would have no reason to exist.

Bitzer also describes rhetoric in terms of exigence. He uses exigence to describe the reason that rhetorical discourse has for existing. Exigence calls for some rhetorical discourse to exist. It describes the audience and specifies the purpose of the rhetorical discourse. Bitzer refers to exigence as “an imperfection marked by urgency.” This emphasizes that any exigence is an opportunity for action and change. Exigence is urgent because it demands action. It is not simply an opportunity, but a moment to seize control.

Bitzer states that many exigences exist in any given rhetorical situation, but not all of them are rhetorical exigences. For an exigence to be rhetorical, it must be changeable. An exigence that is not changeable is not rhetorical because rhetoric cannot affect it. Exigence and the rhetorical situation are linked. A rhetorical situation comes with some exigence that invites rhetorical discourse. Rhetorical exigence must also be changeable by rhetorical discourse. If there is some changeable exigence that can only be influenced by action and not discourse, it is not rhetorical. All of these factors mean that rhetorical exigences are opportunities where rhetoric could positively impact a situation.

This week, I read an article describing the amendments that will be voted on in the upcoming Florida election. The article presented both sides of each issue and did not support one more than another, so the genre was informative. It is available in text online, so the media is digital and the mode is text-based. The article’s audience is Floridians interested in voting in the upcoming election. The article is minimally stylized. The page is mostly headers and paragraphs of information under them. There is a colorful navigation bar across the top of the screen and several tables of information that are also colorful.

The article’s informative genre is the most telling of its purpose. It presents the same facts about both sides of each issue and does not favor one argument over the other. The website’s design is also characteristic of an informative piece. The same headings and paragraphs are given for each side so that neither one appears better than the other. The article also makes use of its digital text-based form to be accessible to as many people as possible.

 
 
 

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