Understanding Writing:
The Rhetorical Situation
Brought to you by the Purdue
University Online Writing Lab
What is a Rhetorical Situation?
– Rhetoric: Using language effectively to
persuade, inform, educate, or entertain
– Rhetorical Situation: The circumstances in
which you communicate.
The Rhetorical Situation
The Writer
• Your culture, personal characteristics and
interests affect what you write about and
how you write it.
Writer: Factors which can affect
your writing include:
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Your age
Your experiences
Your gender
Your location
Your political beliefs
Your parents and peers
Your education
Purpose: Your Reason For Writing
Genre
• Category or type of writing
• Genres hinge upon purpose and the
needs/expectations of the projected
audience.
• Examples: fiction, autobiographical story,
news article, review, letter to the
editor/editorial, rhetorical analysis,
criticism, persuasive essay
Audience: To Whom are you Writing?
• Many of the same factors
which affect the writer also
affect the audience
– Age
– Social class
– Education
– Past experience
– Culture/subculture
– Expectations
Topic: What you will write about
• May be broadened or narrowed
depending on the length of your writing
and your interest
• Topics should be appropriate to the
rhetorical situation you are in
Context
• The “situation” which generates the need
for writing
• Affected by the
– Time period or timing
– Location
– Current events
– Cultural significance
Rhetorical Situation
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Writer
Purpose
Audience
Topic
Context
Culture
What this means…
• You need to be aware that a rhetorical
situation exists every time you write.
• You need to adapt your writing depending
on your purpose and your audience.
The Rhetorical Situation:
Five Components of
Persuasion
Preparation for Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetoric
• The study of effective speaking and
writing
• The art of persuasion
Rhetorical Analysis
The Rhetorical Situation
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P: purpose
A: audience
P: pathos
E: ethos
L: logos
Rhetorical Analysis
Five concepts to help explore
any rhetorical situation
Purpose
• What change does the writer/speaker
want to effect?
• IMPORTANT: To ensure you have a clear
understanding of purpose, you should be
able to express this in terms of physical,
tangible action.
• A writer may have multiple purposes
Rhetorical Analysis
Audience
• All attempts to persuade must take into
account the audience
• “Audience” includes three things:
• knowledge of audience’s values
• opportune timing
• proper fit with situation
Rhetorical Analysis
Appeals
• Definition: Approaches to or ways of
persuading a reader or listener
• Aristotle listed three appeals:
– Logos
– Pathos
– Ethos
Rhetorical Analysis
Logos
• Appeal to logic or reason; logical
• Very rarely effective in persuasion
• “Reason is, and ought only to be, slave to
the passions.” —David Hume
Rhetorical Analysis
Common Logical Appeals
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Incontrovertible, indisputable facts
Statistics
Syllogistic structure
CAUTION: Many appeals are clothed in
logical apparel but are NOT pure reason.
– Evidence that relies on interpretation is not,
strictly speaking, an appeal to logos.
Rhetorical Analysis
Ethos
• Appeal of the writer’s character,
credibility, trustworthiness (ethical)
• Attempts to gain the respect of the
audience
• Often appeals to shared values—i.e.,
says “I’m one of you.”
Rhetorical Analysis
Common Ethical Appeals
• Levels of diction: how a writer/speaker
chooses words to address a particular
audience
• Citing authorities (e.g., Einstein)
• Appearing humble, down to earth
• Employing humor
• Alluding to cultural, religious, literary
values held by the audience
Rhetorical Analysis
Pathos
• Appeal to emotion; passionate (pathetic)
• Attempts to draw on an audience’s pity,
anger, hatred, etc.
• Powerful, truly persuasive speaking and
writing is always filled with pathos
Rhetorical Analysis
Common Emotional Appeals
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Diction
Imagery
Metaphor
Syntax
(*especially if syntax supports meaning)
Rhetorical Analysis
Using It All
• It is possible—even preferable—for a
writer or speaker to make multiple
appeals at the same time.
• Use information about the rhetorical
situation to analyze rhetoric question and
to create your own arguments
Rhetorical Analysis