Journal - 6

A "rhetorical situation", according to Bitzer, is not an idle one. As well, he does not believe that "a rhetorical discourse must be embedded in historic context...". Some people felt that studying "rhetoric and composition" from the past should focus on the works of Sophists, such as Plato and Aristotle. However, others feel that looking at the works of women and minorities should be studied to find new perspectives on the field. Today, the field of rhetoric focuses on: "whether writing constructs or only transmits knowledge, whether writing is social or individual, what the province of rhetoric is, who can be a writer or rhetor, and what the relative importance of ethos, pathos, adn logos today."

When Blitzer speaks of a "rhetorical situation", he wants to know how the speaker or writer is creating rhetoric in his or her work. If a writer or speaker is using rhetoric in his or her work, then there must be a "rhetorical situation". There can be a rhetorical situation if the rhetorical content comes as a comment or response to a situation; if a speech is given with significance to the use of rhetoric in the work; if there is any sign of "rhetorical discrouse" apparent in a given situation; as well, the situation can control the use of or need for rhetoric, leaving the possibility of any situation becoming a "rhetorical" one.

As Bitzer says, "...there are three constituents of any rhetorical situation: the first is the exigence; the second and third are elements of the complex, namely the audience to be constrained in decision and action, and the constraints which influence the rhetor and can be brought to bear upon the audience. Any exigence is an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be." He tells us that exigence is when there is a glitch in the author's speech or writing, some information that is wrongly presented due to the author's lack of time spent writing or creating his or her work. For example, if someone is teaching a math problem and accidentally tries to multiply two numbers in his/her head quickly, creating a wrong answer, we would have an example of exigence. The teacher, in trying to get through the minute steps of a problem quickly, has given wrong information.