Rhetorical Situation and Appeals

While rhetoric is the art of using language effectively to communicate and/or persuade, the rhetorical situation refers to the specific circumstances that bring the text into existence. In other words, whenever we produce or encounter a “text,” we face a rhetorical situation. We must consider the author, the audience, the purpose, the topic, and the context.

By carefully considering the rhetorical situation for texts, we develop into not only more astute readers of texts but also more effective authors of texts.

The Five Aspects of the Rhetorical Situation

	The author is influenced by his or her culture, personal characteristics, and interests, which all affect what he or she writes about and how he or she writes it. Other factors that can influence the author include age, experiences, gender, location, nationality, political beliefs, self-identity, social identity, community, education.
	Every text is constructed for an intended or target audience, even though in reality, many others who are not in the target audience will most likely read and encounter the text. Hence, many of the factors that influence the author will also affect the audience.
	Although all text is created generally to communicate, every text is produced with a specific purpose e.g. to persuade, educate, inform, entertain, shock, or call to action. The genre of the text gives insight into its purpose. For example, a novel’s primary purpose may be to entertain; a journalistic article may be created primarily to inform and educate; a print advertisement may primarily aim to persuade and prompt action
	The topic is simply what a text is about—the matter or issue the text is engaging. The nature and scope of the topic must be appropriate to the rhetorical situation in which an author is writing.
	The context (or setting) is the “situation” that generates the need for writing, like a current event, for example. Every text is influenced by and engages various contexts: historical, geographic, national, social, economic, cultural, and so on. Essentially, the author is responding to and engaging with relevant contexts via the text with the intention of impacting his or her audience in a particular way. Additionally, context often provides us with the ability to apply ideas explored in a text.

Rhetorical Appeals: Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle

Aristotle taught that a speaker’s ability to persuade an audience is based on how well the speaker appeals to that audience in three different areas: logos, ethos, and pathos. Considered together, these appeals form what later rhetoricians have called the rhetorical triangle.

Logos, ethos, and pathos are important components of all writing, whether we are aware of them or not, and by learning to recognize them in the writing of others and in our own, we can create texts that appeal to readers on many different levels.

Also see Argumentation and Logical Fallacies.