Rhetorical Situations

In the Blitzer article, “The Rhetorical Situation”, the use of rhetoric in situation is discussed in great deal. Blitzer thoroughly breaks down the concept of rhetoric in relation to situation; in fact, rhetoric, along with the response of the audience, varies greatly based on the situation it is represented in. For those of you that do not know, rhetoric is basically the act of speaking to influence an audience. He describes the situation for rhetoric as being the background information that drives the rhetoric; the situation could be anything or anywhere. Basically, authors use the element of situation to make what they are trying say sound relevant or of importance to the person reading it that might be facing a similar, if not the same, situation. However, rhetoric may not always require a situation to make itself meaningful to an audience.

Lloyd F. Blitzer defines exigence as, “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.” Personally, I saw it as being the fatal flaw or the hidden mistake; like the “Stardust” plans that were embedded into the Death Star. An exigence can be both rhetorical and non-rhetorical based on how it is presented to the reader.

The best example of something that I have watched this week in which rhetoric could be observed would be American Horror Story: Cult. In the new season, the story focuses on the effects of the presidential election on different people in society. The rhetorical situation in this work would be the situation and the time which allows for the dialogue to be better understood by the audience. The mode of this show is obviously visual since it appears on TV and must be watched and because of this the media, or method of delivery, would be digital. The audience would be people who enjoy suspenseful shows and possibly those who shared ideas like the characters. The store gives off a serious vibe through both the dialogue and the darker design. These characteristics combine to create a storyline that provides a narrative for the audience.