This week we are going to revisit the concepts introduced in discussed in the Week Five, Chapter 5 in Dam Good Argument. In this chapter, the authors introduce the concept of the Rhetorical Situation as espoused by Lloyd Bitzer. He claims, “…there are three parts
to understanding the context of a rhetorical moment: exigence, audience, and constraints.”
This week we are going to put this claim to the test by using his lens to examine a famous speech of your choosing to find the rhetorical situation in which this discourse was created.
The first step of this discussion asks you to take a closer look at Bitzer’s claim in this chapter from University of Saskatchewan’s textbook called Effective Professional Communication: A Rhetorical Approach. Click here to review this chapter. https://openpress.usask.ca/rcm200/chapter/the-rhetorical-situation/
Then, choose one of the 40 famous speeches throughout history. Click here to view 40 famous speeches throughout history. https://highspark.co/famous-persuasive-speeches/
Read the speech and listen to the speech if you can.
In your video discussion this week, you are asked to explain the rhetorical situation in which the speech you have chosen was delivered.
To do so, introduce the speech you have chosen and explain the historical backdrop in which it was given.
Then, examine the rhetorical exigence of the speech. What is the speaker trying to fix? “Is it a defect, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be?” (Bitzer, 1968, 6).
After examining the rhetorical exigence, report on the rhetorical audience. “…who are capable of being influenced by [this] discourse and being mediators of change”? (8). Explain who the rhetor was aiming the message to and why?
Then, analyze the constraints inherent in the speech. What are the beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests or motives that limit the rhetor’s message.
Finally, based on your examination of this speech, what is your assessment of the effectiveness of this rhetorical situation? Why or why not?
