Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents

What is a rhetorical situation and what are its constituents?

A rhetorical situation is “the context in which speakers or writers create rhetorical discourse” (104). It is also known as “a situation where a speaker or writer sees a need to change reality and sees that the change may be effected through rhetorical discourse” (105). The constituents are those people and things involved in the situation.

How can these constituents be defined? What is a compound rhetorical situation?

The constituents can be defined as exactly what they are. The writer, the reader, others that are involved, the situation itself, objects and the relations of all of those things.

A compound rhetorical situation that involves one subject but more than one rhetor and more than one audience member.

how is it useful for college student writers like yourself to be aware of the rhetorical situation and the constraints it creates?

If a college student is aware of rhetorical situations and the opportunities that they provide they will be able to write better for their audience. If a writer is aware of the situation and constraints then they will be able to write better for the audience that they are writing for ie their peers or professors. If one is aware of the audience they are writing for they should be able to get better reactions from the readers.