Rhetorical Situations

Speaker (Writer/Rhetor)

ETHOS & PERSONA

- establishes credibility

- establishes persona (not the author; the speaker)

answers:

- who are they, what are their beliefs and values

- are they credible, what credentials

- what is their knowledge base

- does the writer come across as reliable

Audience (Reader/Listener)

Appeal & Pathos

- what the writer needs to consider about the audience

answers:

- who will hear/read the piece

- what do you know about this group

- what do they know, not know?

- what are their values

- which tools will be the most persuasive for this particular audience

Subject (Message/Content)

Logos, Thesis, Reason & Invention

Purpose

- The authors goal/reason for writing

- what they want the audience to believe or do

- how they want you to feel about the topic & argument

- when u are the writer: whats your intent w/ the piece, what do you want the audience to feel, do, or think

Occasion (Context/Situation/Exigence)

- What prompted the writer to create the piece

- Consider: why is the opportune moment for the piece (kairos), why is this approach appropriate for the audience (decorum), what is the social/historical/political context?

Genre (the text under consideration)

The style or form of writing: essay, speech, excerpt, journal, article, autobiography, editorial, research paper, lab report, college app, memoir

how to understand rhetorical situation

- identify who the communicator is

- identify the issue

- identify the communicator's purpose

- identify the medium or method of communication

- identify who the audience is

how to identify rhetorical appeals

- ethos (author's credibility)

- pathos (author's appeal to emotion)

- logos (appeal to logic and reasoning)

- kairos (appropriate and relevant timing of subject matter)

rhetorical mode of discourses:

classification/division

- to put items in categories

- to clarify comparison of items in a category

- to divide items by characteristics

rhetorical mode of discourses:

cause/effect

- to lead from one item to another

- to argue logic of evidence of action

rhetorical mode of discourses:

description

- to give details

- to create a picture

rhetorical mode of discourses:

comparison/contrast

- to draw distinctions between items

- to find common ground

rhetorical mode of discourses:

definition

- to clarify meaning

- to set foundation of argument

- to give background

rhetorical mode of discourses:

narration

- introductions

- to tell a story that makes a point

- to give background on people or event

- to show sequence of events

rhetorical mode of discourses:

process

- to shop steps of action

- to explain how to do something

rhetorical mode of discourses:

illustration/exemplification

- to clarify a point or concept

- to give a picture of specific instance

- to make the abstract real

rhetorical mode of discourses:

persuasion

- to offer a reasoned opinion

- to demonstrate that the assertions offered are valid

SOAPSTone:

S: Speaker and Subject

who is the speaker, what is the persona they create

SOAPSTone:

O: Occasion

what is the context of this text? how is it timely to the subject?

SOAPSTone:

A: Audience

who is (are) the target audience(s)? consider age, education, knowledge of the subject, ethnicity, socio-economics, political views, values, beliefs

SOAPSTone:

P: Purpose

what is the purpose of the piece? create a concise, specific statement explaining the purpose. what claim is the writer making? what is he/she trying to influence or change?

SOAPSTone:

S: Strategies

what are 3 dominant strategies the rhetor employs to impact the audience? after you identify them, explain how they helped persuade the intended audience. consider appeals, modes, shifts, syntax, diction

SOAPSTone:

T: Tone

what are the tone shifts of the piece? what is the attitude of the speaker to the subject? the audience? consider teh author's diction, imagery, language, and sentence structure (syntax), and how they convey their feelings about the subject