Category Archives: rhetorical situation

(We’re [re]reading Bitzer and Vatz for our 602 course on teaching composition. I wrote about these articles before here) In “The Rhetorical Situation,” Lloyd Bitzer makes an interesting statement about utopia: In the best of all possible worlds, there would … Continue reading →

Let us suppose that our total environment presents no problems — no poverty, injustice, or war; no personal illness or tragedy; no petty squabbles; no questions inviting answers; no controversy needing resolution; no object or idea awaiting discovery or invention; … Continue reading →

Hunsaker and Smith critique previous discussions of the rhetorical situation for not adequately taking into account the perceptions of the rhetor and audience surrounding the issues at stake. The perception and resolution of issues (defined as the actual and potential … Continue reading →

Lloyd F. Bitzer defines it “as a natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence which strongly invites utterance; this invited utterance participates naturally in teh situation, is in many instances necessary to the completion of situational activity, … Continue reading →