rhetorical situation slideshow from owl (1)

7/26/2019 Rhetorical Situation Slideshow From OWL (1)

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Purdue University Writing Lab

Understanding Writing:The Rhetorical Situation


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What is rhetoric?

[Rhetoric is] the faculty of discovering in

the particular case what are the

available means of persuasion.

Aristotle

Rhetoric = Persuasionhow writerspersuade readers


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Rhetorical Situation

Writer Purpose

Audience

Topic(content)

Context


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Writer

your personal

characteristics

and interests

affect what you

write about and

how you writeabout it

voice


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Writer: factors which can affect

your writing include

your age

your experiences

your gender

your location your political beliefs

your education

your parents andpeers

your religion


6/17Purdue University Writing Lab

Purpose: your reason for

writing

to ___________

to inform

to educate

to call to action

to entertain

to shock



Purpose: your reason for

writing

Your foremost

purpose in writing

will always be to

PERSUADE



Audience: to whom are you

writing? many of the same

factors which affectthe writer also affect

the audience

age

social class

education



Topic

whatever it is thatyou have selected to

write about

may be broadened

or narrowed,

depending upon thelength of the article

and your level of

interest



Context

the situation whichgenerates the need

for writing

affected by timeperiod

location current events

cultural significance



Rhetorical Situation

Writer Purpose

Audience Topic

Context



Rhetorical AppealsAll of these factors in the rhetorical

situation will help you determine the

best way to appeal to your audience



Rhetoric focuses our attention on

audience

What might work for one audience

might not work for another (just consider

the writing activity we completed earlier)



The Three Rhetorical Appeals Logos = Logic

Over half of all marriages in this country

end in divorce; therefore, pre-marital

counseling is of the utmost importance.

Pathos = Emotion

Lets not lose another child to starvation.

Donate today!



The Three Rhetorical AppealsEthos = Credibility of the writer

Intrinsic= who you are

Extrinsic= what you say and how you say it



An example

As your doctor, I have to tell you that

if you don't stop smoking,

you're going to die.

What appeals are being used in thisstatement?



What This Means

You need to be aware that a rhetoricalsituation exists EVERY TIME you write.

You need to adapt your writing dependingupon your purpose and your audience.

To be an active (not passive) reader, you needto analyze the persuasive tactics being usedon you.

rhetorical situation slideshow from owl (1)

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