2u1S Biian N. LaisonTopic: Beteimining the ihetoiical situationPage 1 !"#$%& ()*)+,$-$-. */) +/)*"+$%01 2$*30*$"- This topic page incluues intiouuctoiy infoimation, a list of ieauings, anu questions to guiue youi ieauing anu piepaie you foi class uiscussion; it may also incluue an inuiviuual oi gioup assignment, which may oi may not be giaueu. Refeiences to "AB0" aie to Alieu, Biusaw, anu 0liu (2u1S). 4-*+"53%*$"- Wiiting instiuctois will often iefei to the "ihetoiical situation." This teim has its ioots in an aiticle by Llyou Bitzei (1968), though bioauly speaking the concept goes back at least as fai as Aiistotle. When you aie wiiting a text (oi cieating a communication in anothei moue), the ihetoiical situation consists of eveiything you know about the situation into which you aie intiouucing youi text. It incluues at least the following foui things: 1.The wiitei's puipose.2.The auuience oi ieaueis.S.The mateiial anu social context. 4.The available meuia oi moues of communication. (We will talk often this semestei about W.0.v.E.NWiitten, 0ial, visual, Electionic, anu Nonveibalmoues, but even that list is aiguably not complete.) These foui things can inteiact in sophisticateu ways. Foi example, pait of unueistanuing youi auuience is knowing what !"#$ think $&' think the ihetoiical situation is. In othei woius, they aie also thinking about youi puipose (as well as theii own), what they think you know about them, anu theii own views of the mateiial anu social context. Context is a ciitically impoitant component, anu theie aie seveial questions you shoulu answei when piepaiing to wiite. Consiuei those in the AB0 entiy foi "context." It is impoitant foi a communicatoi to be imaginative at this stage, to think about the auuience membeis, what they may just have been uoing befoie ieceiving the communication, what theii feelings anu beliefs might be, etc. Cultuial anu physical factois can influence youi auuience's view of the context. Foi example, a visually impaiieu auuience membei might not be in a position to take note of some mateiial chaiacteiistic of the enviionment that you think is patently obvious. A social context can also give iise what is sometimes calleu a "genie," which is ieally just a typifieu foimal iesponse to a iecuiiing ihetoiical situation (Nillei, 1984). So, foi example, if eveiyone in youi lab wiites lab iepoits in a ceitain way (anu has uone so foi yeais), you might want to use that iepoit foimat even though you think that anothei iepoit foimat woulu be moie efficient. The expectations of youi auuience can thus function to constiain youi communicative choices. But we will also talk about how you can oveicome conventional appioaches if you lay the piopei giounuwoik. 6)05$-.2 7"+ */$2 *"#$% Reau the following entiies (piobably best in this oiuei) fiom AB0: "Checklist of the Wiiting Piocess," p. xxi. 2u1S Biian N. LaisonTopic: Beteimining the ihetoiical situationPage 2 "piepaiation" "puipose" "auuience" "ieaueis" "context" Review each of the following communications anu consiuei what might have been the auuience, puipose, anu context foi it: The syllabus foi this couise. The instiuctions foi assembling an IKEA bookshelf. 0niveisity of Ninnesota Bianu Policy.Bammeiing on lesson on acoustic guitai. view this viueo.Bepaitment of Befense, Repoit of the Compiehensive Review of the Issues Associateu with a Repeal of "Bon't Ask Bon't Tell". Biowse the fiont mateiials anu scan the executive summaiy (thiough page 17). 6)05$-. 83)2*$"-2 1.Accoiuing to AB0, the wiitei's puipose can often best be summeu up with answeis to which two one-woiu questions.2.As you ieau the uefinition of "auuience," you will notice that many woius aie in bolu text anu unueilineu. This foimatting inuicates that theie aie entiies foi these teims elsewheie in AB0. Select a couple of teims fiom the uefinition of "auuience"incluuing at least "ieaueis"anu go to ieau theii uefinitions. Come to class piepaieu to summaiize the entiy foi one of these teims. Bo you think the entiy foi "ieaueis" auus much to the entiy foi "auuience". The entiy iuentifies an appioach foi segmenting a text foi uiveise ieaueis, incluuing manageis, technical specialists, anu uecision-makeis: Which segments uoes AB0 say will be useful to each gioup. S.The AB0 entiy foi "context" uesciibes two stages wheie the wiitei shoulu auuiess context. What aie they. What uo you suppose is the key benefit of signaling context. 91022+"", 0%*$:$*$)2 7"+ */$2 *"#$% Biscuss: As an analyst, what uistinguishes the ihetoiical situations in the examples foi you. Is it easiei oi haiuei foi the wiitei when the ihetoiical situation is less well unueistoou oi known. Paii-aiounu: Spenu 2 min ;22$.-,)-*2 7"+ */$2 *"#$% None.