Journal 6

1. What does Bitzer not mean by “rhetorical situation”?

Bitzer does not mean ignoring who you are, what your lifetime experiences have been, and forgetting who your audience is when you are writing. He does not want you to lose focus when you are writing and what is prompting you (the reason) why you are even writing in the first place. He wants you to avoid writing aimlessly and to write as if you can change the world.

2. In other words, how does his view differ from past views that readers might compare to his?

His view may differ from theorists who write in terms of hypotheticals, possibilities and that which is unknown. His view may also differ from those who do not believe that writing can bring about change, that a purpose cannot be achieved through writing, that expression through written language cannot persuade someone to act or change their mind.

3. What does Bitzer mean by “rhetorical situation”?

He means writing with a purpose, exposing your character, writing for your audience, and writing based upon reflection of your personal situations and experience.

4. Explain what “exigence” is. Give your own example of an exigence someone could respond to in writing.

I think that Bitzer means that the exigence is the problem that the writer is trying to solve through persuasion. Exigence is the thing the person is attacking in the piece of writing. A sample is that President Obama was trying to persuade people that the complexion in Washington and of course the highest office in our land has changed. In his speech the exigence is the problem of changing people’s minds to accept a black President. The exigence is both the reason for prompting why he wrote the speech the way he did and it is also the situation that he needed to overcome by writing effectively and changing people’s minds.