The Rhetorical Situation

from Lloyd Bitzer, "The Rhetorical Situation," Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1 (Winter, 1968):1-15.


"That which is done at the right time is beautiful."

Contents

  1. Bitzer's view of Rhetoric
  2. The Rhetorical Situation described
  3. Characteristics of the Rhetorical Situation
  4. So What?

    5. If you are going to be successful in public speaking, you have to be sensitive to the situation in which you find yourself. This is an ancient truth. For thousands of years, wise men and women have taught that effective speech is sensitive speech. You must learn to say the right thing at the right time.

    In his landmark essay, "The Rhetorical Situation," rhetorical scholar Lloyd Bitzer laid out some of the basic components of the rhetorical situation. Understanding these things will help you see the kinds of things you should be sensitve to and how your message--in class and in the real world--should be adapted to your situation.

    1. View of Rhetoric
      1. For Bitzer, rhetoric isn't just hot air or fancy words; it's action.
      2. He defines rhetoric as "A mode of altering reality, not by the direct application of energy to objects, but by the creation of discourse which changes reality through the mediation of thought and action."
      3. "Language is a mode of action and not an instrument of reflection." Don't think of your speech class as a place were do just learn about words. It's a place where you learn how to get things done.
      4. You have to understand rhetoric in its context; it's meaningless outside of the circumstances that created it.
      5. Rhetoric is pragmatic; it has practical things to do. It isn't primarily concerned with simply sounding pretty, but with getting things done.
      6. Rhetoric is always persuasive. Even when you say you are simply informing an audience, you are still working to alter their reality in some way.


    2. The Rhetorical Situation described
      1. To understand rhetoric, therefore, you have to understand some things about the situations that create it.
      2. Bitzer define the "rhetorical situation" as

          3. "a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action so as to bring about significant modification of the exigence."

      3. It has three components.
        1. Exigence- "an imperfection marked by urgency."
          1. This is the problem or inadequacy you want to correct with your message.
          2. An exigence is "rhetorical when it is capable of positive modification and when positive modification requires discourse or can be assisted by discourse."
          3. This means a situation is not rhetorical if:
            1. it cannot be modified.
            2. it can be modified only by means other than discourse, like medicine or money, for instance.
          4. There is always at least one controlling exigence in a rhetorical situation.
        2. Audience- "only those persons who are capable of being influenced by discourse and of being mediators of change."
          1. This means that the audience is more than just people who hear your message
          2. The audience, in this sense, is made up of those people who could be changed by your message and who could make changes because of it.
        3. Constraints- "persons, events, objects and relations which are parts of the situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence."
          1. Constraints are tools that the speaker can use to help make changes.
          2. Some constraints are originated by the speaker (Aristotle called them artistic proofs: logos, pathos and ethos).
          3. Some constraints come from the situation (Aristotle called these inartistic proofs, like testimony and other facts).
      4. Characteristics of rhetoric that is sensitive to its situation.
        1. "Rhetorical discourse is called into existence by the situation...out of necessity."
        2. The rhetorical situation "invites a fitting response." Consider what Giambattista Vico said about wisdom around 1700: "Wisdom itself is nothing more than the skillful care of what is fitting."
        3. "Situations come into existence, then either mature and decay or mature and persist." You must strike while the iron is hot.
        4. Thus not all discourse is rhetorical.
          1. One of the components could be missing--no audience, no exigence that can be modified by discourse, no audience that can act. Scientific and poetic discourse are not rhetorical.
          2. There can be communication without rhetoric.


    3. So what?
      1. You may be wondering what all this has to do with you and this class in pubic speaking. The answer, quite simply, is plenty.
      2. In this class, you'll be learning not just how to get up and talk, but how to do things. Remember that.
      3. For the rest of your life, you will have to do things with words. You'll have to convince someone to hire you. You'll have to console a friend when his spouse dies. You'll have to persuade your neighbors to do something about conditions in your neighborhood. You'll have to present your ideas clearly so someone will believe them.
      4. In each case, you'll have to know what you're trying to do--what exigencies you're addressing. You'll have to know who your audience is and what they need to do to fix the problem. You'll have to identify the constraints in your situation so you can use them to alter the situation.
      5. In this class, we'll teach you some of the basics of how to be sensitive to these things. Our goal is to make you more effective at making changes in the world around you.
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