In Grant-Davies article, he quotes Bitzer in saying a rhetorical situation “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 as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence.”
From this article, I think a rhetorical situation is one in which when a written or verbal communication is used to prevent a potentially bad/dangerous situation. For example, if a school board fires a principal for a stupid reason, a group of parents get really mad. One of the situations, or an exigence, that could come out of it is the parents form an angry mob and damages the school building. Instead, a parent writes a letter to the school board expressing their concern and anger that resulted from them firing the teacher. The letter “constrained human decision or action”
The discourse is basically removing the potential exigence that would have existed if there no communication was used. Instead of reacting with communication, you react with action. Say the same situation above, no one bothered to call or write the school board about their concern or anger, they just got torches and lit the building on fire, then the discourse would be removed and the exigence is used.
“A rhetorical situation is a situation where a speaker or writer sees a need to change reality and sees that the change may be effected through rhetorical discourse.” If a mom is upset with how a babysitter is treating her kids, instead of getting in a physical fight, she might talk to her in person with her concerns. The mother is trying to change reality and the situation, and understands that the best way for this to happen is through communication. A rhetorical discourse is a form of communication where no response is really wanted or needed. The babysitter could not argue that she needs to change, when the mother is her boss and could fire her if she wanted. If the mom says she is concerned, the babysitter could not say “no you aren’t.” It’s not something you can argue with.
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