PWR 1HR Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pathos, Enthymeme, Rhetorical Situation

• School: Stanford University
• Department: PWR - Program in Writing & Rhetoric
• Course: PWR 1HR
• Professor: Shay Brawn

Document Summary

Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. The rhetorical situation: writing and speaking are social acts that occur at a specific time and place, and the choices that writers and speakers make are best understood by taking account that fact. The concept of the rhetorical situation asks us to consider what prompts a particular piece of writing or speech and the situation into which that discourse is delivered. Lloyd bitzer, suggested that every rhetorical situation consists of three elements: an exigence, an audience, and a set of constraints. Exigence: bitzer calls the exigence an imperfection marked by urgency. it is the issue, problem, or need that has made speech necessary: something that needs to be done, or fixed, or understood, or something else. Common exigencies in public discourse include current events, rituals and ceremonies, legislation and elections, entertainment, and sales.