Blog #1: Chapter 1

A rhetorical situation is a the way a story is told; it adds context for the genre. The rhetorical situation has subcategories to it, including: purpose, audience, conflict and exigence. When the purpose is formed, it shapes the whole meaning of the story, for example, the piece of writing may be trying to persuade someone to join group for a cause or the piece of writing can entail personal details about an experience someone had traveling. The audience is another big part to the rhetorical situation. For example, an SAT book is meant for high school students planning on taking the SAT and most likely using the score(s) to go to a college; it wouldn't be normal to see a 60- year- old man reading it just for leisure- time. Exigence just adds emphasis of why it was necessary to write the piece in the first place, for example someone covering the current Syrian conflict to inform people what is going on.