Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents

Grant-Davie defines a rhetorical situation by summing the articles written by Bitzer, Vatz, and Consigny. He defines it as, “a set of related factors whose interaction creates and controls a discourse”. The constituents of a rhetorical situation are defined as the exigence; the driving force behind the rhetoric, the audience; the target of the rhetoric that are willed to take a certain course of action, and constraints; the limiting factors that can hinder or help the rhetoric. A compound rhetorical situation is a continuation of rhetoric. Grant-Davie uses the example of an editorial in a Colorado newspaper as an example of compound rhetoric. The communication process is reciprocal and involves several parties. Each continuation of the rhetoric is met with more constraints. Here constraints are positive and lead to a more concise discussion of the topic at hand. This sort of compound rhetoric is essential in group writing projects like Wikipedia, where feedback of the audience constrains the writer and hones the article to make it better with each edit. As a college student I need to be aware of the rhetorical situation because my audience is extremely critical. I am constrained by correct grammar usage and concise content. The constraints act as a funnel. They ensure that by the time I reach the end of an essay I’ve made my argument valid and my call to action clear.