Carrascosa 1

Tracy Carrascosa
Professor Megan Keaton
ENC2135
3 August 2016
The Rhetorical Situation
This composition class has taught me a great deal throughout its short, six weeks. Besides
genre and its conventions, it has also taught me a great deal about rhetoric and the rhetorical
situation, as well. Prior to learning about the rhetorical situation, I was beyond lost and confused.
I had never even heard of the rhetorical situation before so I could not even formulate a
definition for it prior to learning its real true onemeaning. The rhetorical situation, to me before,
had zero meaning, to me but that has changed quite rapidly. The first instance in which the
definition of the rhetorical situation began formulating was with the course book, The Bedford
Book of Genres by Amy Braziller and Elizabeth Kleinfield, that can be accessed by the
following link: {https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81zNbT_A29rT3dzTi12NFREZ3M/view?
usp=sharing}. On the books page 7-12, it talks a great deal in explaining rhetoric and the
rhetorical situation in detail and about how they both interrelate along with genre and genre
conventions. The book does an amazing job of simplifying the definition of the rhetorical
situation in terms that are easy to understand. What I have grasped from this course reading is
that the rhetorical situation is simply just the context and parameters in which you one creates
your their composition. When one is writing they have a particular purpose to their audience.
This is the rhetorical situation. The situation is made comprised up of the purpose, audience,
rhetorical appeals, and modes. These are all key terms that I learned throughout this course about
the rhetorical situation from this course reading. The first course reading that probably exposed

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me in a more relatable way to the rhetorical situation was the following comic strip, that can be
accessed with the following link:
{https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B47B6qjaRKbHZjhseEM2VlJCZlU/view?usp=sharing}. The
comic strip took a more relatable and interesting approach to the rhetorical situation by
simplifying its explanation and facilitating it with pictures. Due to the fact of the context of the
comic strip, it helped me understand and begin to formulate a definition to the rhetorical situation
and its association with genre and rhetoric because of it being so reader friendly and captivating.
The course has taught me a great deal about the rhetorical situation. Even though the rhetorical
situation is something that I had no prior exposure to, the course helped me understand it by
simplifying it with course readings and strengthening my definition with projects, group
activities and short assignments. Another course reading that summarized my now new definition
of the rhetorical situation was The Bedford Book of Genres by Amy Braziller and Elizabeth
Kleinfield, that can be accessed by clicking on the following link:
{https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81zNbT_A29rT3dzTi12NFREZ3M/view?usp=sharing}. On
page 16 of the book, it summarizes the rhetorical situation in a simplified and easy to follow,
organized structure. This page is extremely helpful in formulating the definition I have for the
phrase today because it simplifies it in an easy to follow way that does not use mind-boggling
jargon. Therefore, I now understand the purpose, audience, rhetorical appeals, and modes and
media of the rhetorical situation thoroughly. Through the duration of the course all the key terms
learned have been strengthened by the courses progression. I now understand the rhetorical
situation to be the context in which the composition is in, something I would have not known
before taking this course.