Unit 1: The Rhetorical Situation

Question 1

What is genre?

Answer 1

• A genre is a widely-accepted and recognizable pattern for rhetorical discourse, a type or category of communication. Authors select a genre in which to compose in response to a specific rhetorical situation and identifiable audience. A genre’s purpose directs its form, style, organization, and/or subject matter.
• Writers and readers both use genres because of the cognitive and social work they accomplish.
• For writers, using reader-approved genre patterns establishes a working relationship with those readers, allowing the writer to fulfill or subvert expectations for specific effects.
• For readers, information that is organized according to genre conventions is more easily understood and accepted, as readers have a better idea what to expect.
• Classical genres: judicial (accusing & defending), deliberative (persuading & dissuading), and demonstrative (ceremonial oratory).
• Contemporary categories: movie review, op-ed, advertisement, resume, scientific research report, etc.

Question 2

What is the rhetorical situation of a text?

Answer 2

• The rhetorical situation refers to the circumstances behind a text.
• The rhetorical situation circumstances includes the exigence, audience, purpose, writer, context, and message of a text.
• Texts should be created, modified, and interpreted to suit the rhetorical situation.
• It can reveal why a text was produced, what its goal was, and how it aims to achieve its goal considering the circumstances.
• In this course, “text” encompasses any product that can be “read” and investigated. It includes literary text, graphics, models, and such.

Question 3

What is exigence?

Answer 3

• Exigence is a part of the rhetorical situation and is inherent in every text. It refers to what prompted the author to produce a text. Examples of exigence could be events, encounters with people, conversations, governmental actions, beliefs, etc.
• Exigence helps authors and readers determine why a text exists: why did the author feel the need to produce this text, and what is the author responding to?
• Other parts of the rhetorical situation are affected by the exigence, as exigence is what motivates speech itself. Thus, exigence influences a speaker’s purpose, who their intended audience is, and the message within their text.

EX) The exigence that led to Lou Gehrig’s famous retirement speech was his diagnosis with ALS which meant he could no longer play; the context in which he spoke included the fact that the stadium was celebrating him with an appreciation day after he’d announced his illness and subsequent retirement.

Question 4

What is the purpose of a text?

Answer 4

• Purpose is what the author and the text aims to do. What does the author want to accomplish by creating this text, and what does the text want to impart to the audience?
• It is common to have multiple purposes for one text, such as, for example, informing and persuading.
• To determine purpose, analyze the format of the text, the exigence, the content, the phrasing, and the context.
• Purpose is a part of the rhetorical situation, and helps authors and readers determine why a text was produced, and why it was produced/written this certain way.

EX) One of Gehrig’s chief purposes in delivering his Farewell Address is to thank his fans and his teammates, but he also wants to demonstrate that he remains positive; he emphasizes his past luck and present optimism and downplays his illness.

Question 5

What is the audience of a text?

Answer 5

• Audience refers to the people the author intends to engage with using the text. This is also known as the targeted audience (an audience that has experiences, values, or needs that the author aims to engage with specifically). There may be more than one targeted audience.
• The author will strategically modify the text to appeal to the intended audience. Knowing their audience is essential for authors because different audiences will perceive and utilize the text according to their experiences/values/needs.

EX) “Lou Gehrig’s audience was his teammates and fans in the stadium that day, but it was also the teams he played against, the fans listening on the radio, and posterity – us.”

*Common misconception for the course: the intended audience most likely will NOT include the AP student/present reader. A person viewing the text doesn’t mean the text was made with them in the author’s mind.

Question 6

What are an audience’s beliefs, values, needs, and background?

Answer 6

• An audience’s BELIEFS are the statements or ideas they accept as true, e.g., a belief that the earth is round or in the existence of a higher power.
• An audience’s VALUES are the principles or standards of behavior they deem important, e.g., integrity, honesty, compassion.
• An audience’s NEEDS are the items or information essential for their understanding of the topic, e.g. background information or terminology
• An audience’s BACKGROUND is comprised of their gender, age range, marital status, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education, occupation, culture, religion, and group membership (social and volunteer groups, fraternities and sororities, sports teams, campus organizations, political parties, etc.)

Question 7

What is the context of a text?

Answer 7

• Context includes “the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning” of a text.
• “Context will include the time, place, and occasion where/how/why the text is being delivered.
• Being aware of context can help a reader decipher the rhetorical situation, like the purpose, message, exigence, author, etc.
• Context is a part of the rhetorical situation, and can influence the author and text.”

EX) The context of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech includes not only the exigence – his diagnosis with ALS – but also the broader circumstances of his cultural role as a famous baseball player.

Question 8

What is the occasion of a speech?

Answer 8

• Occasion is the time and place a speech is given or a piece is written, especially with reference to the favorable opportunity presented to do so.

EX) In the case of Lou Gehrig’s speech, the occasion is Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day.

Question 9

What is the difference between context and exigence?

Answer 9

• Exigence is the singular moment–the urgent need–that prompts the rhetorical act. Context is the bigger picture (culturally, socially, etc.) in which the exigence occurs. Context influences exigence.

EX) The exigence of George W. Bush’s post-9/11 speech was the attack on the World Trade Center; the context of the speech included the fact that the US was experiencing political division left over from the 2000 election, leading to Bush’s rhetorical choice to speak about unification of the American people.

Question 10

What is the message of a text?

Answer 10

The message is the main idea the speaker is communicating to the audience in order to achieve the purpose. Messages can be overt or subtle, and they go beyond mere description of content. A message differs from the thesis statement in that it is more conceptual than argumentative. It may be helpful to ask: What was the key takeaway from the topic being discussed or analyzed?

Question 11

Who is the speaker of a text?

Answer 11

The speaker is the person or group who creates a text. This might be a politician who delivers a speech, a commentator who writes an article, an artist who draws a political cartoon, or even a company that commissions an advertisement. It is the person/group whos point of view is being conveyed in the text.

Question 12

What is SOAPSTone?

Answer 12

SOAPSTone is a mnemonic device to help remember and analyze the various elements that make up the rhetorical situation. It that stands for:
-SUBJECT (the topic of a text)
-OCCASION (think context, occasion, & exigence here)
-AUDIENCE
-PURPOSE
-SPEAKER
-TONE (the speaker’s attitude toward the subject, as conveyed through stylistic and rhetorical choices)

Question 13

How do writers convey their positions?

Answer 13

• “Writers use one or more claims to show their position on the subject they are writing about.
• Claims should be defensible (able to argued for or against). Good claims are not obvious, non negotiable facts.
• The thesis, also called argument, will be the overall claim in a written text. Other claims, also called points, can be made to support an overall claim. The points in a written text are made to support the thesis, which means that as each point is developed, the thesis is simultaneously being developed as well.
• Each claim made in an essay should build off each other, to create a cohesive, in-depth argument.”

Question 14

How do writers defend their claims?

Answer 14

• Writers use evidence and commentary to develop and defend their claims.
• Evidence can include personal anecdotes, outside information, testimonials, quotations, etc. Evidence is strategically chosen to strengthen the author’s claim, which therefore strengthens the overall argument (the claim in the thesis).
• Commentary is the reasoning the author provides for their claim. Evidence will usually be followed by commentary explaining how the evidence supports and is relevant to the thesis.
• Commentary should be used to provide a logical line of reasoning throughout the essay.
• The writing portion of the AP exam requires students to provide evidence and commentary to develop a logical line of reasoning to defend their claims.

Question 15

What is evidence in an essay?

Answer 15

• Evidence should support the thesis statement. The commentary after the evidence should clarify how the evidence supports the thesis.
• Evidence can include factual details, including statistics, examples, expert opinions, and experiments. It can also be personal experiences or outside knowledge.
• When writing the AP essay, the evidence must be consistently explained by the commentary that follows. When using evidence, always cite the source and paraphrase to avoid long quotes.
• Evidence should be strategically chosen to strengthen the reasoning of the argument and appeal to the intended audience.

Question 16

Types of evidence: FACTS

Answer 16

• A fact is something that is known to have happened or to exist, especially something for which proof exists, or about which there is some information.
• Commonly known facts (such as the date of the American Revolution) do not need citation, but facts that the writer learned from an outside source (such as how many windows there are in Dulles airport) generally should be supported with a citation.

EX) As of late 2022, a ninety-year-old American woman named Irene Triplet is still collecting a survivor’s benefit pension from the Civil War (Gane).

Question 17

Types of evidence: ANECDOTES

Answer 17

• An anecdote is a brief story used to illustrate a point or claim, not necessarily verifiable by data.
• Because “people relate to personal experiences, and stories can be good ways to define new concepts,” they can be compelling (Study.com).

EX) A celebrity’s, famous athlete’s, or even a friend’s story about their positive (or negative) experience with a product or service can have a dramatic impact on our own opinion about the same thing.

Question 18

Types of evidence: ANALOGIES

Answer 18

• An analogy is a comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex.

EX) “As birds have flight, our special gift is reason.” - Bill McKibben

EX) “If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him though I drown myself….But he that would save his life, in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to hold slaves and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as people.” - Henry David Thoreau

Question 19

Types of evidence: STATISTICS

Answer 19

• Numerical information based on a study of the number of times something happens or is present, or other quantitative facts
• “Statistics are most accessible and convincing when they are used sparingly and in combination with an explanation of why the numbers are significant.”
• “Even though statistics are considered factual, numbers can be presented in different ways to suggest dramatically different conclusions.”

EX) “More than 1.24 million students who graduated from American high schools in 2018 took a total of 4.22 million AP Exams. That is an increase of 65% over the number of students who took part in 2008. Also, 38.9% of the class of 2018 took at least one AP Exam, compared to 25.1% of the class of 2008” (Student Research Foundation).

Question 20

Types of evidence: ILLUSTRATIONS/EXAMPLES

Answer 20

• An illustration or example is an instance or exemplar that explains or proves something.
• “Not only do [appropriate examples] provide specifics and details in support of a claim, but the vivid description they often include helps to capture and retain the reader’s attention” (The Writing Center).

EX) “With an example as evidence, someone arguing against seat belt use might say ‘Last year my cousin crashed her car off a bridge and would have drowned if she were wearing her seatbelt’ to prove their point” (University of Pittsburgh).

Question 21

Types of evidence: EXPERT OPINIONS

Answer 21

• Expert opinions are “direct evidence outlining what an expert believes, or infers in regard to facts, as distinguished from personal knowledge of the facts themselves.”
• An expert is someone, “who by virtue or education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialized knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person.”
• “The fact that experts can draw different conclusions from the same information shows that opinions may not be as reliable as facts or personal experience.”

EX) “’It’s easier to appreciate snowflakes when you don’t have a shovel in your hand,’ says Kenneth G. Libbrecht, a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., who studies snowflake morphology by growing ice crystals in his laboratory. Go out in the snow with dark clothing on and let a few flakes fall on your coat. Peer at them through a magnifying glass” (Wollan).

Question 22

Types of evidence: PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS/EXPERIENCES

Answer 22

• A personal observation or experience is evidence based on something the writer knows whether from their own observation, experience, or general knowledge of events.

EX) “I agree with Djilas that anticipating torture can often be more terrifying than actual torture. When I needed to go to the doctor to get a shot, I put off scheduling the appointment as long as possible. I am terrified by the mere idea of being stuck with a needle. I didn’t sleep well the night before…and by the time I arrived…, I was jittery and pale. As the doctor prepared to give me the shot, I squeezed my eyes shut…Then I felt the tiniest little pinch….Although state-sponsored torture is certainly far worse than a simple shot in the arm, my experience has led me to believe that…” (Writing and Public Speaking Center).

Question 23

Types of evidence: TESTIMONIES

Answer 23

• “There are two types of testimony: 1) the account of an eyewitness, and 2) the judgment of an expert who has had the chance to examine and interpret the facts. Both of these lend validity to an argument. The eyewitness can supply important facts for the writer to use, and the expert can provide valuable judgments in order to give strength to the argument.”

EX) “in the case of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the writer might use the testimony of one of the personnel who was present at NASA meetings before the launch. The writer might also use an astrophysicist’s opinion about whether or not evidence existed before takeoff that the Shuttle was not safe to launch.”

Common Misconceptions: People struggle to maintain objectivity and don’t always flawlessly exercise logic; eyewitness testimony and expert opinion are not beyond dispute. Writers must also “be careful not to use an expert in one field to make a judgment about a subject in another. Imagine the absurdity of computer genius Bill Gates making an official statement on archeology” (Wheaton College).

Question 24

Types of evidence: EXPERIMENTS

Answer 24

• The writer can conduct well-planned research and use both the data they collect and their analysis of that data as evidence.

EX) “If the claim is that daylight savings time negatively affects students’ sleep patterns, you would conduct qualitative research with interviews. The responses might then be run through a data analysis program, and thus, both the participants’ responses and the statistical results would be your evidence” (ZR).

EX) “If you want to prove that food choices in a cafeteria are affected by gender norms, you might ask classmates to undermine those norms on purpose and observe how others react. What would happen if a football player were eating dinner with his teammates and he brought a small salad and diet drink to the table, all the while murmuring about his waistline and wondering how many fat grams the salad dressing contained?” (The Writing Center).

Question 25

What makes a claim effective?

Answer 25

• Effective claims are not obvious statements; they require defense and justification. There should be a reasonable argument able to be made for and against the claim. The claim should be stated as a fact.
• The claims in an argument should intrigue the audience and work together to develop a cohesive, in-depth argument.

Question 26

How does a writer include evidence in an essay?

Answer 26

• Evidence should be embedded in the essay through the use of quotes, paraphrase, or summary.
• Sufficient and relevant evidence from other credible sources must be combined with or synthesized into a writer’s own ideas in order to build effective claims.
• Writers seeking to embed evidence in a sophisticated manner should minimize the use of long quotes and instead use shorter quotes and paraphrasing to develop their argument.
• Writers must always cite their sources within the text. Example: “…” (Source A).