If you are unsure of whether you've got a good handle on "The Rhetorical Situation," try to apply it to the American DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html
The first three people who reply to this post with a mostly accurate description of the Rhetorical Situation of the Declaration of Independence will win a really cool PRIZE. In your reply, just tell me a little about the context, the audience, the author, and the topic. And, finally, what perspective the text was trying to "modify" or declare.
Here is a link to the RHETORICAL SITUATION document I handed out today if you've misplaced yours or missed class:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18495648/RhetoricalSituation.docx
Context: declaring they wanted freedom and declaring they were a country; colonies were being controlled and didnt want to be anymore
ReplyDeleteReader/Audience: England
Subject: Freedoms from Britain
Writer: First Continental Congress
Haley, thanks for getting us going here. You get the first prize! Now, can anyone add to what she has written? Or just say it in a slightly different way? Additional audiences? Subjects?
ReplyDeleteWhen something is rhetoric, it means that there are people with different point of views. Clearly, the people of the British colonies and and the people of Britain had different views. That is why the Declaration of Independence was essentially an argument to the British to let the British colonists be free. Congress (the writer) presented the Declaration of Independence (subject) to Britain (the audience) , as a rhetorical piece of work to receive their freedom from the British.
ReplyDeleteContext: The English colonies in North America declaring their freedom from England
ReplyDeleteAudience: The government of England
Writer: The original draft was written by Thomas Jefferson, but it was edited by the Continental Congress.
Subject: The colonies declaring their freedom from England and laying down the cornerstone for America.
Additional Audience: Even though they were allies of America in the Revolutionary War, it could also be a message to France and Spain, telling them not to mess with America. America wanted to be independently ruled and the Revolutionary War was proof that they were willing to fight for that right.