The Purdue Online Writing Lab defines the rhetorical situation as “any set of circumstances that involves at least one person using some sort of communication to modify the perspective of at least one other person” (Purdue, n.d.). Many people have associated rhetoric negatively with politicians and lawyers which are occupations that manipulate speech and attempt to persuade others. But the definition is changing to include all communications between people.
The rhetorical situation is important to communication as it helps the writer to direct the message to the target audience. Knowing the audience and their needs will enable the writer to create the message in a manner that they will understand (Alford & Mott, 2014). For example, if
The rhetorical situation is important to communication as it helps the writer to direct the message to the target audience. Knowing the audience and their needs will enable the writer to create the message in a manner that they will understand (Alford & Mott, 2014). For example, if