The Rhetorical Situation: A Final Summary

When we read a text, we don't just read the words or view images. We need to consider the context/situation that text is found in.

Without the context, we will not be able to fully understand the text. We may understand the vocabulary, and be able to read it, but we will not fully grasp the message or why it was written.

That is why it is important to understand WHO compose the message (the writer/author), WHEN it was composed (time period) and for WHOM (the audience), WHY it was composed (for what purpose, what motivated the writer to send this message to his audience). These three ideas - the writer, the audience, and the purpose shape HOW the texts are created, or what modality they take, in other words, they drive the choice of a genre (the type of text).

Examples:

I think we can all agree that one of the ways our world and communities could change for the better is if it had more kindness. Here are three examples of how authors addressed three different audiences with the purpose of encouraging kindness in their own situations.

Example 1

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In this example, the author wants his audience to use more kindness in their lives. If you read the text and the reasons he gives for why kindness is beneficial, you will notice that the author's reasons are all based on health benefits. This tells me that the author had a health-conscious audience in mind. She is writing to an audience who thinks being healthy is important, so she chose to give health-based reasons for why kindness is good for the audience.

You can read the full text here: 6 Science-Backed Ways Being Kind is Good for Your Health

Example 2

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In example 2, the author also wants to persuade the audience that more kindness is needed. However, this time, the author is addressing a different audience. If you look at the title, you will see that the context is different than the context from example 1. This article is written about kindness in the workplace. The title, and the content of the article, make us see that the audience of this article can be professionals (workers) and even supervisors (bosses). The author wants people in professional work environments (employees and supervisors) to consider adding more kindness to their work environments.

You can read the full article here: Making Kindness a Priority in the Workplace

Example 3

In this last example, the author is talking about the value of kindness for children, specifically in the context of schools. The author discusses why teaching children about kindness at school can bring many positive outcomes, one of those outcomes being the reduction of bullying. Looking at the title, the photo, and the content of the article, I see that the author had a specific audience in mind. She is addressing education professionals, such as teachers, school administrators, and other school staff. She may also think that parents who read this could talk to those professionals to persuade them to include kindness in the school curriculum of their children.

To see how the author makes her case to her audience, you can read the full article here: Why Teaching Kindness in School is Essential to Reduce Bullying

Your Thinking:

Imagine you are the author (writer) for a text about kindness.

If you had to encourage others to incorporate kindness in their lives, do you think that HOW you say things would change depending on who the audience is? Why? Can you give examples?
Now, imagine yourself as the audience for this message. What audiences do you belong to? Are you a student, parent, worker, male, female, married, single, etc.? What would be the best way for an author to convince you to add kindness to your life?