Rhetorical situation is a communication scenario directed by the interactions among the writer, the audience, and the purpose for writing. It is the prompt that motivates rhetorical discourse, or the ongoing exchange of ideas within a community that shapes how members interpret realities. Rhetoric refers to the study of how language is used to alter perceptions and establish shared meanings.
I enjoyed the interpretation presented in the “Understanding Writing Situations” article from WAC Clearinghouse that compares rhetorical situations to conversations at a party. Conversations don’t happen in a vacuum. Thus, there are all kinds of contexts working upon the participants. It may be worth considering the historical, social, physical, and cultural contexts acting upon your writing purpose and audience members. Also, in relating rhetorical discourse to a conversation at a party, we can see that it is a reasonable expectation that the comments we contribute add value to the discussion in some way. And in order to achieve this, it is vital that we first do some listening. By listening first, we get insight into the values, beliefs and knowledge that is influencing how our reader will decode out message. This is how to “pass the vibe check” in the opinions of your audience member’s so that they are more likely to be accepting of and influenced by your additions.