Rhetorical Concepts for Writing 

In addition to researching, we’ll study key concepts about writing (rhetorical concepts) that exist within writing situations and that every writer should be familiar with in order to be effective in any writing situation. These concepts might include terms you’ve heard before — audience, for example — but we’ll explore them as they relate to developing knowledge about writing, specifically in the academic writing you’ll be doing in this course.  

We’ll start with the concepts of audience and genre. 

You may think you know what audiences are, but have you thought about how a particular audience is targeted for a written piece? Have you ever thought about the audience when you write? We think of audiences for movies or music, or for books, right? When you write, you have an audience too. Your professor is not your audience when writing in college, so who is? It depends on a number of factors, most often the genre you are writing in.

Have you ever thought about the genres of writing you encounter, or the choice you make to write something in a particular genre? For example, a genre of writing you might use is an email or letter, which you might use to communicate. You will be writing a research essay, which is a genre of academic writing. You may have learned about literary genres – fiction, poetry, etc., but in this class we’re talking about the everyday writing genres you choose as a writer. They are not always easily defined, either. An email is a genre of writing used in business and is a genre of writing more broadly as well (you might email with family or to communicate with a professional service like a car dealership).

The PowerPoint below explores these two concepts, as well as context, purpose, and more:

Rhetorical Situation: PowerPoint

There are multiple factors to consider within what is known as the rhetorical situation (or the writing situation). The rhetorical situation exists any time we communicate — there is always an audience, a topic, and a communicator or writer (a rhetor, back in the day). The writing takes form within a genre (which comes with expectations), and always occurs in a context.

• Review the PowerPoint on Rhetorical Situation (PDF Link)Download Rhetorical Situation (PDF Link)
• Then answer the following as best you can (speculation is okay):
  • In the research essay you are writing, your genre is obvious – it’s a research essay and it is a form of academic writing.
  • How will you determine your audience for writing in this situation?
  • How will you determine the purpose of your research essay (beyond earning a grade or fulfilling a class requirement)?
  • What do you think is the context in which you are writing?
  • What do you need to know first before you can answer the above more specifically?