The Rhetorical Situation

Analyze a text's speaker, audience, purpose, context, and occasion before judging its choices.

Every text is a response to a situation. Rhetoricians describe that situation through a few elements: the speaker (who is communicating, and with what identity or authority), the audience (who is meant to hear it), the purpose (what the speaker wants the audience to think, feel, or do), the context (the larger historical or social moment), and the occasion (the specific event that prompted the text). A common classroom acronym is SOAPS: Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker.

Consider an original example: a student council president speaks at a school board meeting, the night after a storm damaged the gym, asking for emergency funds. Knowing the occasion explains her urgency; knowing the audience, budget-conscious board members, explains why she cites repair estimates rather than emotional stories. Without the rhetorical situation, her choices could look random. With it, they look strategic. Always analyze the situation before you evaluate whether a text's choices are effective.

• 1Speaker, audience, purpose, context, and occasion shape a text.
• 2SOAPS is one way to organize the analysis.
• 3Choices make sense only in light of the situation.