A. Title of article
B. Thesis/argument
C. Their definition/idea of rhetoric
D. Definitions of key terms
E. Main takeaways
F. One question you have about the reading

The Rhetorical Situation Lloyd F. Bitzer If someone says, That is a dangerous situation, his words suggest the presence of events, persons, or objects which threaten him, someone else, or something of value. If someone remarks, I find myself in an embarrassing situation, again the statement implies certain situational characteristics. If someone remarks that he found himself in an ethical situation, we understand that he prob- ably either contemplated or made some choice of action from a sense of duty or obligation or with a view to the Good. In other words, there are circumstances of this or that kind of structure which are recognized as ethical, dangerous, or embarrassing. What characteristics, then, are implied when one refers to "the rhetorical situation" the context in which speakers or writers create rhetorical discourse? Perhaps this question is puzzling be- cause "situation", is not a standard term in the vocabulary of rhetorical theory. "Audience" is standard; so also are "speaker," "subject," "occasion," and "speech." If I were to ask, "What is a rhetorical audience?" or "What is a rhetorical subject?" - the reader would catch the meaning of my question. When I ask, What is a rhetorical situation?, I want to know the nature of those contexts in which speakers or writers create rhetorical discourse: How should they be described? What are their characteristics? Why and how do they result in the crea- tion of rhetoric? By analogy, a theorist of science might well ask, What are the characteristics of situations which inspire scientific thought? A philosopher might ask, What is the nature of the situation in which a philosopher "does philosophy"? And a theorist of poetry might ask, How shall we describe the con- text in which poetry comes into existence? Lloyd F. Bitzer is Associate Professor of Speech, University of Wisconsin, Madison. This paper was presented as a public lecture at Cornell University in November 1966 and at the University of Washington in April 1967. A short version was read at the April 1967 meeting of the Central States Speech Association. SunShine