Discussion Question 2 English Writing

The Rhetorical Situation

We learned in ENG100 that arguments are a conversation. In any conversation there is always an author, an audience, and a text.

The combination of these three elements is called the Rhetorical Situation. You can picture it this way, as the rhetorical triangle:

Note that when we use the term "text" it can apply to any piece of rhetoric, not just written or spoken rhetoric. The text might be a persuasive speech, a persuasive image (like an advertisement), a physical object, or even a place. The persuasive "texts" we are analyzing in this class are political ads.

In analyzing a political ad, it helps to think about all three elements of the rhetorical triangle to help us break down the ad further.

Author

In political ads the author is usually somewhat obscured. It's required by law to identify who produced the political ad, which is why at the end of the ad you often hear something like "I'm (Name of Politician) and I approve this message." This doesn't mean that Barack Obama or Mitt Romney sat down and wrote the ads themselves, but they have endorsed them, so it is safe to say that they know their content. The actual creators of the ad are a skilled team of many different writers, directors, and editors. So, when talking about the authors of an ad, we can safely say (Name of Politician) or (Name of Politician's) camp, or (Name of Politician's) team is the author of the ad. Any of these statements is accurate.

However, sometimes political ads are created by groups not endorsed or directly controlled by the candidate. Pay attention to who endorses the ad at the end. Some groups that have their own agenda will create political ads and this is important to our rhetorical analysis. Often times in political ads, the very negative attack ads will be created by groups not officially endorsed by the candidate. A famous example was the "Swiftboat Veterans for Justice" attack ads that ran against John Kerry in the 2004 Bush v. Kerry campaign.

• Swiftboat Veterans Ad on John Kerry - Sellout

Here is a case where the author of the ad matters. The Bush campaign could not create an ad that called into question John Kerry's patriotism because he was a war veteran and by many accounts served admirably. They especially could not do so because George W. Bush was seen to have dodged the draft by joining the Texas Air National Guard.

Though not endorsed by the Bush campaign, this ad was credited with doing some necessary attacking that the Bush campaign itself couldn't do. This tradition of third-party groups creating attack ads continues to this day, so when watching a political ad think about the author and how that effects the rhetorical situation. Also, sometimes the author of an ad will be a special interest group like the AARP, the NRA, or Moveon.org. What are the agendas of these groups and how does that affect the rhetorical situation?

Audience

Who the text is directed toward is very important. Different audiences will have different values and interests. When analyzing a political ad, we should think carefully about who the audience is and try to think from their perspective as much as we can. We have to keep in mind that the text might not be directed toward us. Is the ad targeting a specific audience? What are the values of that audience and how does the ad play to those values? Is the audience sympathetic or skeptical? Is the ad rallying the base or trying to win independent voters?

• Trump Interviews

In this ad, the target audience is clearly women. The ad focuses on disrespectful things that Donald Trump has said about women and issues that are important to many women. Notice in the end of the ad that the ad says, "Donald Trump is wrong for us." The use of "us" imagines that the ad was created by women, for women. This may or may not be true, but it gives the sense that women are banding together to represent a shared set of values.

Context

You'll notice in the image of the rhetorical triangle that the triangle is surrounded by context. Context is the broader conversation. You might remember from ENG100 that no argument takes place in a vacuum. The context of the advertisement is very important. What was happening in the country and national conversation when your ad was created?

• Obama Campaign Ad: Read My Plan

This ad puts the context of the 2012 campaign front and center. What were the major issues and circumstances of that campaign? The ad notes some of them. First of all, in 2012 we were still struggling through The Great Recession; we were involved militarily in Afghanistan; we were aware of the problems of oil dependency and the threat of global warming; and we were worried about the effects of outsourcing

American manufacturing jobs. The ad lists some other concerns that were on our collective minds as well. In this ad, Obama responds to these outside forces directly, but in many ads the context is implied. If the ad is about creating jobs, the context is the recession. If the ad is about using clean energy, the context might be global warming. These are broad notions of context, but there is a more immediate context here as well. In this ad, Obama notes that it is the final weeks of the campaign, so the context of this ad is a closing message. It's important in a closing message (just like our conclusion paragraphs in an essay) to sum up and reinforce your main points and to call your audience to action.

A "call to action" is a type of context that has to do with saying the right thing at the appropriate time. The ancient Greeks had a term for this as well: Kairos.

Kairos: Striking when the Iron is Hot

A good speech or piece of rhetoric should not only have a convincing argument, but it should also be used at the most opportune moment. Have you ever been in an argument with someone and after the argument is over, you find the perfect thing to say?

"I should have said that," you think, and you kick yourself for thinking of it too late. You can't say it now because you have missed your kairotic moment.

In history's most famous kairotic moment, Marc Antony lifts the bloody toga of the recently slain Julius Caesar during his funeral oration to provoke the crowd to pity and win the Roman public to his side.

Marc Anthony seized the perfect kairotic moment and that was a big part of why his speech was successful.

In political speeches, advertisements, and in political life in general, making sure you speak at the best time is of great importance. If a candidate doesn't respond quickly enough to a matter he or she might be accused of inactivity or insensitivity. Many people suggest that President Obama's timely response to Hurricane Sandy was a boon for his campaign, while many people were offended at President George W. Bush's seeming lack of response to Hurricane Katrina. Another kind of kairotic moment in political ads is when a politician makes a gaffe or says something awkward their opponent can spring on.

• Donald Trump Campaign Advert - Basket Of Deplorables

Here the Trump campaign springs on a gaffe by Clinton, releasing a television ad in several battleground states just four days after Clinton used the unfortunate "basket of deplorables" phrase. The ad is an attack on Clinton's Ethos, portraying her as disdainful, disrespectful, and out of touch. It uses an appeal to pathos in an attempt to make the viewer feel insulted by her comments. It does a very good job of this because it strikes while the gaffe was still fresh. The kairotic moment isn't important in every ad, but in some it is vital. So, when you choose an ad, it would be wise to do some research about the context of the ad to try and understand its timing. To what events was the ad responding? What moment did it seize?