The Rhetorical Situation

     I have taken two classes specifically focused on persuasion during my time in college, so rhetoric is something I've spent a decent amount of time studying. I have never, however, looked at rhetoric through the lens that Bitzer does. At first,  I found the article very confusing, and I didn't really understand what Bitzer meant by 'rhetorical situation.' I understood it more when he compared it to a scientist asking what situations would create scientific thought. Bitzer is not asking who the rhetoric is for or what the rhetoric is about, he is asking why rhetoric comes about. To me, I'm not sure there is a way to describe when a situation calls for rhetoric, or at least, I don't know how to describe it. I think it is one of those things that when you see it, you just know. Sometimes, moments just call for rhetoric. Speeches can be well thought out and planned, or spur of the moment. I think when an inspired person is in the right place, rhetoric follows. 

    To be completely candid, this article was hard for me to understand. In the introduction of the article, I really got what Bitzer was saying, but by section one, he lost me a bit. I think maybe on a second or third read I would pick up the points he was making a little bit more. To me, rhetoric seems like a complex concept that is hard to truly break down and define. However, I enjoyed trying to understand someone else's definition of it.