Rhetorical Situation in a Nutshell

First, the memorize this acronym and get it down cold:

1. Writers
2. Often
3. Purposefully
4. Avoid
5. Great           (Gooey
6. Conflicts      (Chocolate

Now to the nitty gritty, with examples for each of the six components

1. WRITER: your connection to your topic.
• I write about Bulgaria because I am Bulgarian or my best friend is Bulgarian. 
• I write about nursing because I will be a nurse or a doctor.
2. OCCASION: what motivates or inspires you write to about this topic now. 
• I write about Egypt because I am Egyptian or because Egypt is has just had a revolution.
3. PURPOSE: the effect and/or benefits you want your paper to have on your audience. 
• EFFECTS: I want to entertain/surprise/alert/arouse/amuse/inform/persuade my audience with [information/writing] that increases their [understanding/apprecation] of [narrowed topic].
• BENEFITS: I want to benefit my audience by giving them information about [narrowed topic] that will help them make better choices in the area of [general topic]
4. AUDIENCE: the specific, targeted group - perhaps yourself - who will benefit from your paper.
• OTHERS: 
• YOURSELF:
5. GENRE: the kind, type or format of writing that will deliver maximum benefits to your audience.
• Remember your essay will always be one of the four types for this course: Expository ("Tell Me"), Explaining, Problem-Solving, Arguing 
• Decide whether your essay will take the form of an online blog (with in text links to research) or a hardcopy research paper (with in text links to a Works Cited List).
• Be creative: ask how you can best get your message through to your target audience? 
• Be imaginative: ask if your audience might prefer one of any number of formats: brochure, how-to manual, encyclopedia entry,  newspaper opinion piece, magazine article, a poem or even a cartoon with research appendices attached.
6. CONTEXT: background information to help your audience see clearly and at once exactly how your topic relates to them. Although context is number six on this list, it always belongs in the introduction to your paper. Think first about your audience: what they probably know or don't know about your topic. Then give them information that will connect and get them involved in your topic. Examples:
• Context for an Explaining paper on how to prepare for a career in nursing:
• Facts: Nurses are in demand (give stats), qualifications of a good nurse, types of nurse   
• Personal: I am in my second year of training to be a nurse
• PERSONAL: inform your audience of YOUR connection to your topic
• GENERAL: use a good dictionary or encyclopedia to get context information. Begin with Wikipedia. Then go to Columbia Encyclopedia, a magnificent one-volume reference work. And guess what: it's  online at the Oakton Library Database. In Find It, go to Facts and Encyclopedias >  - All Subjects Credo ReferenceSearch > Encyclopedias (right hand column) > The Columbia Encyclopedia (under Encyclopedia/General) and then
1. Enter your search in "Search for" at the top and not "Heading contains" a little farther down.
2. Avoid misspellings, which give this message: "No hits for [misspelled topic]  in The Columbia Encyclopedia"