Bitzer

While reading Bitzer’s article, I didn’t fully understand his concept of a rhetorical situation. So I wanted to use one the examples he sites to better grasp what he’s saying. One of the examples he sites is the Gettysburg address. In trying to find a copy of the address on youtube, however, I came across this:



So, instead, I’m going to discuss the rhetorical situation of the video.

Bitzer states (1) rhetorical discourse must be called into existence by situation. The situation here is for highschoolers to find a way to memorize the Gettysburg address. This might not seem like a situation requiring a solution of rhetorical discourse. But a simple search of “memorize Gettysburg Address” on YouTube will lead you to videos of highschoolers trying different ways to recite the speech: mostly rapping and other forms of singing. They are searching for a way to change the style and language of the speech to make it both fun, memorable, and relevant for them.

This brings in the (2) characteristic, that rhetorical situations invite response. Again, one only needs to do a simple YouTube search to see the response being given to the situation of memorizing the address. It is clear (3) that the situation is “prescribing a response to fit it.” Whether or not that prescription has been met is unclear. But one can tell by the comments that many individuals have found this video fitting.

Bitzer also states the situation must be (4) objective, publicly observable, and historic. I have to say that most people have observed firsthand the experience of trying to memorize the Gettysburg Address. And even if one hasn’t, one only has to search YouTube to be able to observe students who are trying. The subject matter helps make the situation historic but also that fact that as long as we find the Gettysburg Address important, there will always be students needing to memorize it.

The structure of the situation is (5) simple. Few elements need to interact; just the student and the speech. I would say it is also loosely structured in that not all elements are “located and readied” for the task. Students know they must memorize the speech, but how to do so is unclear. Again, the number of videos and the variety of styles show this.

Finally, Bitzer states (6) a rhetorical situation either matures and decays or matures and persists. I have to say that this may be a situation that persists as long as the Gettysburg Address persists.

As a final note of my own, I have to say that Bitzer’s characteristics seem rather vague even after working through them in this way. First he requires a fitting response. Who is say what is fitting and what is not? Furthermore, was no rhetorical situation created if no response is deemed fitting? His final two characteristics are that the situation has structure and that the situation will either fade or remain. I don't see how these are characterics that can be used to define a rhetorical situation. And maybe that's my fault. Maybe he didn't mean to use them as definitions and I'm reading too much into it. But even so, what situation does not have structure or will fade or persist? To me, Bitzer's arguements seem poorly formed and not well thought through.