Bitzer Article

In this article, Lloyd F. Bitzer explains the importance of rhetoric and how it is situational. One thing Bitzer specifically focuses in on is the situation in which one would usually use rhetoric. Bitzer tells readers that everyday circumstances such as audience, purpose, and exigence put reason behind using rhetoric in certain situations. Bitzer defines rhetoric as “A complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence.” Essentially Bitzer illustrates in his article that rhetoric is a response to a situation, therefore making it highly situational. The dictionary defines exigence “a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy; emergency”. Bitzer highlights the importance of this word because this is what causes people to react to important situations which prompts rhetoric. Martin Luther King Jr day was celebrated this past Monday, and his entire speech had come up while I was scrolling through twitter. Sure, I had read about the infamous speech in school and watched iconic videos from that day, but I came to the realization that I had never actually read the speech through and through. Curious, I finally read the historic speech. After reading the Bitzer article, I then realized that the “I Have a Dream” speech was full of rhetorical devices like logos, ethos, and pathos. It was because of the rhetoric used in this speech that is was so influential.