Bitzer (1968) argued that rhetoric formed in response to situation. The situation shapes and controls discourse in the same way that a question shapes an answer. Situations are rhetorical when they call for a discursive response, and discourses are rhetorical when they respond to a situation that needs a response.
All rhetorical situations contain three parts:
1. Exigence -- Bitzer (1968) describes exigence as "imperfection marked by urgency" (p. 6). Not all exigences are rhetorical. Rhetorical exigences are those which can only be changed by discourse.
2. Audience -- Situations that are rhetorical must include an audience, and that audience must be capable of acting to produce change.
3. Constraints -- Bitzer (1968) acknowledges that people, objects, and relations may impede the suggested change. These elements are called constraints, and they may include things like attitudes, motives, traditions, and so forth.
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