Definition and Examples of Exigence in Rhetoric

In rhetoric, exigence is an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak. The term exigence comes from the Latin word for demand. It was popularized in rhetorical studies by Lloyd Bitzer in The Rhetorical Situation (Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1968). In every rhetorical situation, said Bitzer, there will be at least one controlling exigence which functions as the organizing principle: it specifies the audience to be addressed and the change to be affected. In other words, says Cheryl Glenn, a rhetorical  exigence is a problem that can be resolved or changed by discourse (or language)... All successful rhetoric (whether verbal or visual) is an authentic response to an exigence, a real reason to send a message. (The Harbrace Guide to Writing, 2009) Other Considerations Exigence is not the only component of a rhetorical situation. The rhetor also must consider the audience being addressed and constraints that would present obstacles.   Commentary Exigence has to do with what prompts the author to write in the first place, a sense of urgency, a problem that requires attention right now, a need that must be met, a concept that must be understood before the audience can move to a next step. (M. Jimmie Killingsworth, Appeals in Modern Rhetoric. Southern Illinois University Press, 2005)An exigence may be something as direct and intense as a power outage, which might prompt an official to persuade everyone to stay calm or to assist those in need. An exigence may be more subtle or complex, like the discovery of a new virus, which might prompt medical officials to persuade the public how to change its behavior. Exigence is part of a situation. It is the critical component that makes people ask the hard questions: What is it? What caused it? What good is it? What are we going to do? What happened? What is going to happen? (John Mauk and John Metz Inventing Arguments, 4th ed. Cengage, 2016) Rhetorical and Nonrhetorical Exigences An exigence, [Lloyd] Bitzer (1968) asserted, is an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be (p. 6). In other words, an exigence is a pressing problem in the world, something to which people must attend. The exigence functions as the ongoing principle of a situation; the situation develops around its controlling exigence (p. 7). But not every problem is a rhetorical exigence, Bitzer explained. An exigence which cannot be modified is not rhetorical; thus, whatever comes about of necessity and cannot be changed—death, winter, and some natural disasters, for instance—are exigences to be sure, but they are nonrhetorical. . . . An exigence is rhetorical when it is capable of positive modification and when positive modification requires discourse or can be assisted by discourse. (emphasis added) (John Mauk and John Metz Inventing Arguments, 4th ed. Cengage, 2016)Racism is an example of t he first type of exigence, one where discourse is required to remove the problem... As an example of the second type—an exigence that can be modified by the assistance of rhetorical discourse—Bitzer offered the case of air pollution. (James Jasinski, Sourcebook on Rhetoric. Sage, 2001)A brief example may help to illustrate the difference between an exigence and a rhetorical exigence. A hurricane is an example of a non-rhetorical exigence. Regardless of how hard we try, no amount of rhetoric or human effort can prevent or alter the path of a hurricane (at least with todays technology). However, the aftermath of a hurricane pushes us in the direction of a rhetorical exigence. We would be dealing with a rhetorical exigence if we were trying to determine how best to respond to people who had lost their homes in a hurricane. The situation can be addressed with rhetoric and can be resolved through human action. (Stephen M. Croucher, Understanding Communication Theory: A Begi nners Guide, Routledge, 2015) As a Form of Social Knowledge Exigence must be located in the social world, neither in a private perception nor in material circumstance. It cannot be broken into two components without destroying it as a rhetorical and social phenomenon. Exigence is a form of social knowledge—a mutual construing of objects, events, interest, and purposes that not only links them but makes them what they are: an objectified social need. This is quite different from [Lloyd] Bitzers characterization of exigence as a defect (1968) or a danger (1980). Conversely, although exigence provides the rhetor with a sense of rhetorical purpose, it is clearly not the same as the rhetors intention, for that can be ill-formed, dissembling, or at odds with what the situation conventionally supports. The exigence provides the rhetor with a socially recognizable way to make his or her intentions known. It provides an occasion, and thus a form, for making public our private versions of things. (Carolyn R. Miller, Genre as Social Action, 1984. Rpt. in Genre In the New Rhetoric, ed. by Freedman, Aviva, and Medway, Peter. Taylor Francis, 1994) Vatzs Social Constructionist Approach [Richard E.] Vatz (1973)... challenged Bitzers concept of the rhetorical situation, maintaining that an exigence is socially constructed and that rhetoric itself generates an exigence or rhetorical situation (The Myth of the Rhetorical Situation.) Quoting from Chaim Perelman, Vatz argued that when rhetors or persuaders choose particular issues or events to write about, they create presence or salience (Perelmans terms)—in essence, it is the choice to focus on the situation that creates the exigence. Thus a president who chooses to focus on health care or military action, according to Vatz, has constructed the exigence toward which the rhetoric is addressed. (Irene Clark, Multiple Majors, One Writing Class.  Linked Courses for General Education and Integrative Learning, ed. by  Soven, Margot, et al., Stylus, 2013)

The Food Basket Brigade - 1621 Words

Neosho is a very involved community and lends a helping hand to those in need. Throughout our community, hunger has been an outstanding issue and several churches and organizations have risen to the challenge of meeting needs of those around. The Food Basket Brigade was started in 1988. Since its beginning, the effort has collected and distributed more than 4 million pounds of food. (The Joplin Globe). During the month before they deliver the food, several school organizations go out around town and pick up all the food from people who have it set out, usually by their mailboxes, and then they deliver it to The Newton County Armory. Back several years ago, when I was in school, one of our extra credit works was to participate with the†¦show more content†¦Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Volunteer groups usually consist of 20 people. Representatives of other churches and businesses from around the area volunteer their time to work at the kitchen. Others sponsor the meal, b ut can t spend the time working. For me, the reason why it s important to be part of the chamber is to just show that we are part of the Neosho community, Desiree Bridges said. We support what s going on here and it s a great way for people to know who we are. The purpose of the kitchen is to reach hungry people in the community. They can be any kind of hungry, including spiritually, physically and emotionally. Arvest of Joplin Missouri has started a â€Å"1 Million Meals† campaign to help the local area meet the rising demand of hunger. Arvest Bank in Southwest Missouri has partnered with Ozarks Food Harvest, Monett Community Kitchen, Newton County Food Basket Brigade Inc., Carthage Bright Futures and Lockwood Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry for the duration of the initiative. All donations received will go to these organizations to provide meals to local hungry families. Every dollar raised through 1 Million Meals provides the equivalent of five meals for those in need. Joplin’s Salvation Army’s food pantry is known as Crosslines, Souls Harbor. It provide toys and clothing for local children through the Angel Tree program. 1,600 children signed up, and families signed up to provide toys and clothing to all but 200 of the children for aShow MoreRelatedCapital of Southern state of Karnataka700 Words   |  3 Pagesreasons and variety of Beans-JavaBeans. Yes, that†™s how the name came through a legend and got the name a place of baked beans (Benda Kalu Ooro). The garden city is home to some of the growing high tech industries in India. It has become the byte-basket of India and home to some of Indias premier scientific establishments. The city also offers music, dance, dramas, carnivals, shopping fun and more. 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Critical Analysis of Robert Frost Free Essays

Benjamin Swan Prof. Bittenbender ENG208W: Studies in Poetry 04/14/13 Frost’s Metaphoric use of the Natural World in Poetry Born in San Francisco in the spring of 1874, Robert Frost is considered to be amongst, if not solely, the greatest poets in American history. Around age eleven, Frost moved to New England where the majority of his poetic inspiration is presumably drawn from. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Analysis of Robert Frost or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although he never managed to obtain a collegiate degree, he did attend both Dartmouth and Harvard, two of the countries most prestigious universities. Publishing his first poem entitled â€Å"My Butterfly† in 1894, Frost began his career as a poet just as the modernist literature movement of the early twentieth century was gaining traction in the United States. Although Frost did not break from poetic convention as radically as some of his peers in the modernist movement, he is nevertheless considered a modernist poet in part due to the use of the New England vernacular that is present in the majority of his poetry. Another influence on Frost’s work as a poet comes from New England as well; this is the influence of growing up in New England’s natural landscape and the life he led on a farm there. Frost’s love for the natural and tendency towards including it in his writing is possibly the most distinguishable constant in his work. The following quote best describes this constant in his work, â€Å"As Frost portrays him, man might be alone in an ultimately indifferent universe, but he may nevertheless look to the natural world for metaphors of his own condition. † (The Poetry Foundation). The purpose of this paper will be to explore the some of the pieces in which Frost’s use of nature as a metaphor or simile for the human condition, as well as identifying the theme that the human race is alone in the vast universe where it occurs. Perhaps the best example of this recurring theme and Frosts use of nature as a metaphor can be found in his poem â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay. † In this piece, nature’s change from spring to summer is a metaphor for the loss of innocence in the world. Frost points to the fact that the world started out innocent when he opens by saying â€Å"Nature’s first green is gold† (Line 1). He glorifies our innocence by comparing it to the beauty of tree with golden buds just before they bloom. This observation and metaphor is true to the human condition as well, as we are born innocent. He continues on to describe how this doesn’t last for very long though when he says, â€Å"Then leaf subsides to leaf† (5). He then makes an allusion to the Bible about this loss of innocence in the following line, â€Å"So Eden sank to grief,† (6). As for the recurring theme, at the end of the poem man is left alone in the universe, stripped of innocence and disconnected from God. Another prime example of the recurring theme and frosts use of nature to illustrate his point can be found in his poem entitled â€Å"Desert Places. † In this poem the theme is clearly the loneliness and isolation felt by Frost. He uses nightfall during winter in the woods as a metaphor for loneliness. His description and figurative language paint a picture of the most lonely and isolated place imaginable, a wintry desert place. From here he lets the reader know that this place will only get more lonely before when he says â€Å"Will be more lonely ere it will be less† (10). After painting this picture of the most lonely place the reader can imagine, Frost concludes by saying that â€Å"I have it in me so much nearer home To scare myself with my own desert places. † (15, 16). This is where the recurring theme fits in; Frost internally is more concerned about his human condition where he finds himself alone in a vast universe that is indifferent to his existence. The entire poem sets up the delivery of these last two lines so that the reader can understand the significance of this theme to his life. The next poem examined is entitled â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. † Although Frost does use nature as a metaphor for the human condition in this poem, it’s theme is in stark contrast to the one found in â€Å"Desert Places. † In this poem, the woods in winter are a metaphor for isolation and solitude rather than loneliness. This could be for a couple of different reasons; perhaps it is the fact the speaker has the companionship of his horse. Either way, the poem begins in the woods as the speaker thinks back to civilization and the man whose property he is on. He notes that it is an nusual place to stop in the middle of the night since it serves no practical purpose and that his â€Å"horse must think it queer† (5). From here the speaker makes the observation that â€Å"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,† and takes a brief moment to enjoy the beauty, isolation, and solitude they offer before carrying on about his business (13). In con trast to the theme in â€Å"Desert Places† Frost appears to have found peace with the human condition in being alone in the woods that represent the vast and indifferent universe. Another poem that contains just one of the two constants being examined is entitled â€Å"Birches. In this poem Frost observes birch tree’s that have been permanently bent from the weight of winter snow and ice, this observation makes him nostalgic for the days he used to swing from the branches of these trees as a boy. He recalls being playing as carefree boy and the birch trees become a metaphor for his childhood innocence that he longs to have back. Near the end of the poem Frost writes, â€Å"It’s when I’m weary of considerations, And life is too much like a pathless wood† (44, 45) that he feels the most nostalgic for his carefree childhood. This statement makes the â€Å"pathless wood† a metaphor for the trials of adulthood that are like cobwebs and twigs that poke you in the eye in untamed woods (45). He longs to escape the reality of trials and this can be seen in the line stating â€Å"I’d like to get away from earth awhile† (48). Although the recurring theme of the being alone in the vast universe does not present itself in this poem, the constant of nature as a metaphor can be found again in this piece. The final poem that this paper will examine Frosts use of nature as a metaphor and the recurring theme of the human condition is entitled â€Å"Out Out—. † In this poem Frost takes the reader to a logging community where the days work is coming to end. In this setting, nature is a metaphor for both the livelihood and mortality of a young man/older boy working with a chainsaw at a logging camp to make firewood. Frost paints the picture of beautiful landscape off of which the subject is making a living, but when he is distracted from his work he accidentally cuts hand nearly clean off. Even with the doctor’s best effort to try to save the boys life, the boy passes away during the operation. It is here that the recurring theme reveals itself when Frost writes, â€Å"No more to build on there. And they, since they Were not the one dead turned to their affairs† (33, 34). In this poem the bystanders represent the indifferent universe, they continue on with their lives, as the boy dies alone. In conclusion, the influence of the New England landscape has clearly played a huge role in Robert Frost’s life’s work as a poet. One is hard pressed to find a poem of his that does not contain some kind of metaphor inspired by the natural world surrounding him. Although the great poet does explore the recurring theme of the human condition where man is alone in the vast and indifferent universe, this theme is not nearly as constant as his metaphoric use of natural world. Frost was able to make a name for himself through this poetic style and will remain as one of the greatest American poets there ever was and will be. References â€Å"Robert Frost. †Ã‚  The Poetry Foundation. The Poetry Foundation, n. d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. How to cite Critical Analysis of Robert Frost, Papers