by Sheffield Spence
Grant Davie’s “Rhetorical Situations and their Constituents” can be a difficult text for freshmen comp students. What is a rhetor? How can constraints be positive? The list of questions can go on and on. This lesson plan allows for students to think of the rhetorical situation as parts that represent a whole; the different stations all make up key factors of the rhetorical situation.
- This activity calls for movement around the room. I found this to be beneficial for my students because it matched a mental engagement with a physical engagement, allowing for greater participation.
- This activity was adapted from a blog post on TESOL International Education by Elena Shvidko. CASE can be really helpful.
Methodology: To go about this exercise, take the stations below and print them out on separate sheets of paper. Place them on different tables around the classroom. Break students up into groups of about 3-4 people each and have them start at different sections, allowing them to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise after 5-7 minutes at each station. Once everyone has gone through each station, have them sit down and do a debriefing of what the activity had them think about. Ask questions such as “Why was this broken up into different sections?” “What does this say about the rhetorical situation as a whole?” And get students to understand the in-depth process of the rhetorical situation. This can also be time for you to go over some of the sections with written activities to see what students said.
Adjustments: Based on whether you have a 50 minute class or an hour and fifteen minute class, you may add or subtract as many stations as you would like. This worked well for a 50 minute class because it gave us plenty of time to discuss after the activity was done, but you can add even more stations such as genre or media depending on your class length.
Station: Purpose
1. In your group, discuss the following questions:
- Why is the concept of purpose important in writing?
- What are some of the writing purposes that you can think of?
- How does the purpose influence other elements of the rhetorical situation?
- What are the best ways to achieve your purpose?
2. What could be the purposes of the following writing pieces?
- A thank-you card to your neighbor
- A wedding invitation
- A letter of complaint to an airline company
- A book review for an academic journal
- A personal ad in a local newspaper
- An annotated bibliography for a research paper
- An email to your parents telling them about your recent test
3. Write a short note to the president of your country (your school director, etc.). Read your note to your group members and let them identify the purpose of your note.
Station: Audience
1. In your group, discuss the following questions:
- Why is the concept of audience such an important component of the rhetorical situation?
- How does your audience influence what and how you write?
- What do you think is important to know about your audience? How does it help you as a writer?
- What should you do if you don’t know who your audience is?
2. Who could be the audiences for the following writing pieces?
- A thank-you card
- A wedding invitation
- A letter of complaint to an airline company
- A book review for an academic journal
- A personal ad in a local newspaper
- An annotated bibliography for a research paper
- A college lab report
- A resume/CV/cover letter
3. What content and genre(s) would be considered inappropriate for the following audiences?
- A 10-yeard old child
- A university professor
- Readers of an academic journal
- A potential employer
- A newspaper editor
- A classmate
Station: Stance
1: In your group, discuss the following questions:
- What is stance?
- How does your stance affect the way your audience perceives your writing?
- How is your stance affected by the relationships with your audience?
- How is your stance affected by the genre? By the purpose?
2. What stance would you take when writing in the following genres?
- A college application
- An email to your boss
- A grant proposal
- An argumentative paper
- A humorous story
- A cover letter
3. What stance would be considered inappropriate when writing to the following audiences?
- Your grandparents
- Your academic advisor
- A reading committee of grant proposals
- Your younger colleague
- An unknown audience
- A group of people who disagree with your position
4. For one of the audiences from the previous activity, write a very short example that illustrates an inappropriate stance. Discuss it with your group members.
Station: Constraints
1. In your group, discuss the following questions:
- What is a constraint?
- How does Grant Davie view constraints?
- How does Davie’s view of constraints differ from Bitzer’s?
- Can constraints be both positive and negative? How so?
2. As a group, come up with a short list of factors that could be considered as constraints.
3. Think in your group about the ways that constraints can affect the rhetor and the audience. What is a positive constraint that you can come up with for a rhetor and a positive constraint that you can come up with for the audience member?
Station: Rhetor
1. As a group, discuss the following questions:
- What is the rhetor?
- Can a rhetor be plural?
- Why is it difficult to define the rhetor sometimes?
- How do the rhetor and audience interact?
2. As a group, come up with a short list of possible rhetors within any situation. It does not have to be within the realm of composition, they can be examples seen in everyday life.
Sheffield Spence is a first year MA student at the University of Arkansas. She studies English with an emphasis in gender/sexuality. Her research interests include 17th/18th century British literature, medieval literature, gender theory, and feminist theory.
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