Rhetoric is the science, art, and study of the way words are used. Rhetorical context refers to the set of circumstances surrounding any reading situation. Analyzing an artifact’s rhetorical context allows you to approach that artifact analytically and skeptically; that is to say, it helps you avoid being manipulated.

The ability to analyze rhetorical context helps you not only as a reader but also as a writer. We will talk later in this course about rhetorical context in relation to writing. For now, to analyze the rhetorical context of an artifact you are reading, consider the following questions:

  • What is the artifact’s genre? Research report, personal essay, speech, news article? music video? documentary film? science-fiction story?
  • What are the characteristics, expectations, and rules of that genre? What elements should a piece of writing (or other type of artifact) in that genre contain? What kind of language do you expect it to use? Does the artifact conform to your expectations, or does it break the rules? If it breaks the rules, why might it do so?
  • Who is the intended audience? What expectations will that audience have? How might that particular audience be best manipulated?
  • What is the artifact’s purpose?
    1. Does it aim to inform its audience? Entertain? Argue a position or generate new data or information? Tell a story? Another way of saying this is asking what the artifact hope to accomplish?
    2. How does the artifact go about achieving its purpose?
  • What is the stance of the artifact’s creator? Politically? In terms of particular beliefs or ideas? In relation to his or her readers? In relation to you personally?
  • What are the media/design strategies employed by the artifact, and how do those strategies affect how you read it?