Journal Entry 2

Lloyd Bitzer's ideas on rhetorical theory, we can see that really anything can be considered rhetorical theory if backed by the ideas of exigence, audience, and constraints. Exigence is what prompts a writer to speak. Audience is the group that will be receiving the text and will therefore be changed by the text. And lastly, Bitzer sees that there can be different environmental constraints to any text. An example that I thought that Bitzer might see as rhetorical situation was Beyoncé’s latest album Lemonade. While her audience is clearly her normal group of fangirling women and adoring men, I also think she speaks to people who have also been in her shoes and who have also experienced the feelings of being cheated on. The exigence of this album is that Jay-Z allegedly cheated on the Queen B and therefore she felt compelled to express her emotions and thoughts on the matter. This occurrence prompted Beyoncé with the material she needed to write an amazing album. I think a constraint to this peace would be that Beyoncé’s audience is so loyal and enamored by her that anything she said could persuade them.

I think Edbauer’s view of rhetoric is really, very interesting. Rather than viewing the ideas of a rhetorical situation as a separate entity, she chooses to believe that they all go hand in hand and affect one another. I feel like Edbauer takes almost a cause and effect type approach to rhetoric. Similarly to Bitzer, Edbauer believes that exigence is important, but equally as important is how it moves to others and how others respond, becoming the ecology of the rhetorical situation. A recent example of this would be the celebrity reaction to Donald Trump’s tweets. While Donald Trump’s exigence would be to support and encourage the people of the  United States, maybe people like Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Rosie O’Donnell, Shia LaBeouf, and many others are not so sure that Trump has their best interest at heart. Their response is an important part of the ecology to this rhetorical situation.

While I do completely agree with Bitzer’s ideas of audience, exigence, and constraints, I do really agree that responses to such situations say a lot about the rhetorical situation at hand and has a great deal of importance.