Journal 2

Two examples that illustrate Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation and Edbauer's Rhetorical Ecology are Rosie the Riveter and Donald Trump's inaugural speech. Though Edbauer agrees with the principles of Bitzer's rhetorical situation, she maintains that her more complex and adaptable rhetorical ecology is superior because all rhetoric is subject to changing interpretations by different audiences at different periods in time. While Bitzer focuses almost solely on the intended and current audience and the ability of the rhetoric to affect them in the moment, Edbauer acknowledges the ability of the meaning of speech and literature to evolve over time and to mean different things to different audience members. She says, "Public interactions bleed into wider social processes." The Rhetorical Ecology method allows the analysis of this evolution by taking history and movement into consideration. Edbauer agrees with all components of Bitzer's rhetorical situation but maintains that the components are too rigid and oversimplified. For example, if Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation was used to analyze the promotional cartoon Rosie the Riveter, the audience is women during World War II, the exigence is the need for female workers in the workforce due to wartime labor shortages, and the constraints would lie with men and women who held on to the traditional idea that women do not belong in the workforce, those who are contributing to the war effort in different ways, or those who are physically unable to work. When analyzing using Edbauer's Rhetorical Ecology, the evolution in meaning that the Rosie the Riveter cartoon has undergone can be taken into account. It is now a cultural icon of the United States and serves as a symbol for the feminist movement, female strength and unity, and power for women in the workplace. It has both a modern meaning an a historical meaning and is likely to be more meaningful to women in society than it is for men. This change in perception is not accounted for by Bitzer's method. Similarly Donald Trump's recent inaugural address can be analyzed very easily using Bitzer's method, particularly because it was a speech, a genre that Bitzer paid special attention to in the creation of his method. However, Edbauer's method is more valuable to its analysis because for different people, the speech marked different things. It was the concrete beginning of the loss of democratic power in the office of the President, it has caused fear for women and minorities, and triumph for the banishment of career politicians in office. This mix is addressed when Edbauer says, "There can be no pure exigence that does not involve various mixes of felt interests." I feel that history and perspective are very important to the understanding of text and rhetoric, so Edbauer's Rhetorical Ecology is more accurate to my beliefs.