Introduction to The Rhetorical Situation (College Board AP® English Language & Composition): Study Guide

This study guide introduces you to the rhetorical situation, the key elements of the rhetorical situation and the most common frameworks used. It includes a step-by-step guide to analyzing the rhetorical situation, a worked example and common mistakes students make.

What is the rhetorical situation?

The rhetorical situation is the set of circumstances that shapes a text. In AP Lang, you need to understand that writers make choices purposefully. These choices are influenced by the situation in which they are writing and include the following:

• What prompted the text

• Who the writing is addressing

• What the writer wants to achieve

• When and where the text was created 

• What message the writer wants to communicate

These choices or elements each have names. Understanding them helps students to explain why a writer uses particular rhetorical choices.  

The elements of the rhetorical situation

Exigence

Exigence is the issue, event, problem or situation that prompts a writer to create a text. It answers the question: why is the writer creating this text now?

Writers may be prompted by:

• A public debate

• A political event

• A social problem

• A crisis

• A personal experience or 

• A need to inform, persuade or encourage a response

For example: 

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was delivered in 1863 during the American Civil War, at the dedication of a cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln honors the soldiers’ sacrifice, but he also urges the living to continue their work.

Let’s examine exigence in the following excerpt:

Audience

Audience is the person or group the writer addresses. An audience may share beliefs, values, needs, concerns, experiences or assumptions. However, an audience is not always completely unified; individual members of the audience may have different views or backgrounds. Writers, therefore, adapt their choices for their audience. They may adjust their tone, evidence, examples or language based on what the audience knows, believes or values.

For example:

Purpose

Purpose is what the writer hopes to accomplish.

A writer may want to:

• Inform

• Persuade

• Criticize

• Defend

• Explain

• Challenge

• Inspire or

• Call the audience to action

Frequently, a writer has more than one purpose. 

For example:

Writer (or speaker)

The writer or speaker is the person or voice creating the text. The writer’s identity and role can affect how the audience receives the message. Therefore, consider:

• The writer’s role or position

• The writer’s credibility

• The writer’s relationship to the subject

• The writer’s relationship to the audience

• The writer’s attitude toward the issue

• What the writer stands to gain

Context

Context is the broader issue surrounding the text. Context helps explain why a text matters and how an audience might understand it. 

Context may include:

• Time

• Place

• Occasion

• Historical moment

• Cultural expectations

• Social conditions or 

• Political circumstances

For example, a speech about freedom will convey a different meaning if delivered during a war, versus in a school assembly; circumstances therefore shape the meaning of words. 

Message

The message is the central idea the writer communicates. It answers the question: what does the writer want the audience to understand, believe or do? 

Message is more than the writer’s topic.

For example:

Rhetorical analysis frameworks: SPACE CAT, MSCAPE and SOAPS-Tone

Rhetorical frameworks help you identify the component parts of the rhetorical situation. It is not necessary to use every framework, but three of the most common are:

SPACE CAT (Speaker, Purpose, Audience, Context, Exigence + Choices, Appeals, Tone)

SPACE = the rhetorical situation (the circumstances the text responds to)

• Speaker: who is talking and their persona

• Purpose: what they want to achieve

• Audience: who it is aimed at

• Context: time, place, surrounding events

• Exigence: the problem or spark that prompts the writing

The situation prompts the writer's choices.

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CAT = the rhetorical choices (how the writer responds to the situation)

• Choices: devices and structure

• Appeals: ethos, pathos, logos, kairos

• Tone: Attitude towards subject

Together these shape how the message lands.

MSCAPE (Message, Subject, Context, Audience, Purpose, Exigence)

Foregrounds the message and what sparked it.

• Message: core idea being conveyed

• Subject: topic under discussion

• Context: surrounding circumstances

• Audience: intended readers

• Purpose: goal of the text

• Exigence: urgent issue prompting it

SOAPS-Tone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone)

A flat checklist for analyzing any text.

• Speaker: voice telling the piece

• Occasion: event prompting the writing

• Audience: readers being addressed

• Purpose: reason for writing

• Subject: what the text is about

• Tone: attitude towards the subject

Which framework should you use?  

The best framework is the one that helps identify the rhetorical situation accurately and connect it to the writer’s choices:

• SPACE CAT is useful because it connects the rhetorical situation to the writer’s choices

• MSCAPE is useful because it separates the subject from the message

• SOAPS-Tone is useful for quickly identifying the basic rhetorical situation of a text

It is worth noting that this study guide focuses on the rhetorical situation part of these frameworks. For choices, appeals and tone, please see the study guide Introduction to Rhetorical Choices.

How to analyze the rhetorical situation: step-by-step

When reading a passage, follow these steps, noting that some steps could be answered before others, depending on the passage:

1. Identify the writer or speaker:

   • What role, position or perspective does the writer have?

2. Identify the exigence:

   • What issue, event or situation prompted the writer to create the text?

3. Identify the audience:

   • Who is the writer addressing? What might this audience believe, value or need?

4. Identify the purpose:

   • What does the writer want the audience to think, feel, understand or do? 

5. Identify the context:

   • What time, place, occasion or broader situation surrounds the text?

6. Identify the message:

   • What central idea does the writer communicate?

7. Connect the situation to the choices:

   • How does the rhetorical situation shape the writer’s tone, evidence, organization or language? 

Worked example: annotated rhetorical situation analysis

Context:

Frederick Douglass was a formerly enslaved American writer, speaker and abolitionist. In 1852, he was invited to speak at an event connected to Independence Day, the American holiday celebrating freedom from British rule. In his speech, Douglass challenged the audience to consider the contradiction between America’s celebration of liberty and the continued existence of slavery.

Directions:

• Read the following excerpt from Douglass’ speech

• Identify speaker, exigence, audience, purpose, context and message

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?  I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. . . . I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies.  The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism a sham, your humanity a base pretense, and your Christianity a lie.  It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home.  It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a bye-word to a mocking earth.  It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union.  It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes.  Oh!  Be warned!  Be warned!  A horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation’s bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic; for the love of God, tear away, and fling from you the hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever!

Common mistakes in rhetorical situation analysis

• Confusing exigence with purpose:

  • Exigence is why the writer has chosen to write the text at that point in time; purpose is what they have written the text for

• Identifying the audience too broadly:

  • “Everyone” or “the general public” or “the American people” is usually too vague; identify the specific group(s) the writer addresses  

• Describing the topic instead of the message:

  • The topic is what the text is about, while the message is what the writer communicates about that topic

• Saying that every writer’s purpose is to persuade without understanding:

  • Writers may also aim to inform, criticize, honor, defend, explain, challenge or call the audience to action

• Ignoring the context:

  • Identifying context is key: the time, place, occasion or broader situation often explains why the writer’s choices matter  

• Listing appeals without explaining their effect:

  • Explain how ethos, pathos, logos and kairos help the writer achieve a purpose with a specific audience (for more on appeals, please see Rhetorical Appeals)

• Analyzing word choice without connecting it to the rhetorical situation:

  • Strong analysis explains why a writer’s language or tone fits the audience, purpose or context  

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between SOAPS-Tone and SPACE CAT?

SOAPS-Tone helps you identify the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject and tone. SPACE CAT includes many of the same components but also emphasizes choices and appeals, making it useful for rhetorical analysis essays.  

Is the rhetorical situation the same as the rhetorical triangle?  

No. The rhetorical triangle usually focuses on the relationship between the writer, audience and message. The rhetorical situation is broader because it also includes exigence, purpose and context and is therefore more thorough in its use for overall analysis.  

Do I need to identify all elements in every essay?  

No. You do not need to discuss every element in your essay. You should focus on the elements that are most relevant to the passage and prompt. However, understanding the full rhetorical situation helps you to make stronger claims about the writer’s choices.  

How is the rhetorical situation tested in MCQs versus the FRQ 2?  

In multiple choice questions, you will likely be asked to identify or explain elements such as audience, purpose, exigence or context. In the FRQ 2, the rhetorical analysis essay, you should use the rhetorical situation to explain how a writer’s choices help to achieve a purpose for a specific audience.

Key terms and glossary

• Audience: the person or group the writer addresses

• Context: the time, place, occasion and broader circumstances that surround a text

• Exigence: the issue, event or situation that prompts a writer to create a text

• Message: the central idea the writer communicates

• Purpose: what the writer hopes to accomplish

• Rhetorical situation: the circumstances that shape a text, including the exigence, audience, writer, purpose, context and message

• Subject: the topic of the text

• Tone: the writer’s attitude towards the subject or audience

• Writer or speaker: the person or voice creating the text