Introduction
Lloyd Bitzer (1968) believed that the situation determines the rhetoric needed to address /resolve it (Larson, 1970). Meaning, that the situation is the source for rhetorical activity and criticism, that rhetoric comes into existence as a response (Bitzer, 1992). For example, there must be a question for there to be an answer, or a problem in order to develop a solution. From this we can calculate that the situation controls the rhetorical response. According the Bitzer (1992) in order for something to be deemed a rhetorical situation it needs to have three constituents:
Exigence; which are imperfections marked by urgency. It must be capable of positive modification through rhetoric alone. In rhetorical situations there is at least
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one controlling exigence that serves as the organizing principle by specifying the audience to be addressed and the change to be affected (Bitzer, 1992, Hoffman & Ford, 2010, & Larson, 1970). Audience; which are the people capable of being persuaded or motivated by the rhetoric and mediating the desired change (Bitzer, 1992, Hoffman & Ford, 2010, & Larson, 1970). Constraints. Which are beliefs, facts, documents, images, interests, traditions, attitudes, motives, etc. that have the power to hinder the action needed to modify the exigence (Bitzer, 1992, Hoffman & Ford, 2010, & Larson, 1970). Malaysian Airlines Rhetorical Situation Take for instance, the current issue with Malaysia Airlines.
Over the course of four months Malaysia Airlines has suffered from two of the biggest air disasters in history (Mintz, 2014). The first was the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board (Mintz, 2014). And the second incident was when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board (Bora, 2014). The fact that the organization had not only one, but two air disasters in itself is the main exigence for the organization. The organizations audiences are the customers and employees that need to be reassured of the airlines safety, and the family members of those who died (Hoffman & Ford, 2010). Malaysia Airlines faced numerous constraints. One of the biggest constraints that Malaysia Airlines had to deal with was uncertainty because they had no physical evidence to work with from MH Flight 370. This coupled with the relentless rhetoric being spun by the media and the fact the organization didn’t have any strategies in place to deal with the situation doomed Malaysia Airlines from the start. These exigencies, audience, and constraints combined to form a rhetorical …show more content…
situation. What Malaysia Airlines did Wrong. Mainly the fact that Malaysia Airlines was not prepared and did not have any plans, or protocols, in place for how to deal with the situation was where they went wrong. Because of this the airline was constantly scrambling to create rhetoric on the fly and often gave incomplete and inaccurate accounts. Thus, making them look confused and like they were trying to hide something, like they were at fault for the planes disappearance, from the public. Malaysia Airlines also made the mistake of releasing news too early and without verification, leading them to have to recount their statements. This did not help the organizations image. One of the most infamous faux pas was the fact that the airline delivered official condolences to the relatives of the 239 people who had been on board MH370 via text message mere 16 days after the planes disappearance (Mintz, 2014). The lack of empathy the organization showed by informing family member with such a lack of compassion is going to be one of the hardest things for Malaysia Airlines to recover from. How Malaysia Airlines Should Respond An organizations survival depends on their ability to regain, or maintain, public approval when facing a crisis (Johnson & Sellnow, 1995). Since the air disasters have already passed and the damage to the organizations brand has already been done I will discuss where I think Malaysia Airlines needs to go from here. In order to save their image, and organization, Malaysia Airlines needs to do two crucial things: Develop a Communication Strategy; They need to prepare a strong, cohesive communication strategy on how to deal with future situations.
Included in this are protocols on how to handle informing family member of those affected by disasters and tragedies if, or when, they might happen in the future. They also need to find and/or hire a public relations team that they can use to help them deal with the media for this, and future, rhetorical situations. Overall, Malaysia needs to be better prepared in their life cycle of issues management process that helps organizations detect and respond appropriately (Dougall, 2008). It would also be a good idea for Malaysia Airlines to replace some of the executive leadership. Show consumers that they want to make a break with the past and restore trust in their organization. I also think that Malaysia Airlines could benefit greatly from selecting a spokesperson for their organization. This spokesperson needs to be someone that can show empathy and address people’s concerns with the airline. Someone that can show how Malaysia Airlines is taking concerns seriously and provide the actions being taken to correct
them. Repair Their Organization Identity. Malaysian Airlines needs to up their efforts to repair the damage done to their brand if they choose to not try and wipe the slate clean by starting over by rebranding themselves. There are a couple ways I believe they can achieve this. One is to start a social media campaign highlighting the organization in a positive light. Short interviews from former passengers expressing their confidence in Malaysia Airlines would be an idea they could use. They also need to reiterate that they are committed to safety and provide examples of how they are achieving this to rebuild confidence and overcome negative perceptions. Most importantly they need to make sure that employees are on top of their game and providing impeccable customer service to their consumers. Provide the customers with the best flying experience of their lives. By doing this not only do you build loyal customers but those customers, in turn, spread positive messages and rhetoric about the organization. Conclusion Rhetorical situations are defined as situations composed of people, events, objects, and relations that create an exigence that rhetoric is able to persuade the audience to take action to modify or solve while also battling constraints that get in the way of that rhetoric (Bitzer, 1992). Malaysia Airlines will serve as a what not to do in a rhetorical situation for organizations for years to come. As a company Malaysia Airlines can still turn this negative situation around and save their organization but they’re going to get busy and put in a lot of effort. Malaysian Airlines needs to repair their organizational identity and make sure that they are prepared, by having a strong communication strategy, for any other issues, or rhetorical situations, that may arise in the future.
Looking at the readings by Bitzer, Vatz, Morey, and Edbauer-Rice, we can see a connection in some way to each other. First, in Bitzer, we are told that the “situation influences the rhetoric” and that “rhetorical situations must exist as a necessary condition of rhetorical discourse,” (Bitzer 5). But when looking at Vatz, he tells us the direct opposite, that “rhetoric influences the situation” (Vatz 159????) and “meaning is not discovered in situation but created by rhetors” (Vatz 157). Basically, Vatz is telling the audience that “rhetors are responsible for what they choose to make salient,” (Vatz 158) instead of merely being a “reflector of reality,” (Vatz 158). As we continue through the readings, we begin to notice an expansion on ideas, where we can see a similarity in ideas between Bitzer and Morey. Morey expands on Bitzer by first, introducing the original rhetorical triangle, which includes rhetor, artifact, and audience (all three of which as seen in Bitzer) and elaborates on this triangle to make it a tetrahedron. In this tetrahedron, he adds design, medium, and genre to...
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
Lloyd F. Bitzer’s article, “The Rhetorical Situation”, is an account of what he calls the “rhetorical situation” as what he believes to be the conditions necessary for compelling a rhetorician to engage in rhetoric (35). It is Bitzer’s position that a work of rhetoric comes into existence as a response to the call of a certain state of affairs in the world (32). Furthermore, Bitzer claims that when we find ourselves in such “situations”, we are compelled to engage in rhetoric in order to restore the balance that we find lacking (34). He identifies three interconnected elements of situational rhetoric: exigence, audience, and constraints (35). Bitzer argues that a rhetorical discourse, which consists of an engagement with an audience for the purpose of compelling that audience to modify the world so as to repair the problem which is presented (35), is required to solve the problem as the world presents it (34). This lack of balance in a rhetorical situation or state of affairs in the world leads to what Bitzer calls exigence, which he defines as “an imperfection marked by urgency” (36). Bitzer also expands on the notion of a rhetorical audience, which is central to his theory of situational rhetoric. Bitzer defines a rhetorical audience as persons who, through discourse, are subject to influence and as persons who can be compelled to bring about the change called for by a rhetorical situation (37). Bitzer also identifies constraints as being a vital component to his theory, which he defines as anything within the rhetorical situation which has the power to “constrain decision” (38).
The article I have chosen for my rhetorical analysis is #Gamergate Trolls Aren’t Ethics Crusaders; They’re a hate group because it seemed interesting. The reason I was drawn to this article was because of the title, I was interested to know what it meant. This article, written by Jennifer Allaway, is about gamergate, an online gaming community, and the hate they show towards others. Jennifer does research on sexism in videogames and how it correlates to the gamers that play these games. She was collecting data from different organizations by using a questionnaire that gathered information on diversity in the videogame community. When some gamergate members
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
In The Rhetorical Situation, Lloyd F. Bitzer argues that what makes a situation rhetorical is similar to that which constitutes a moral action as he writes that, “an act is moral because it is an act performed in a situation of a certain kind; similarly, a work is rhetorical because it is a response to a situation of a certain kind”.(3) By defining the rhetorical situation in this way, Bitzer further contends that rhetoric is a means to altering reality. (4) It is through the use of discourse that one is capable of changing reality through thought and action. (4) Bitzer then elaborates upon the nature of a rhetorical situation by explaining that rhetorical discourse enters a situation when: providing a response to its state of affairs; rhetorical discourse is given significant presence by the situation; the situation exists as a necessary condition for rhetorical discourse to have effect; a rhetorical situation or event may mature or decay over time; the rhetorical situation invites the use of discourse to alter its reality; the rhetorical response given to the situation is appropriate; and the situation controls the response of the discourse. While Bitzer notes that these are parameters for a situation to qualify as being rhetorical, he further discusses three constituents that are present in any rhetorical situation prior to the presence and manipulation of discourse. (6) Exigence, audience, and constraints are seen to be necessary elements in a rhetorical situation for Bitzer. Exegince, “is an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be undone, a thing which is other than it should be”. (6) An audience whose members may function as mediators of change is required, as rhetoric alw...
A rhetorical analysis can be defined as the breakdown of components used to make a persuasive argument or judgment on a particular subject or topic. The ability to make a conclusion or decision on a given thought or idea in a moment of seconds is a result of rhetorical analysis. “Because media rhetoric surrounds us, it is important to understand how rhetoric works. If we refuse to stop and think about how and why it persuades us, we can become mindless consumers who buy into arguments about what makes us value ourselves and what makes us happy”. In Carroll’s essay “Backpacks Vs.
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
In order to understand the thought process of leadership during a crisis, the authors state that we must first understand a conceptual model that is theoretically grounded, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The conceptual model is divided into two elements, the descriptive and prescriptive mental models, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The descriptive mental model focuses the external changes that occur during a crisis. The prescriptive mental model concentrates on future actions that need to be implemented to derail the cognitive overload due to continuous external changes as the situation unfolds. The prescriptive model aligns objectives, providing clarity to future implications related to the crisis, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The authors, Combe & Carrington, (2015) have noted the importance of longitudal research perspective to capture the thought processes of interaction, communication and problem solving in a crisis. This type of research method is instrumental in depicting the challenges to incorporate better solutions to evolving situations. Sense making in a crisis defines these issues to ascertain the complexity and provide meaning to the event, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). Sense making entails the filtering of excessive data to identify the areas of importance. This perspective provides a means of taking a negative, that being disruptive and changing it to a positive or opportunity for
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
Executive summary: the information presented below is the case study for The American Red Cross association. The organisation operates on its own and is supported by donations from people. Its main objective is to provide alleviation to those suffering from natural disasters such as earthquakes, flood, tsunami and other natural calamities. The organisation on an average, responds to about 70,000 disasters in one year, across the globe. There was massive criticism for the association for the route they took to care of the attacks on September 11, 2001 including the Hurricane in 2005. The allegations were ineffective and bad management, be that as it may, and the organisation has additionally tended to claims
Effective communication in its various forms is the substratum of crisis management. Internal and external communication is essential during times of crisis if a successful outcome is to prevail. In a crisis, people’s lives are often at risk, these are lives that can be lost or protected; however, their fate lies in the hands of information. A breakdown in communication during times of crisis will interfere in dispensing pertinent and time sensitive information to the target audience, thus placing them at a gross disadvantage in protecting their health. During a crisis, it can be extremely costly to falter in delivering accurate, detailed, and informative information.
In order to understand the thought process of leadership during a crisis the author states that we must first understand a conceptual model that is theoretically grounded, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The conceptual model is divided into two elements the descriptive and prescriptive mental models, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The descriptive mental model focuses the external changes that occurred crating the crisis. The prescriptive mental model concentrates on future actions that need to be implemented to derail the cognitive overload due to continuous external changes as the situation unfolds. The prescriptive model aligns objectives providing clarity to future implications related to crisis, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The authors, Combe & Carrington, (2015) have noted the importance of longitudal research perspective to capture the thought processes of interaction communication and problem solving in a crisis. This type of research method is instrumental in depicting the challenges to incorporate better solutions to evolving situations. Sense making in a crisis defines these issues to ascertain the complexity and provide meaning to the event, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). Sense making entails filtering excessive data to identify the areas of importance. This perspective provides a means of taking a negative that being disruptive and changing it to a positive or opportunity for improvement.
This issue has seriously damaged Malaysia’s image abroad, and the government’s handling of the crisis has garnered criticism from domestic opposition parties and also China. This is because it is nearly two-third of 239 passengers from China who were on the MH370 plane. This incident gave a big impact to their family members. Some of them vent their anger against our country. They showed their angers by labeling our leaders and MAS official as ‘liars’ and ‘murderers’. From this we can understand how this issue has been impacting their family and it is not a simple matter that we can accept. We also need to understand that it is about the life of 239 passengers. They also show their anger and frustration because of lost their love once. Some of them lost their heir, where they lost their family chain.