The Rhetorical Situation: Occasion

The second variable you must consider in the rhetorical situation is the occasion, including the event and place at which a speech is delivered. Every speech takes place within a context that includes simultaneous events, audience expectations of appropriate behavior, and the exigence presented by the speaker. Dr. Zarefsky discusses the three genres or categories of speeches that emerge from and help shape the occasion generally: deliberative speech, forensic speech, and ceremonial speech. Since these types of speech have distinct purposes, your judgment of a speech as a fitting response must consider whether the speech achieved its purpose as shaped by the occasion. Keep in mind, though, that occasion refers to more than just genre and is shaped by date and location considerations. For example, it matters whether the president is speaking from the back of a train, from the Oval Office, or in front of a Joint Session of Congress: each of these locations, and the timing of the speech, provides resources and places constraints on the speech.

Each genre of speaking has clear expectations that a speaker should follow. Within each genre, there are sub-genres that further constrain or contribute to the effectiveness of the speech. Presidential inaugurals, for example, are in the sub-genre of presidential rhetoric, which can be further sub-divided into the genre of inaugural addresses. In this case, the speeches are almost always positive in nature. We expect an incoming president to celebrate America and democracy and would be disappointed, if not offended, if a president talked about how bad everything was in America. In evaluating the occasion, you would try to determine what the occasion was (as many speeches combine genres) and whether the speaker fulfills the expectations of the particular situation.

As you begin thinking about the analysis you will do in the Rhetorical Situation speech, you can find more help in Chapter 16, in which Dr. Zarefsky discusses the occasions for speeches and the expectations for speech genres. If you will be analyzing a speech that clearly belongs to a genre, this discussion will be especially helpful. And, as you consider the situations in which you have to give speeches, the discussion will give you guidance on how to prepare speeches that are fitting responses to the exigencies and situational requirements you face.