2.1 Overview of Purpose

The rhetorical purpose of any writing is the effect the writer intends for it to have on a particular audience. Sometimes, that audience will be the writer herself, as might be the case with a grocery list, a sticky note, a note to the self of the future, or an entry in a notebook. In some more unusual cases, the audience might not be intended for a human audience at all, but rather the gods. Walter Benjamin said this kind of writing, which he likened to an elk drawn on a cave wall in prehistory, has cult value, while other types of writing has exhibition value. The fact is, most writing is intended to be seen by someone and have an effect on them. Thus, there are usually two entities who really determine the purpose: the writer and the audience. Either of those entities may have different purposes themselves in terms of exigence and agency.

2.2 Exigence

Exigence is a rhetorical concept that can help writers and readers think about why texts exist. You can use the concept to analyze what others’ texts are responding to and to more effectively identify the reasons why you might produce your own. Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric. And wherever there is “meaning,” there is “persuasion.” -Kenneth Burke Understanding exigence can lead to a better sense of audience and purpose as well: When you know why a text exists, you will often have a clearer sense of whom it speaks to (audience) and what it seeks to do (purpose).

The rhetorical concept of exigence, sometimes called exigency, is attributed to rhetorical scholar Loyd Bitzer. In his essay, “The Rhetorical Situation,” he identifies exigence as an important part of any rhetorical situation. Bitzer writes, exigence is “an imperfection marked by urgency … a thing which is other than it should be.” It is the thing, the situation, the problem, the imperfection, that moves writers to respond through language and rhetoric. Bitzer claims there can be numerous exigencies necessitating response in any given context but there is always a controlling exigency—one that is stronger than the others.^[1]

2.2.1 Questions about Exigence

• What has moved the writer to create the text?
• What is the writer, and the text, responding to?
• What was the perceived need for the text?
• What urgent problem, or issue, does this text try to solve or address?
• How does the writer, or text, construct exigence—something that prompts response—for the audience?

2.2.2 Exigence for the Writer

Think of the last time you wrote something. Anything. Who was the audience, and what was the thing missing in the world that drove you to such an unnatural act? In response to this, students will often say it was a text message, email, or social media post, and the reason often boils down to relationship maintenance: “I sent a text to my mother to ask how she was doing,” or something like that. For longer texts, it is likely the exigence is more profound. A written letter to a long distance boyfriend carries more importance because other relationship ties are weaker. An argumentative research essay is a big project, with lots of thinking, research, and writing that needs to be done, so usually it addresses a more urgent need than some other genres.

2.2.3 Exigence for the Audience

Scanning text with your eyes from left to right is not a natural action either. Exigence plays a part here too. Maybe your audience is driving down the road and don’t know which way to turn next, so seeing what is on the next highway sign becomes exigent. Maybe they are sad and want to feel better, so reading something that entertains them becomes somewhat exigent. Or maybe they are worried about the world becoming so polluted they can’t live in it anymore, so they pick up an article on how to reduce air pollution.

2.3 Agency

2.3.1 Agency for the Writer

Words afford the writer agency. They allow her to explain herself, impart feeling, and argue for change.

2.3.2 Agency for the Audience

An informed audience is able to understand complex issues, become inspired, and make better decisions

2.4 The Writer’s Purpose

2.4.1 Intentions

Writers often start writing with one of these three goals in mind:

1. To inform.
2. To entertain.
3. To persuade.

2.4.2 Effects

Broadly speaking, there are three different types of effects writing can have on an audience:

1. To think.
2. To feel.
3. To act.

2.4.3 Rhetorical Modes

These four basic rhetorical modes may be more or less effective for a particular purpose, depending on the intention of the writer:

1. Narrative
2. Description
3. Exposition
4. Argumentation

2.4.4 Three Branches of Rhetoric

2.4.4.1 Forensic

Forensic rhetoric looks to the past. The purpose is to assign blame.

2.4.4.2 Epideictic

Epideictic rhetoric describes the present. The purpose is to assign value.

2.4.4.3 Deliberative

Deliberative rhetoric looks to the future. The purpose is to determine the best choices.^[2]

2.5 Stasis

The levels of stasis are belong to deliberative rhetoric, or argument, but you can see that some of them map to other purposes as well. Stated in terms of purpose, here they are again:

1. Fact: to describe
2. Definition: to define
3. Quality: to evaluate
4. Proposal: to motivate

2.5 The Audience’s Purpose

Audience purposes may be more nuanced, but they are, of course, driven by exigence. It is easier to think of audiences seeking information or seeking to be entertained than it is to think of them seeking to be persuaded, but in essence, even seeking credible information indicates a willingness to be persuaded.

2.5.1 Passive Purposes

• To be informed
• To be inspired
• To learn
• To be entertained

2.5.2 Active Purposes

• To examine
• To quantify
• To evaluate
• To research