Rhetorical terms · AP English Language, SAT Reading and Writing, ACT Reading
Exigence
Exigence: The problem, event or need that prompts a writer or speaker to communicate at a particular moment.
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What it means
Exigence answers the question 'why now?' It is the pressure in the situation that makes a text necessary: a crisis, a controversy, a decision about to be made, an anniversary, a criticism that demands a reply. Without an exigence, there is no reason for the speaker to speak.
Identifying the exigence often reveals the writer's purpose. A eulogy responds to a death; a letter to the editor responds to a news story; a commencement address responds to a graduation and the uncertainty that follows it.
Example
A city council member writes an op-ed the week before a vote on a new stadium. The upcoming vote is the exigence: the piece exists to influence a decision that has not yet been made.
On the exam
In rhetorical analysis, tying a choice to the exigence ('because the vote is days away, she…') is a reliable way to show you understand the situation that produced the text.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- Rhetorical situationThe circumstances of a piece of communication: who is speaking, to whom, about what, for what purpose, and in what context.
- PurposeWhat a writer wants a text to accomplish: to persuade, inform, move, warn, defend or call the audience to action.
- KairosThe timeliness of an argument: making the right appeal at the right moment for a particular audience.