Rhetorical terms · AP English Language, SAT Reading and Writing, ACT Reading
Rhetorical situation
Also called: SOAPS, SPACE
Rhetorical situation: The circumstances of a piece of communication: who is speaking, to whom, about what, for what purpose, and in what context.
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What it means
Each argument is made by a particular speaker to a particular audience at a particular moment. The rhetorical situation names those elements: the speaker (or writer), the audience, the subject, the purpose, the context and the exigence that prompted the text. Analysts sometimes remember it with acronyms such as SPACE or SOAPS. The useful part of the analysis is the relationship among the elements.
Understanding the situation explains why a writer makes the choices they do. A sentence that sounds weak in isolation may be exactly right for a hostile audience, and a joke that seems out of place may be a deliberate way to ease tension at a solemn occasion.
Example
A senator speaking to farmers in her home state about a trade deal faces a different situation from the same senator debating the deal on the Senate floor, even if the subject is identical. Her examples, tone and appeals will change with the audience and occasion.
On the exam
The introduction to the AP Lang rhetorical analysis prompt describes the situation. Strong essays use those details to explain why the writer's choices fit this audience and moment.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- ExigenceThe problem, event or need that prompts a writer or speaker to communicate at a particular moment.
- AudienceThe people a text is meant to reach, whose beliefs, values and expectations shape the writer's choices.
- PurposeWhat a writer wants a text to accomplish: to persuade, inform, move, warn, defend or call the audience to action.
- ContextThe historical, cultural and immediate circumstances surrounding a text that shape how it is written and received.