Rhetorical Situations and Genre

A rhetorical situation occurs when a reader wants to know the nature of the situation is the speaker or writer is in. This is similar to genre because both indicate to a reader what to expect. A genre hints to the reader whether the book will be a comedy or a tragedy. It also can help highlight the rhetorical situation. If a novel is classified as a horror then a dark, rainy wood would be a great rhetorical situation. It can help us understand everyday writing because genre defines what exactly it is. Most people know what to expect from a romance but not from everyday writing, so once we learn how to define this genre we will know what to expect in future reading. A rhetorical situation applies more to each individual piece. It tells us what is happening in each piece but still follows the guidelines of 'everday writing'. Understanding both is imperative to understanding a piece of writing.