2 7 13 Anita Hill s Rhetorical Situation October 11 1991 The Rhetorical Situation Exigence Audience Constraints Resources Topic Rhetor Persuasive Field Medium Setting Exigence Clarence Thomas an alleged sexual harasser was about to be confirmed to the Supreme Court Audience Government FBI Senate Senate have the authority to confirm him as a Supreme Court Justice Women are NOT the audience because the issue isn t about solving sexual harassment problems in the work place and even so it is not just women s problems to solve these problems Media potential agents of change because of the way that they might impact the senate which can affect the exigence can really go either way Constraints and Resources Constraints o Woman speaking in front of an all white male committee o Ethos worked for Thomas as a subordinate woman of color being stereotyped as hypersexual o Credibility why didn t she come out with this sooner o Only witness no one else could step forward and agree o Bush in support of Clarence Thomas o Timing she continued working for him after the harassment switched jobs with him o Sexual harassment unspoken of at the time o Lawyer also working as a professor at the time o Senate came to her did it confidentially was not out to get Thomas o FBI first to come through with this and is a very credible source Resources 2 12 13 Hillary Clinton Beijing 1995 Exigence women s rights being violated and this is important because women are equal to men not inferior so they should not be continually mistreated Audience Delegates at the conference media was not broadcasted live was rebroadcasted and aired around 3 AM because of the time difference limited audience Resources o First lady responsibility and power o Broke the silence issue on the international scene something going on across the world but has not been addressed very much urgency o Mother talking to other mothers common compelling experience to share with other women o Traveled has been to many of these countries building relationships with these people Constraints o Not a minority Caucasian upper middle class in a position of power talking about women s rights for every woman in the world o First lady o This is just rhetoric needs to be persuasive can not just say something and force people to do it
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