So the other day, I came across an interesting paper written by Keith Grant Davies called “Rhetorical Situations and their Constituents.” As I was reading, I started thinking about one of the constituents in particular.
Constraints
Although the traditional definition of the term has a negative connotation, constraints in a rhetorical situation can be both positive and negative. Constraints are “factors in the situation’s context that may affect the achievement of the rhetorical objectives.” (Grant Davies 272) In plain english, they are features that can hinder or change the success of the discourse by altering how the audience views and feels about the discourse.
Now is there a connection between constraints and the boundaries that we love to talk about?
The idea of constraints seems similar to the idea of boundaries but while constraints can change the ways in which the audience interacts with the discourse, boundaries are the conventions that make up the genre. If we use our rhetorical sensitivity, we can know what boundaries are set for us within that particular genre, and we can also be aware of the constraints we can manipulate in order to best fit our situation. Understanding both and how to use them to your advantage is necessary in order to write effectively.
