Summary Of Grant-Davie's Rhetorical Situation

Grant-Davie opens his writing with numerous definitions of a rhetorical situation. He then says that these definitions do not grasp the complexity of rhetorical situations. To fully understand a rhetorical situation, he suggests an analysis of the exigence, recognizing that rhetors and audience are both a part of a rhetorical situation, and that there may be multiple rhetors or audience. Grant-Davie then stated the four constituents in rhetorical situations that are exigence, rhetors, audiences, and constraints.
The first of three questions Grant-Davie asks about exigence is what is the discourse about? This question addresses fact and definition. This can be answered with the obvious topic or in an abstract way with fundamental issues. Grant-Davie noted that

Grant-Davie claimed the roles of rhetors are partly predetermined but normally allowed the possibility of redefinition. He noted that many situations can include multiple rhetors. Also, even when there is a single rhetor, asking who the rhetor is can still be difficult.
Grant-Davie considered audiences those with whom rhetors negotiate with discourse to achieve the objective. Discourse can have primary and secondary audiences. He discussed Douglas Park’s definition of audience that includes those who hear or read a discourse, those who are a part of an external rhetorical situation, those who the writer thinks of, and the audience suggested by the discourse. Grant-Davie says that reading and writing can be a negotiation between the readers and writers. Constraints as factors in a situation that can affect the achievement of the rhetorical objectives. Grant-Davie defined constraints as all factors in a situation aside from the rhetor and audience that can lead the audience to consider the discourse differently and influence the rhetors response. He also said that a rhetorical situation ends when the discourse has been