Bitzer defines rhetorical situation as a natural context that encourages spoken word.  In other words, “utterance” is necessary for the situation.  The key terms that Bitzer associates with his definition of rhetorical situation are objects, relations, events, persons, and exigence.  So, according to Bitzer a rhetorical situation requires an audience, an exigence or issue, and constraints.

I don’t really have my own definition of rhetorical situation as I had very little understanding of the concept prior to reading Bitzer.  When I first read the term rhetorical situation I assumed it was alluding to a situation that involves some sort of issue or argument. 

An example of a rhetorical situation that occurs every day could be a court case where a defense attorney is working to defend his client and convince others of his innocence. In this example, the audience would be the jury of peers, and the exigence would be the argument of the weather or not the defendant is guilty.  Some of the constraints involved could include the fact that the situation is taking place in a courtroom, at 8 AM on a Monday morning or that this specific case was high profile so the jury may have some preconceived ideas of the case. 

The action or reaction to a rhetorical situation decides the genre.  for example, imagine you receive a notice from your child’s school that your child is being bullied.  There are many different actions you could take, you could do nothing, you could go into the school and talk to the teachers, or you could write a letter to the parents of the bully.  The choice you make in reaction to the situation will decide the genre.