Rhetorical Situation using Drunk Driving

Exigence: In this situation, the act of drinking and driving while intoxicated would be the exigence. This is a problem that can be corrected through cooperative action. Since this issue invite discourse, it is considered rhetorical.

Audience: The audience in this scenario would be the drunk drivers, their families, the passengers, their families, other drivers on the road, their families, police officials, and other authoritative figures. All of these people would be audience because they are involved in the discourse and could possibly provide a solution to the problem.

Constraints: Constraints for a speaker that might communicate about drunk driving would be: beliefs audience has about drunk driving, personal stories the audience has about drunk driving, the audience’s interest in eliminating drunk driving, the speaker might not have a lot of knowledge on the topic, and the speaker might not be skilled at communicating the message about the dangers of drunk driving. 

I think that the audience is the most important part in this rhetorical situation.  Without the audience and the people that have been involved in drunk driving accidents, there would be no one who cares enough to communicate their message to others. The audience is directly affected by the outcome of drunk driving, therefore I thought they would be the best at producing a meaningful message to the public about why they should not drive intoxicated. If those stories about those who have survived drunk driving speak out, I think they could have an everlasting effect on their listeners.