Rhetorical Situation on TV

(Sorry you can't watch the video directly on the blog, the person who posted the video on Youtube won't allow it!)

Rhetorical situations happen often in daily life, and even more often on TV shows. I have seen many rhetorical situations on one of my favorite series, Gilmore Girls. The show takes place in a small town, Stars Hollow, where they frequently have town meetings to talk about various issues. Taylor, the town selectman who runs all the meetings, in the clip shown in this post, is discussing the overpopulation of deer, which is in this case the exigence or reason for the meeting. The audience is all of the residents of Stars Hollow. In this case, the audience is also one of the constraints, the limitations on Taylor's speech. Another constraint is that Taylor does not have a good ethos. The people of Stars Hollow do not like him or respect him and therefore do not want to listen to what he has to say. The audience does not participate when asked to, or pay attention while Taylor is speaking, which makes it difficult for Taylor to deliver a successful speech.

In this situation, the constraints are the most important elements because they completely determine the success of the speech that is being delivered. This is often the case in many rhetorical situations as well. All speakers need to know their audience well; they need to know their demographics, previous knowledge and opinions, etc. The speaker needs to cater to the people they will be speaking to in regards to tone and message. It is also necessary for the speaker to establish ethos in order to successfully get their message across, as seen in the Gilmore Girls clip.