In this article, Vatz directly responds to Bitzer, arguing that situations are rhetorical (as opposed to Bitzer’s rhetoric is situational) (160). “No situation can have a nature independent of the perception of its interpreter or independent of the rhetoric with which he chooses to characterize it” (154). He states that “we learn of facts and events through someone’s communicating them to us. This involves a two part process. First there is a choice of events to communicate” (156). The emphasis is on the choice of the rhetor to choose which events to communicate. From there, the next step is “translation of the chosen information into meaning…It is an interpretative act” (157). In other words, the rhetor chooses the events on which to focus, chooses how to interpret the act, and chooses the language he will use to imbue the event with meaning.
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