The essay Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents presents the idea of a rhetorical situation in a different way than I might have thought about it before.  At first, it all seemed somewhat abstract to me.  The author describes a rhetorical situation generally as: “…a set of related a factor whose interaction creates and controls a discourse.”  However, as he admits, this definition does not describe the situation as well as a complete analysis of the constituents of the rhetorical situation.  These components are listed as:  The Exigence, Rhetors, Audience and Constraints.  The idea of Exigence seems fairly complicated to me, but generally it would refer to the source of the situational discourse.  This seems to be the most obscure part of a rhetorical situation.  The next important component is the rhetors.  One might think of these as the author of a piece of writing or an individual giving a speech, however a situation could potentially include more than one.  Another obvious component is the audience.  The idea of an audience is self-explanatory, but it is important to remember that in this situation, the close interaction between the rhetor(s) and the audience defines the situation.  Even more abstract than the rest may be the constraints of a rhetorical situation.  Maybe the most concise way to describe this constituent would be components of the situation that help, hinder or otherwise affect the rhetor’s goals.  Also discussed in the reading is the idea of a compound rhetorical situation.  This can be thought of as a widespread discussion on one subject by multiple rhetors and audiences. 

                While I wasn’t particularly intrigued by this reading; I do feel like I gained some perspective on the subject of using rhetoric.  I feel as though an understanding of the rhetorical situation may help a writer such as myself to better focus themselves when writing.  By better understanding the situation,  a writer has a much better idea what their goals should be in a piece of work, as well as how to accomplish those rhetorical goals.