Writing Center: The Rhetorical Situation

From University of Illinois Springfield:

PURPOSE
Consider what the purpose of the writing is. Are you writing to inform, evaluate, analyze, or convince? Each of these purposes carries specific conventions and dictates how the writing will be formed.

AUDIENCE
When writing anything, consider who is being addressed. Audiences bring in their own perspectives, biases, experiences, and expectations, which can make writing for a particular audience difficult.

TOPIC
The topic is the content of your writing. The topic may be self-selected or assigned, but writers should try and find an angle that they are motivated to write about. The topic should also be broad enough to fit the assignment's parameters and specific enough to go into detail.

WRITER
Writers, just like their audience, are influenced by a number of things, like their age, location, perspective, bias, culture, experiences, and expectations. Writers may need to consider whether the traits they are bringing in will have a positive or negative outcome on their audience. For example, even if you are particularly passionate about a topic, you may have to show restraint in expressing those views to more effectively convince an audience. Your writing must connect with your target audience if vou want to successfully motivate change.

CONTEXT
The context describes the circumstances surrounding the writing, which include the time (when the text is written), location (where is the text placed), events surrounding the writing, and the culture.