Blog Post #3: Rhetorical Elements in Narratives

The rhetorical elements of a narrative are essential to create a story. A narrative can be broken up into 4 rhetorical elements, character, theme, plot, and setting. If even one of these elements is missing the story cannot be completed or understood by the audience. Each connect and effect each other element and cause the audience to understand different aspects of the other elements. How the rhetor describes and creates the characters, setting, theme, and plot allows them to aim their work at a specific audience. For example the rhetor could create a story about teenagers in high school that are having problems with a particular subject but they discover a way to work through it. Let's break down that example and analyze what the various rhetorical elements do to each other and decide the audience that is trying to be reached.

The characters, the teenagers, affect the plot, even the setting, and the theme. The setting is chosen because high school would be an accurate time period and location for teenagers. The plot chooses the audience through by stating that the characters are struggling allowing the audience to encompass teenagers, people who work in an education environment, and any other student entities. The setting, high school, can do the opposite and cause the characters to be teenagers and limits the plot to anything that could happen within a high school. Finally, the theme is created in the process by every other element but is important to make sure that it is included, in this case the theme is created by the resolution that they discover a way to work through the problems.