ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that most messages bear the imprints of the social conditions producing them. Rhetoric is a situated art that can only be understood when text and context are considered simultaneously. Despite the attractions of the Internet, that is, see that the critic's best reference source is his or her own library of textual knowledge. Because critics are fascinated with words, they often miss the "action" of a speech-act. This was less of a problem for anthropologist Maurice Bloch and his colleagues who studied speech-making in non-technological societies. Each speech topic has a "range of discussability." Some topics give speakers a lot of freedom while other topics rein them in. Many people cannot discuss indelicate matters like hemorrhoid treatments or funeral arrangements, so the relevant advertisers must be inventive rhetorically. Tight rhetorical conventions also affect filmmaking. Moviemakers have their own rhetorical challenges.
