THE RHETORICAL SITUATION

Purpose

Audience

Rhetorical appeals

Modes & media

Purpose

Proulx’s main purpose (arguably) is to entertain readers and get them looking under the surface. She also offers insights into marriage, Western rural life, mental health, serial killing, and suicide.

Audience

Proulx’s main audience is made up of readers who tend toward literary works and horror, and who also appreciate her dark sense of humor.

Rhetorical appeals

Proulx appeals to readers’ logic (logos) by referring to a newspaper headline and letting readers make the connection between the headline and what Mrs. Croom finds.

Proulx appeals to readers’ pathos by including gruesome details about how the bodies have decayed.

Modes & media

Mode = written Proulx’s story is clearly meant to be read in just a few minutes. It is unlikely that a reader would read the story aloud, although it is certainly possible, and with the right orator, the story’s creep factor could be increased significantly.

Medium = digital The story originally appeared in print format in a collection of Proulx’s stories, but can also be found online, posted on a blog. While the story’s appearance on a blog that is not authored by Proulx calls into question whether copyright infringement has occurred, it also enables readers to post comments and reactions to the story, allowing for potential interaction among readers.