Exigence is the influence that prompted a person to write or speak about something.

Especially coming to this class, exigence was an idea that I have never had to consider when writing a paper. It was a concept that was foreign to my vocabulary and when I first learned it, it was always so confusing due to how easy it can be to mix it up with the purpose. Although the concept itself was new to me, whenever I would write a paper, the idea of the exigence would be present, as it is an influence, which every writer ultimately gets. The only issue was actually pinpointing the definition onto my reflections instead of subconsciously acknowledging it.

Exigence has a huge role in determining the purpose and audience of a rhetoric. Knowing the exigence will provide a direction to know what the writing is trying to accomplish which in turn will determine the audience as knowing what your outcome should be will tie into whom you are trying to write to.

“The exigence of this assignment is that many people are buying backpacks that are overly complicated in design and lack in proper function when there is a bag such as Herschel which can satisfy the needs of many. Going from backpacks with several pockets to a plain and well maintained backpack can help create an easier lifestyle in its use.”

The quotation above was taken from the reflection paper of my technical description about Herschel Backpacks. It clearly states the motivation that was behind the idea of using that specific object and can be distinguished from the purpose, which is a totally different aspect of rhetoric. 

Through finishing all of the assignments for the class, I was able to fully understand the use of exigence and how knowing it can help lay the foundation for the purpose and the audience. Unlike before, I would never consciously take exigence into account but explicitly stating it helps the paper gain its effectiveness.