Invention: Purpose

Importance of Purpose in Strategic Discourse

Strategic discourse always has a purpose. It is a purpose that marks it as strategic.
In strategic discourse, purpose is the starting point for planning and understanding
In strategic discourse, purpose is the measure of success. We ask whether speaker's achieve the purpose that they adopt for their discourse.

See Campbell and Huxman for full treatment

In the message: Sometimes the speaker will tell you purpose. Treat this statement skeptically, but it may in fact be the purpose.
In the rhetorical situation: Analyze the rhetorical situation to see the purpose the situation demands of the speaker
Within a campaign: A particular message may be part of a larger campaign. That campaign has a purpose, and the purpose of the specific message is determined by its context in the campaign.

Multiple Purposes: Most messages have more than one purpose. Speakers may have different purposes with different target audiences. Speakers may also have more than one purpose they wish to achieve with any given target audience.
Layered Purposes: Purpose often relates to complex situations. Speakers may see some purposes as essential to achieving other purposes.
Linkage to Publics. Purpose often is defined in the speaker's relationship to particular publics. That is, purpose is often a function of the rhetorical situation and the speaker's relationship to it.
Explicit and Implicit Purpose. Always ask what the speaker really intends. The speaker's explicit purpose may be only a facade for an implicit and more important purpose.