Lloyd Bitzer once stated in his writing "The Rhetorical Situation" a rhetorical situation is defined as, "A complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence."  Exigence, constraints, and audience work together to form a main situation.  One that is capable of being solved and fixed through life style changes and an effort by all that is the audience. 
In the essay "Hooked on Technology, And Paying a Price" by Matt Richtel, found in The Carolina Reader, a man named Mr. Campbell and his family become so reliant on, obsessed and addicted to technology that they begin to lose themselves.  They begin spending their time surfing the web and playing games, and start ignoring each other as if they were alone.  The family members eventually become so consumed by technology that it begins to detract them causing him or her to become forgetful.  The Campbell's must find a way to unplug themselves from technology so that they can pay attention, spend time with each other, socialize and focus on other more important tasks.  

The Issue in the Campbell's situation was clearly stated and revealed through out the essay.  Family Members had become so obsessed, and addicted to the use of technology that they felt a constant pull from devices and could not unplug.  Mr. Campbell often fell asleep with a laptop or phone on his chest and in the morning would go straight onto the Internet.  They could not stop using technology.  This caused an even greater problem or issue.  Instead of spending time interacting and talking with each other, the family began doing their own individual thing, surfing the web, going on Facebook, listening to music or playing video games.  Technology began affecting family members lives.  Richtel states the ability for members to focus on other tasks greatly decreased as technology use increased.  They were being distracted by the technology and pulled away from other tasks that had to be done.  The Campbell's son was so caught up playing video games and texting his girlfriend that he stopped doing homework and his grades dropped to a C.  Mr. Campbell overlooked important emails and could not focus on important work because he saw something on twitter that he had to check.  Mrs. Campbell even became obsessed, began using Facebook and talking to people online, and became distracted and forgetful.  She burned two batches of cookies forgetting they were in the oven.  Family members life and social lives were being consumed by technology and they had to find a way to escape from the pull, spend time with each other, and complete important tasks.

In Richtel's essay, the Campbell's are the audience.  Each family member becomes obsessed with technology and has trouble escaping and unplugging from technology to spend time with each other and complete important tasks.  In an attempt to spend more time with each other, unplug, and prevent technology from further affecting their lives and distracting them from focusing on and completing important tasks the family comes up with multiple ideas.  The first thing Mr. and Mrs. Campbell do is limit the amount of time a day their son and daughter are allowed to use technology, and create study time at the dinner table.  Study time allows the family to talk, socialize and feel together.  It also gives each family member time to complete important tasks like homework without feeling the pull and being distracted by technology.  Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are attempting to teach their kids how to balance technology and real life.  A second thing Mrs. Campbell does is schedule a vacation for the family to get away and unplug from technology.  At first the attempt does not work, the family spends the first day on their devices, but after a few days and a discussion between Mr. and Mrs. Campbell the whole family eventually unplugs.  They go to the beach send time with each other and relax.  It takes time for the family to unplug, however, they all modified their lives so that they could prevent the issue from further and more greatly affecting their lives.

Multiple constraints exist in the Campbell's situation that prevent them and make it more difficult for them to unplug and escape the pull of technology.  The first constraint Mr. Campbell experiences is that his work demands the use of technology.  He is a computer programmer and is on the verge of propelling his business to a level it has never reached before.  He must stay in constant contact with employees, developers, and business partners so he must use email and his phone constantly all day, every day.  Computers are necessary in his work to complete tasks, stay in contact and is what helps him provide for himself and his family.  Of course there are engines and social networks that create a pull, but Mr. Campbell has trouble staying away from them because he is constantly on the computer because his work demands it.  A second constraint is the joy and excitement of using technology.  The Campbell's enjoy using technology to listen to music, play games, and talk to people that it is hard for them to unplug.  Why would a person stop doing something that excites them and that they enjoy?  Other constraints include the want to discover, learn, and find out about new information, and the want to stay in contact with relatives and friends far away or at home.  The Internet allows a person to pull up and use many webpages and sources at the same time giving them an easier more fun way to stay in contact and discover new information.  There are multiple relative constraints in the Campbell's situation that create difficulty and limit how quickly and easily they can resolve their issue.

All aspects of the Campbell's situation affect and work with each other to create an outcome.  The family has trouble escaping from electronics because parts of their lives require it.  Schoolwork, cooking recipes, and programs that Mr. Campbell uses require the family to use technology.  The Campbell's become addicted however because they discover new toys on the Internet like Facebook and Twitter.  They begin using the Internet more and they begin living their lives through technology.  If it weren't for those Social Networks, they may have no problem spending a day without electricity.  Because they have to use technology for school and other things, they begin using it for fun and get hooked.  The kids see their parents on the Internet and they want to use it too, the audience has a direct effect on each other.  A problem arises, they realize they don't pay attention to spending time with each other and do something about it.  There is a direct relationship between each aspect of the situation, which levitates it to a new level until something is done about it.  Richtel says so much more in this essay but the reader automatically ignores it and focuses on the problem, what's causing it, and how the family plans to fix it.          

The Campbell's situation demonstrates the relationship between each aspect of a rhetorical situation.  Richtel provides multiple detailed examples, information, and explanation to prove this as true.  He uses facts to support his details and explanation in his essay and clearly distinguishes each aspect of a rhetorical situation.  The essay is organized in such a way that the reader can easily pinpoint the exigence or issue, the audience and the constraints that make up the situation.  Richtels ability to explain how the Campbell's use technology, become addicted, and attempt to fix this problem distracts the reader and allows the reader to understand exactly what he is trying to explain and present in his essay.
