This founding principle for RGS was taken from Carolyn R. Miller's essay "Genre as Social Action," which was published in 1984.[1][14] In her article, Miller examines Frank Lloyd Bitzer's notion of exigence as a reaction to social situations, and Kenneth Burke's notion of "motive" as human action.[15] Using Bitzer, particularly, Miller believes it is possible to examine exigence as "an external cause of discourse."[16] Ultimately, she is able to view situations as social constructions.