An outburst is a punctuated moment of recalcitrance that is unique in structure, intent, and effect from many other forms of public incivility.

Brett Miller & Josh Compton

The outburst functions as a kategoria (a rhetorical act) that is almost immediately perceived by a salient audience as an offense (an exigence) requiring apologia. First, outbursts reframe epistemological identification by expressing opposition from an inside perspective. Second, an outburst is unauthorized speech that is typically designed to disauthorize other speakers. Third, outbursts are usually exclamations where the startling nature of the incongruency, or recalcitrance, eclipses the substance of the claims. Fourth, outburst performs as both act and exigence.

Miller, B., & Compton, J. (2012, May). Outburst rhetoric: Re/Framing identification in an age of incivility [paper presentation]. Rhetoric Society of America, Philadelphia, PA, United States.