Chapter 1-Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

Concession

Answer 1

An acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, a concession is usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument.

Question 2

Connotation

Answer 2

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. Connotations are usually positive or negative, and they can greatly affect the author’s tone.

Question 3

Context

Answer 3

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

Question 4

Counterargument

Answer 4

An opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward. Rather than ignoring a counterargument, a strong writer will usually address it through the process of concession and refutation.

Question 5

Ethos

Answer 5

Greek for “embodied thought.” Speakers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic. Ethos is established by both who you are and what you say.

Question 6

Logos

Answer 6

Greek for “embodied thought.” Speakers appeal to logos, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.

Question 7

Occasion

Answer 7

The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.

Question 8

Pathos

Answer 8

Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” Speakers appeal to pathos to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to pathos might play on the audience’s values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other.

Question 9

Persona

Answer 9

Greek for “mask.” The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.

Question 10

Polemic

Answer 10

Greek for “hostile.” An aggressive argument that tries to establish superiority of one opinion over all others. Polemics generally do not concede that opposing opinions have any merit.

Question 11

Propaganda

Answer 11

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, propaganda is the use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause.

Question 12

Purpose

Answer 12

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

Question 13

Refutation

Answer 13

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, refutations often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.

Question 14

Rhetoric

Answer 14

As Aristotle defined the term, “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” In other words, it is the art of finding ways to persuade an audience.

Question 15

Rhetorical appeals

Answer 15

Rhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are to ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion).

Question 16

Rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle)

Answer 16

A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.

Question 17

SOAPS

Answer 17

A mnemonic device that stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker. It is a handy way to remember the various elements that make up the rhetorical situation.

Question 18

Speaker

Answer 18

The person or group who creates a text. This might be a politician who delivers a speech, a commentator who writes an article, an artists who draws a political cartoon, or even a company that commissions an advertisement.

Question 19

Subject

Answer 19

The topic of the text. What the text is about.

Question 20

Text

Answer 20

While this term generally means the written word, in the humanities it has come to mean any cultural product that can be “read”-meaning not just consumed and comprehended, but investigated. This includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion, cultural trends, and much more.

Question 21

Audience

Answer 21

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple audiences.