Notes from Rhetoric Class Flashcards
Diction
Precise word choice
Also means using different kinds of vocabulary (poetic, technical, casual, slang, etc.), and patterns of sound, like repeated consonants or vowels.
Syntax
Varying sentence lengths or structures.
If all sentences were long or short, the writing can drag along laboriously so you want to vary it.
Ex:
1) Today I need to buy oranges, glue, and anvils at the store.
2) Is it today the oranges, glue, and anvils need purchasing?
3) Today was the day to buy oranges, and today was the day to buy glue, and today was the day to buy anvils. And today was a good day.
Anaphora (a scheme)
Deliberate repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses in a sentence. Can be powerful effect and add emphasis.
Ex: “I have a dream…”
Ex: “It was the best if times, it was the worst of times, it was…”
Parallelism (a scheme)
A pairing (or grouping of several) related words, phrases, or sentences with the same or similar grammatical structure.
Ex: We can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground.
Ex: Those who have been left out, we will try to bring in. Those left behind, we will help to catch up.
Asyndeton (a scheme)
A list where conjunction is omitted. Makes the list seem to hurtle headlong: the very sentence seems reckless! Builds climax to final phrase.
Ex: Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, shrunk to this little measure?
Logos
Appeal to reason.
Use logical reasoning to convince an audience.
Ethos
Establishes credibility of speaker/writer
can be done indirectly, such as using technical terms from particular field to imply knowledge
Pathos
Appeal to audience emotions
Either positive, like pride or hope, or negative, like fear or hatred.
Syllogism
Series of statements that make each proposition explicit.
Made of Major Premise (A), Minor Premise (B), and Conclusion (C). But sometimes only have 2 of those.
Helps people connect the dots. A=B=C
Ex. of VALID Syllogism:
A. There is a group of animals that all have no legs.
B. All fish belong to that group.
C. All fish have no legs
Ex. of INVALID Syllogism:
A. No snakes have legs.
B. Fish have no legs.
C. Fish are snakes.
Allusion
The reference to another artistic work, person, place, or idea well known to the audience.
Ex: MLK referencing Gettysburg Address in “I Have a Dream” speech by saying, “Five score years ago…”
Ex: weaving Biblical references into writing/speech
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds (especially at beginning of phrases)
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds
Ex: Why is mob murder permitted by a Christian nation? What is the cause of this awful slaughter?
“Aw” sounds in “awful” and “Slaughter echo cry of pain
Sibilance
Comes from Latin root meaning “hissing.”
Repetition of sibilant consonant sounds, like:
“s”, “sh,” “z,” and “j”
Fallacy of Fact
An untruth or falsehood, whether deliberate or unintended
Fallacy of Reasoning
An error or weakness in a chain of logical reasoning
Slippery Slope Fallacy
This suggests one action/event must inevitably lead to a whole sequence of related events.
May have some truth in it, but kind of a house of cards that can lead to argument falling easily.
(inductive fallacy)
Equivocation (Fallacy)
To change your terms halfway through.
Ex: The new study shows that SLEEP is essential to good health. Therefore, you must take NAPS in order to be healthy.
(deductive fallacy)
Either /Or Fallacy
This involves insisting on a binary opposition of terms when, in fact, there are multiple options.
(deductive fallacy)
Faulty Casual Association (Fallacy)
Whenever we assume without proof that an event was caused by one particular cause out of multiple possible causes
(either inductive or deductive fallacy)
Argument Ad Hominem (Fallacy)
Making a personal attack on another instead of answering his/her argument
Straw Man (Fallacy)
A diversion. It’s a tactic of giving the impressions you’re refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed and/or refuted, but instead replaced with a false one.
Argument Ad Populum (Fallacy)
2 primary forms:
1) Appeal to something “everybody knows”
or
2) The use of charged words that play on emotional or historical associations that will resonate with the audience without necessarily being grounded in fact
(although either form doesn’t necessarily hold water, it’s often still persuasive since it can involve a powerful appeal to pathos)
Leading or Complex Question (Fallacy)
Involves a tacit, contestable assumption.
To answer the question as it was asked, the other person will have to admit the truth of the question’s premise.
Ex: When did you stop cheating on your exams?
Antithesis (figure of speech)
A pair of opposing words in direct juxtaposition.
Often occurs within the scheme of parallelism, which works to emphasize the opposition of terms.
Ex: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…
Polysyndeton (a scheme)
The deliberate insertion of conjunctions into a sentence.
Ex: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…
Elision (or Ellipsis)
The omission of words that can be inferred from the context.
Ex: As with rivers so with nations
F. Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”
Hyperbaton
The change from the ordinary or natural word order.
Ex: Crises there will continue to be
(Eisenhower)
Ex: Climb with us the hills of God… with peace and brotherhood make sweet the bitter way of men!
(H. Keller)
Antimetabole
The repetition of the same words in inverse grammatical order.
Ex: Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind
(JFK)
Ex: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
(JFK)
Polyptoton
This kind of repetition uses two or more different forms of the same root word.
Ex: He found himself an orphan in an orphaned world.
(E. Wiesel)
Ex: With so many guided missiles, and so much misguided leadership, the stakes are extremely high.
(Rev. J. Jackson)
Paradox
A statement or phrase that seems to contradict itself
Ex: Save money by spending it.
Ex: If I know one thing, it’s that I know nothing
Oxymoron
A single term that contradicts itself
Ex: Bittersweet
Ex: Cruel kindness
