Rhetoric Terms Flashcards
what is rhetoric?
the art of effective persuasion, via writing, speaking or other mediums
pathos
emotion, appeals to emotion, values, desires, utilizes: anecdotes, hypotheticals, humor, sympathy, and mood changing, appeals to the heart, showing the audience how it should feel
ethos
trust, demonstration of credibility or trustworthiness, positions of authority, appeals to the gut, practices or values that distinguish one person, organization, or society from others, common values
logos
reason, uses logic and reason, clear, rational ideas, specific details, examples, facts, appeals to the brain
concession
acknowledging/confronting a counterargument, another point of view, but to use it one’s own advantage
refutation
proving that the counterargument is false
S
Speaker- who wrote the piece, what do we know about them, does who the speaker is add meaning to the speech
P
Purpose- what is the speaker trying to accomplish, what is he trying to make the audience think/feel/do
A
Audience- who is the intended audience, what does the speaker assume about the audience, how does this affect what he’s saying
C
Context- what’s going on in the world when the text was produced, what is the cultural/historical situation or social occasion of the piece
E
Exigence- why does the author feel compelled to address this subject at this time? What is the spark/catalyst for speaking/writing?
C
Choices- what moves does the author make and why? How do the organization, syntax, diction, analogies, anecdotes, or other rhetorical choices impact the meaning or effect of the text?
A
Appeals- How do the choices of the speaker appeal to ethos (credibility, common beliefs), pathos (the emotions of the audience), and/or logos (logic, reason)
T
Tone- what attitude does the speaker convey in this piece? What choices help the author convey that attitude? Does the attitude shift anywhere in the piece – why?
red herring
speaker skips to a new and irrelevant topic in order to avoid the topic of discussion (an attempt to distract or confuse the audience)
ad hominem
switching the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker (red herring but with character)
faulty analogy
an analogy in which the things being compared aren’t equal/comparable
ex. roger federer wearing a rolex in a TV ad
ad populum (bandwagon fallacy)
based on the assumption that something must be good and/or true because it’s in accordance with the beliefs/actions of the majority
slippery slope
the fallacy of dire consequences; it assumes that one choice will necessarily lead to a cascading series of bad choices/outcomes
“false cause”, post hoc ergo propter hoc
link between premises and conclusion depends on some imagined casual connection that probably does not exist
ex. every time i was my car it rains
straw man fallacy
speaker choose a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent’s viewpoint
either/or fallacy
speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices
ex. either we agree to higher taxes, or our grandchildren will be in debt
reductio ad absurdum
literally reducing an argument to absurdity, characterizing an opposing argument in such a way that it seems to be ridiculous, or the consequences of the position seem ridiculous
ex. if your friends jump of a cliff would you
hasty generalization
not enough evidence to support a particular conclusion
circular reasoning
repeating the claim as a way to provide evidence, resulting in no evidence at all
ex. you have to go to bed because it is your bedtime
appeal to ignorance
a claim that something must be true because it is false, can also be a claim that something must be false because it hasn’t been proven true, burden of proof fallacy
appeal to flattery
flattering the reader or audience to make yourself and your argument more appealing
metonymy
figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated with it
ex. the pen is mightier than a sword
zeugma
use of two different words in a grammatical similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings
ex. he fished for trout and compliments
periodic sentence
a sentence that is not syntactically complete until its very end
ex. blah blah blah, no help is in sight
cumulative sentence
opposite of periodic, starts with an independent clause or main clause, which is simple and straight, and then adds subordinate elements or modifiers
ex. he ran through the forest, through the bursting trees, lots of fluff etc.
inverted sentence
a sentence in which the verb comes before a subject
ex. in the barn lived 4 horses
imperative sentence
used to command or urge action
ex. JFK quote
parallelism
similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses
ex. give a man to fish saying
juxtaposition
placement of two “things” closely together to emphasize or accentuate similarities or differences
ex. mountain out of a molehill
antithesis
opposition, in contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction
ex. one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind
anaphora
when a particular word or phrase is used repeatedly within a speech or text
ex. MLK’s “i have a dream” speech
euphemism
a euphemism is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant
ex. he “passed away”
assonance
repetition sound of a vowel
consonance
repetition sound of a consonant
denotation
the direct specific meaning of something
analogy
comparison of two things to show similarity
tree : leaf, rooms : house
