Rhetorical Analysis Terms

Question 1

Analysis

Answer 1

detailed examination of something complex in order to understand its purpose and nature

Question 2

Rhetoric

Answer 2

Being an attentive and critical reader in order to understand the writer’s strategies in their work

Question 3

Rhetorical Analysis

Answer 3

explains how the (rhetorical) choices made by the author work to form the purpose of the text

Question 4

Annotations

Answer 4

notes taken while reading to highlight things like: rhetorical choices shifts in tone, topic, appeal, and anything to clarify meaning

Question 5

Rhetorical Choice

Answer 5

tools an author uses to engage with the intended audience

Question 6

methods

Answer 6

WHAT the author does in each section of the text; (capture the big picture of what is happening in each section of the text)

Question 7

style

Answer 7

an author’s unique way of communicating

Question 8

embedding

Answer 8

quotes from your sources should fit smoothly into your writing (full sentences are not quotes and dropped into your essay)

Question 9

Rhetorical Situation

Answer 9

speaker, audience, context, exigence, purpose

Question 10

Speaker

Answer 10

the person who composed the text you’re reading

Question 11

Audience

Answer 11

the original intended group that the speaker is addressing

Question 12

context

Answer 12

the circumstances that form the larger setting for a piece of text

Question 13

exigence

Answer 13

an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak

Question 14

claim

Answer 14

an assertion of the truth of something; a claim is a debate able statement

Question 15

evidence

Answer 15

information that might lead one to believe something to be real or true

Question 16

reasoning

Answer 16

the commentary a writer uses to explain how a strategy and evidence support the topic sentence and thesis statement

Question 17

line of reasoning

Answer 17

the way that claims and evidence are intentionally chosen and arranged to lead to the conclusion

Question 18

thesis

Answer 18

a combination of methods and purpose statement

Question 19

purpose

Answer 19

What the audience should do, know, think, or believe after receiving the message from the writer/speaker

Question 20

topic sentence

Answer 20

the first sentence of a body paragraph that focuses on a method listed in your thesis (not word for word)

Question 21

transition

Answer 21

a word or phrase that connects ideas in a paragraph or paragraphs themselves

Question 22

appeals

Answer 22

Logos-logical
Ethos-credibility
Pathos-emotional

Question 23

counterargument

Answer 23

acknowledging standpoints that go against your argument and then re-affirming your argument

Question 24

concession

Answer 24

the act or an instance of conceding-accepting something as true

Question 25

rebuttal

Answer 25

a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party

Question 26

Refutation

Answer 26

statement that proves, or attempts to prove, that another statement is false. Often requires evidence or logic that contradicts the original statement the speaker wants to disprove

Question 27

fallacy

Answer 27

the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument

Question 28

shift

Answer 28

change in tone, appeals, content (a change is evident in the writing)

Question 29

diction

Answer 29

choices that are related to selection of specific words

Question 30

syntax

Answer 30

choices that are related to the structure of the sentences