Rhetorical Terms- Argument

Question 1

Antagonist

Answer 1

The character who opposes the interests of the protagonist.

Ex: In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien creates Lord Sauron as the antagonist to Frodo.

Question 2

Antanaclasis

Answer 2

Repetition of a word in two different senses.

Ex: If we do not hang together, we will hang separately.

Question 3

Anticipated Objection

Answer 3

The technique a writer or speaker uses in an argumentative text to address and answer objections, even though the audience has not had the opportunity to voice these objections.
Ex: “You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air…You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory.” (Winston Churchill)

Question 4

Antimetabole

Answer 4

The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order.
Ex: One should eat to live, not live to eat.

Question 5

Apologist

Answer 5

A person or character who makes a case for some controversial, even contentious, position.
Ex: In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo makes a case for marrying Juliet, despite the controversy over the issue.

Question 6

Apology

Answer 6

An elaborate statement justifying some controversial, even contentious, position.
Ex: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Question 7

Apostrophe

Answer 7

The direct address of an absent person or personified object as if he/she/it is able to reply.
Ex: “O’ Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (William Shakespeare)

Question 8

Appeal to Authority

Answer 8

In a text, the reference to words, action, or beliefs of a person in authority as a means of supporting a claim, generalization, or conclusion.
Ex: Isaac Newton was a genius and he believed in God. Therefore, God must exist.

Question 9

Appeal to Emotion

Answer 9

The appeal of a text to the feelings or interests of the audience.
Ex: If you don’t graduate from high school, you will always be poor.

Question 10

Argument by Analysis

Answer 10

An argument developed by breaking the subject matter into its component parts.
Ex: The Virginians failed miserably at initial colonization and suffered through disease, war, and famine because of their high expectations and greed, which also molded their colony socially and economically.

Question 11

Asyndeton

Answer 11

The omission of conjunctions between related clauses.

Ex: “This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely.” (Aristotle)

Question 12

Basic Topic

Answer 12

One of the four perspectives that Aristotle explained could be used to generate material about any subject matter: greater or less, possible and impossible, past fact, and future fact.
Ex: Topics include justice, peace, rights, and movie theaters.

Question 13

Brain-storming

Answer 13

Within the planning act of the writing process, a technique used by a writer or speaker to generate many ideas, some of which he or she will later eliminate.
Ex: I brainstorm before history essays by writing down as many specific Exs as I can think of for the prompt.

Question 14

Cloze Test

Answer 14

A test of reading ability that requires a person to fill in missing words in a text.
Ex: The SAT’s language portion contains questions modeled in this way.

Question 15

Common topic

Answer 15

One of the perspectives, derived from Aristotle’s topics, used to generate material. The six common topics are definition, division, comparison, relation, circumstances, and testimony.
Ex: Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s political opinions can be the subject of a common topic, such as division.

Question 16

Compound Subject

Answer 16

A sentence in which two or more nouns, noun phrases, or noun clauses constitute the grammatical subject of a clause
Ex: The dog and the cat scurried away from the approaching car.

Question 17

Confirmation

Answer 17

In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which the speaker or writer could offer proof or demonstration of the central idea.
Ex: In Julius Caesar’s speech, the confirmation was scattered throughout.

Question 18

Conflict

Answer 18

The struggle of characters with themselves, with others, or with the world around them.
Ex: In The Grapes of Wrath, migrants conflict with property owners.

Question 19

Connotation

Answer 19

The implied meaning of a word, in contrast to its directly expressed “dictionary meaning.”
Ex: Home literally means one’s house, but implies feelings of family and security.

Question 20

Consulitng

Answer 20

Seeking help for one’s writing from a reader.

Ex: I often consult my parents.

Question 21

Dramatistic Pentad

Answer 21

The invention strategy, developed by Kenneth Burke, that invites a speaker or writer to create identities for the act, agent, agency, attitude, scene, and purpose in a situation.

Question 22

Effect

Answer 22

The emotional or psychological impact a text has on a reader or listener.
Ex: The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, causes the reader to have sympathy for migrant workers.

Question 23

Ellipsis

Answer 23

The omission of words, the meaning of which is provided by the overall context of a passage.
Ex: “Medical thinking . . . stressed air as the communicator of disease, ignoring sanitation or visible carriers” (Tuchman).

Question 24

Epanalepsis

Answer 24

Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause.
Ex: Blood hath brought blood.

Question 25

Epithet

Answer 25

A word of phrase adding a characteristic to a person’s name.

Ex: Alexander the Great.

Question 26

Figurative Language

Answer 26

Language dominated by the use of schemes and tropes.

Ex: “The ground is thirsty and hungry.”

Question 27

Flashback

Answer 27

A part of the plot that moves back in time and then returns to the present.
Ex: In Oedipus Rex, both Oedipus and Iocaste recall previous events.

Question 28

Generalization

Answer 28

A point that a speaker or writer generations on the basis of considering a number of particular examples.
Ex: “All French people are rude.”

Question 29

Genre

Answer 29

A piece of writing classified by type.

Ex: Science Fiction.

Question 30

Investigating

Answer 30

Activities that writers use, during the writing process, to locate ideas and information.
Ex: For my research paper, I have investigated many sources in the library and online.

Question 31

Irnoy

Answer 31

Writing or speaking that implies the contrary of what is actually written or spoken.
Ex 1: “Of course I believe you,” Joe said sarcastically.
Ex 2: “I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her…I even hoped for a while that she’d throw me over” (Fitzgerald 157).

Question 32

Narration

Answer 32

In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which the speaker provided background information on the topic.
Ex: Julius Caesar used narration in many of his speeches.

Question 33

Pace

Answer 33

The speed with which a plot moves from one event to another.
Example: In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck paces the story somewhat slowly, interspersing it with main-idea chapters.

Question 34

Parallelism

Answer 34

A set of similarly structured words, phrases, or clauses that appears in a sentence or paragraph.
Ex 1: The dog ran, stumbled, and fell.
Ex 2: “After two years I remember the rest of that day, and that night and the next day…” (Fitzgerald 17).

Question 35

Parenthesis

Answer 35

An insertion of material that interrupts the typical flow of a sentence.
Ex: The dog (which was black) ran, stumbled, and fell.

Question 36

People’s Topics

Answer 36

The English translation of konnoi topoi, the four topics that Aristotle explained could be used to generate material about any subject matter; also called basic topics.
Ex: Topics include justice, peace, rights, and movie theaters.

Question 37

Periodic Sentence

Answer 37

A sentence with modifying elements included before the verb and/or complement.
Ex: “John, the tough one, the sullen kid who scoffed at any show of sentiment, gave his mother flowers.”

Question 38

Scheme

Answer 38

An artful variation from typical formation and arrangement of words or sentences.
Ex: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.