Rhetorical Terms Reference Page ~ Class Tool

Question 1

Audience

Answer 1

Definition:
the listeners or spectators at a speech or performance, or the intended readership for a piece of writing
Example #1:
The people listening to a TedTalk.
Example #2:
A performance with people in the crowd listening

Question 2

Authority

Answer 2

Definition:
Claiming that something must be true because it is believed by someone who said to be an “authority” on the subject.
Example #1:
The news media often uses the authority fallacy to make people feel like they are being told what is true or right.
Example #2:
Believing a doctor’s advice about an illness over someone who has a profession in baking.

Question 3

Exigence

Answer 3

Definition:
the event or occurrence that prompts rhetorical discourse
Example #1:
A congressman delivers a speech arguing that we need stricter gun control.
Example #2:
A pastor writes and delivers a eulogy at a funeral.

Question 4

Rhetorical Situation

Answer 4

Definition:
circumstance of an event that consists of an issue, an audience, and a set of constraints
Example #1:
An impassioned love letter.
Example #2:
A prosecutor's closing statement.

Question 5

Assertion

Answer 5

Definition:
a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief
Example #1:
I would like to finish this email before we have our conversation.
Example #2:
I would like you to wait until I have finished speaking.