Copy of Rhetorical Terms 2024

rhetoric

Rhetoric

The art of being a critical reader to understand how language shapes thoughts and actions.

Analysis

A detailed examination of complex elements to understand their nature and essential features.

Rhetorical Analysis

Explains how an author's rhetorical choices create the text's purpose.

Annotations

Notes taken while reading that highlight rhetorical choices and clarify meaning.

Rhetorical Choice

Strategies used by an author to engage the intended audience.

Methods

Capture the big picture of what happens in each section of a text.

Style

An author's unique way of communicating with words.

Embedding

Integrating quotations smoothly into your own sentences.

Rhetorical Situation

The interplay of speaker, audience, context, exigence, and purpose.

Speaker

The person who composed the text being read.

Audience

The original intended group the speaker addresses.

Context

The circumstances forming the larger setting for a text.

Exigence

An issue or situation prompting someone to write or speak.

Claim

An assertion of truth that is debatable.

Evidence

Information that supports the belief in something's truth.

Reasoning

Commentary explaining how strategy and evidence support the thesis.

Line of Reasoning

The intentional arrangement of claims and evidence leading to a conclusion.

Thesis

A statement combining methods and purpose to guide audience understanding.

Purpose

What the audience should do, know, think, or believe after receiving the message.

Topic Sentence

The first sentence of a body paragraph focusing on a method from the thesis.

Transition

A word or phrase connecting ideas within or between paragraphs.

Logos

Appeal to logic and reason.

Ethos

Appeal to credibility and ethics.

Pathos

Appeal to emotions.

Counterargument

Acknowledgment of opposing viewpoints followed by reaffirmation of one's argument.

Concession

Accepting something as true in an argument.

Rebuttal

Evidence presented to contradict opposing evidence.

Refutation

A statement attempting to prove another statement false.

Fallacy

Use of invalid reasoning in an argument.

Shift

A change in tone, appeals, or content in writing.

Diction

Choices related to specific word selection.

Syntax

Choices related to sentence structure.

Allusion

A reference to something real or fictional.

Analogy

A comparison between two things.

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

Anecdote

A short, interesting story about a real incident or person.

Antithesis

Direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings.

Aphorism

A concise observation containing a general truth.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between parts of a sentence.

Euphemism

Substitution of an agreeable expression for one that may offend.

Expert Testimony

Quoting an expert to support the author's opinion.

Facts and Statistics

Use of data to persuade.

Hyperbole

Extravagant exaggeration.

Hypophora

Posing a question and then answering it.

Imagery

Language that evokes the senses.

Irony

A departure from expected actions or statements.

Juxtaposition

Placing two items side by side for effect.

Metaphor

A comparison without using "like" or "as."

Oxymoron

Contradictory terms appearing together.

Parallel Structure

Repetition of the same pattern in writing.

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement that may prove true upon investigation.

Personification

Attributing human characteristics to nonhuman entities.

Polysyndeton

Use of multiple conjunctions in succession.

Repetition

Repeating the same words or phrases.

Rhetorical Question

A question posed for effect rather than an answer.

Symbol

Something that stands for something else.

Tone

The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject.

Narration

Stories shared to illustrate an argument or provide evidence.

Description

Indicating what something looks like and how it feels or sounds.

Definition

Explaining what something means and what it does not.

Problem Solution

Presenting a problem and a detailed explanation of its solution.

Simple Sentence

A sentence with one independent clause.

Compound Sentence

A sentence made of two or more simple sentences.

Complex Sentence

Contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Compound/Complex Sentence

Contains two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.