Textbook Terms Part 1

context

time, place, circumstances, culture, etc

exigence

why is it urgent for this to be heard right now? what about the rhetorical situation makes this urgent?

occasion

circumstances/events that necessitate the speech/text

purpose

goal of the speech/text

audience

people who hear/read the speech/text

subject

general topic the writer/speaker is writing/speaking about

writer/speaker

the person/group that creates the text/speech

message

the main idea or position the writer/speaker is trying to convey

persona

the role the person plays when giving the speech or publishing the text

ethos

appealing to credibility; knowledge, experience, shared values, etc

logos

appealing to logic; statistics, rational ideas, facts, etc

pathos

appealing to emotion; values, desires, hopes, fears, etc

diction

writer’s/speaker’s choice of words

denotation

the exact meaning of the word

connotation

the underlying associations connected with the word that cause emotion

formal diction

using more formal language

informal diction

using more informal language

metaphor

word or phrase that is applied to something not literally

simile

comparing something to a different thing using like or as

analogies

comparing two things, usually used for clarifiction

personification

making something seem like a person

allusion

referencing another text or well known thing

syntax

how words are combined to make sentences

independent clauses

expresses a complete thought

dependent cause

does not express a complete thought (can have subject & verb)

simple sentence

single independent clause

compound sentence

two independent clauses connected by a conjunction or semicolon

complex sentence

one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses

compound-complex sentence

two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

cumulative sentences

main idea is at the beginning, but is followed with detail

parallel structure

when the structure is the same

antithesis

the structure is parallel but the ideas are opposite or contrast each other

tone

the writer’s/speaker’s attitude toward the subject

irony (verbal)

difference between what the writer/speaker says and what they do

irony (situational)

difference between what seems fitting in the situation and what actually happens

irony (dramatic)

difference between what the character says/thinks/knows and what the audience knows

understatement

opposite of hyperbole; underexaggeration