Language of Composition Chapter 1

Audience

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text.

Concession

An acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable, usually accompanied by a refutation.

Connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition (denotation), which affect the author's tone.

Context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

Counterargument

An opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward, usually addressed through concession and refutation.

Ethos

Greek for 'character'; a rhetorical appeal demonstrated through credibility and trustworthiness on a given topic.

Logos

Greek for 'embodied thought'; a rhetorical appeal to reason through clear ideas, facts, statistics, or expert testimony.

Occasion

The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.

Pathos

Greek for 'suffering' or 'experience'; a rhetorical appeal used to emotionally motivate an audience.

Persona

Greek for 'mask'; the face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.

Polemic

Greek for 'hostile'; an aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion without conceding merit to others.

Propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause, often using rumors or scare tactics in its negative form.

Purpose

The goal that a speaker wants to achieve.

Refutation

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument, often following a concession.

Rhetoric

As Aristotle defined it, 'the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion'.

Rhetorical appeals

Techniques used to persuade an audience by appealing to ethos, logos, or pathos.

Rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle)

A diagram illustrating the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.

SOAPS

A mnemonic device standing for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker.

Speaker

The person or group who creates a text.

Subject

The topic of a text; what the text is about.

Text

In the humanities, any cultural product that can be 'read' and investigated beyond mere consumption.