English Vocab Lists 1-4

Rhetoric

the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques

Rhetorical situation

purpose, audience, topic, writer, and context.

Exigence

Why an author is writing what they are writing; what sparked it

Ethos

Ethical appeal

Logos

Logical appeal

Pathos

Emotional appeal

Genre

a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter

Audience

who is reading or what group of people is the work meant for

Purpose

The reason that the author is writing

Context

background info on what is going on and to inform why something may be taking place

Message

The big idea or moral of the story

Thesis

The main claim

Claim

a statement in which a writer presents an assertion as truthful to substantiate an argument

Evidence

something to back up the claim; why the claim is true

Diction

the linguistic choices a writer makes to effectively convey an idea, a point of view, or tell a story

Syntax

the set of rules that determines the arrangement of words in a sentence

Organization

how a paragraph or argument is set up

Style

the way in which an author writes and/or tells a story

Analyze

to examine, in detail, the structure/makeup of something with the purpose of explaining or interpreting how its parts work together

Argue

explain why a claim is true, typically by using evidence

Quotation

a direct quote from a source

Citation

saying where you got your evidence from

Perspective

the POV

Establish

to cause (a character, place, etc) to be credible and recognized

Strategy

a general plan or set of plans intended to achieve something, especially over a long period

Hyperbole

a literary device used to draw emphasis through extreme exaggeration

Understatement

a literary device by which a particular quality of a person, object, emotion, or situation is downplayed or presented as being less than what is true to the situation

Litotes

a phrase that uses negation to create an affirmative understatement

Inductive reasoning

a method of drawing conclusions by going from the specific to the general

Deductive reasoning

from general information to specific conclusions

Appeal

the qualities of an argument that make it truly persuasive

Anecdote

a short story about a topic

Observation

a conclusion based on observed occurrences or themes

Persuasive

convincing others to agree with your claim or cause

Concession

Agreeing with someone to make a point

Rebuttal

a literary device wherein a writer presents reasons or evidence that undermine or challenge an opposing argument

Amplify

to increase something

Qualify

to give credit to a point

Synthesis

to combine separate elements to form a whole

Analogy

to use a set of comparisons to make a point (ex: pen is to paper as keyboard is to computer)

Statistic

numbers and survey results; can be used to prove a point

Intellectual property

any intellectual creation, such as literary works, artistic works, inventions, designs, symbols, names, images, computer code, etc

Credibility

what makes someone trustworthy

Testimony

a rhetorical term for a person's account of an event or state of affairs

Convey

to express a thought, feeling, or idea so that it is understood by other people

Antithesis

a contrast or opposite

Hypophora

asking a question then immediately answering it

Rhetorical question

asking a question but not needing an answer

Retract

to pull back

Rescind

take back a statement or proposal

Sycophant

suck-up

Incongruous

discordant; not equal

Hinder

to hold back

Slander

to disgrace or make fun of

Verbose

wordy

Amass

to gather

Amity

friendship

Hedonistic

giving in to luxury and extreme desires

Avarice

greed

Procatalepsis

when a writer brings up an opposing point to then discredit it

Distinctio

to define the meaning of a word that may have multiple meanings for clarification

Simile

comparing two things using like or as

Ecclesiastic

religious; pious

Esoteric

deep; obscure

Cleric

priest

Lay-person

normie

Didactic

intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive

Disseminate

to spread out (knowledge typically)

Edict

a mandate

Penance

punishment or repentance

Apathy

uncaring or uninterested

Ambiguous

up in the air; unknown in a sense

Fervent

zealous

Vagrant

homeless

Undermine

discredit

Oblivious

clueless

Indifferent

doesn’t have an opinion on the matter

Obscure

deep in meaning

Objective

goal

Revere

respect

Embellish

over exaggerate

Innovate

be creative and inventive

Denounce

speak against

Stagnant

boring; still

Candid

truthful

Impartial

does not have a side; unbiased

Discern

figure out

Ostentatious

attention grabbing (in a bad way)

Contentious

controversial

Reprove

reprimand

Pessimism

glass half empty; looks on the bad side

Cursory

hasty and not detailed

Profligate

recklessly extravagant

Miser

rich but never spends much money

Metaphor

saying two different things are the same (no like or as)

Dialectic

the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions

Interminable

unending (used hyperbolically)

Jocular

joking and silly

Fracas

a noisy disturbance or fight

Caricature

an exaggerated depiction of something or someone