AP Lang Rhetoric

Rhetoric

"the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." A thoughtful, reflective activity leading to effective communication, including the rational exchange of opposing viewpoints.

Audience

listener, viewer, or reader of a text or performance, there may be multiple audiences

Text

any cultural product that can be read

Speech, essay, cartoon, film, photo, ad

Occasion

time/place the text was written or spoken

Context

the circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding the text

Purpose

the goal the speaker wants to achieve

rhetorical triangle

way to conceptualize the relationship between speaker, audience, and subject

Aristotelian triangle

Aristotle used a triangle to illustrate how speakers, audiences, and subjects are interrelated. How a speaker perceives the relationships among these elements will go a long way toward determining what he or she says and how he or she says it.

Exigence

an urgent problem, issue, or imperfection that motivates a writer or speaker to create a piece of discourse to address it.

Speaker

the person or group who creates a text. Not solely a name, but a description of who the speaker is in the context of the text

Persona

the role the speaker plays when delivering a speech.

Subject

the topic

rhetorical appeals

the tools of rhetoric to persuade an audience: ethos, logos, pathos. Effects of using rhetoric.

Ethos

credibility / character

Expertise, knowledge, experience, sincerity, common purpose with audience

Logos

reason / logic by offering clear, rational ideas

Thinking logically - having a clear main idea and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics or expert testimony to back it up.

automatic ethos

based on status / title

presidents, doctors talking about medicine, teachers talking about school, prime ministers, scholars talking about their field,

Counterargument

anticipate objections or opposing views. Shows that you understand a viewpoint other than your own, you've thought through other evidence, and you stand by your view

Concession

agree that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable

Refutation

deny the validity of all or parts of the opposing argument

Pathos

appeal to emotion, values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices on the other

polemic(al)

expressing or constituting a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something. Has a negative connotation and is one-sided.

propaganda/propagandistic

rhetoric that is deliberately biased and manipulative, designed to promote a specific cause or point of view by influencing an audience's emotions rather than their logical reasoning.

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Denotation

the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Tone

the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.

Mood

the emotional feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates for the reader

Metaphor

figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion...

simile

comparison of two different things using like or as

He was as loud as a lion.

Personification

attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.

With history the final judge of our deeds

Parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Let both sides explore...Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals...Let both sides seek to invoke...Let both sides unite to hand

Samantha reads, writes, and bakes.

Juxtaposition

placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences. Choice of syntax

We are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth...that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans — born in this century...

Antithesis

opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction.

We shall...support any friend, oppose any foe...

Fair is foul and foul is fair.

Alliteration

the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words in close proximity to each other

Whispering winds, busy bee

Hyperbole

an exaggerated or extravagant statement that isn't meant to be taken literally; its purpose is to create emphasis, humor, or strong emotion

I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

figures of speech

a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect

imagery

visual symbolism, figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in literary work

Oxymoron

paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another. Figure of speech - choice of diction and syntax by putting them next to each other

But this peaceful revolution...

Icy hot, loud silence

Anaphora

rhetorical device and literary technique that involves the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines

You is kind, you is smart, and you is important.

diction

the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect passing reference.

antimetabole

a rhetorical device that repeats words in reverse grammatical order in two parallel phrases or clauses (A-B-C, C-B-A)

Fair is foul and foul is fair.