Dual Credit 1301 Vocabulary List #2

Ethos

An appeal to credibility and character; persuading by showing the speaker/ creator is trustworthy, knowledgeable, or ethical

Pathos

An appeal to emotions; persuading by evoking feelings such as joy, anger, pride, or sympathy

Logos

An appeal to logic and reasoning; persuading with evidence, facts, data, or logical explanations

Kairos

An appeal to timeliness; persuading by seizing the right moment of creating urgency.

Telos

The ultimate aim or purpose of a text, speech, or image; the “big why” behind its creation

Speaker

The individual, group, or organization that creates a message (the rhetor)

Purpose

The reason a message exists; what the creator wants audience to think, feel, or do

Audience

The intended viewers, readers, or listeners of a message

Context

The background, circumstances, and situation that shape how a message is created and understood

Exigence

The specific problem, need, or situation that prompts a text or speech to be created; “the reason this message exists”

Choices

The deliberate strategies (word choice, design, color, humor, statistic, etc)

Appeals

The persuasive strategies of ethos, pathos, logo, Kairos, and telos, used to influence an audience

Tone

The creator’s attitude towards the subject or audience, conveyed through words, visuals, or style

Occasion

The immediate time, place, or circumstances that give rise to a message (a specific part of context)

Composition

The arrangement of visual elements (text, images, space, color) to create meaning and emphasis

Framing

The way an image, idea, or issue is presented, cropped, or structured to shape interpretation

Contrast

The use of opposing elements (light vs dark, big vs small, serious vs playful) to highlight differences.

Symbolism

The use of objects, colors, or images to represent larger abstract ideas.

Constraints

The limitations or restrictions that shape how rhetoric is delivered (traditions, rules, resources, genre expectations)

Thesis

The central claim of an essay; in rhetorical analysis, it explains how and why rhetorical strategies achieve (or fail to achieve) their purpose

Denotation

The dictionary or literal meaning of a word (contrasted wth connotation)

Connotation

an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning,=. It refers to the emotional or cultural associations a word carries, going beyond its explicit definition to suggest something else.

Concession

When a rhetor acknowledges an opposing viewpoints, often to strengthen their own position

Refutation

a rebuttal or counterargument that disproves or challenges the opposing claim

Fallacy

A flaw in reasoning that weakens an (e.g., ad hominem, slippery slope, false dilemma)

Juxtaposition

Placing two contrasting idea or images side by side for comparison or effect

Allusion

A brief, indirect reference to a well-known person, text, event, cultural symbol

Antithesis

A rhetorical device placing contrasting ideas in parallel structure (e.g., “Ask not what your country can do for—ask what you can do for your country”)

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses for emphasis

Synecdoche/Metonymy

Figures of speech where part represents whole (synecdoche) or a related concept represents the thing it self (metonymy)