English Rhetoric and Vocabulary (EV 1)

Flashcards based on the lecture notes covering key vocabulary, rhetorical devices (Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Kairos), and the components of the rhetorical situation.

fidelity

Faithfulness or devotion to a standard, a person, an ideal, or a process; accuracy in details.

adversity

A state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune.

inquisitive

Inclined to ask questions or investigate further; curious or inquiring.

levity

Maintaining a sense of humor or light-heartedness, especially the treatment of a serious matter.

rhetoric

Literally “the art of speaking/language” (from the Greek rhetor: master speaker); non-literally, the skillful use of language via text structures and persuasive appeals to persuade.

audience

The individuals the speaker/writer intends to engage with the text; often includes a target audience with their own experiences, values, and needs.

speaker

The individual, group, or organization who authors a text, bringing a specific frame of reference influenced by factors like race, gender, and geography.

text

Any form of communication, primarily written or oral, that forms a coherent unit often as an object of study; includes books, commercials, and emails.

context

Direct and indirect social, cultural, geographic, political, and institutional factors that likely influence the writer, text, and audience.

exigence

Derived from the Latin “exigentia” (urgency); the issue that sparks the need to communicate or an urgent imperfection in the world that a speaker identifies and responds to.

subject/Topic

In rhetorical analysis, this refers to the issue at hand and the major topics discussed by the speaker and text.

genre

The specialized type of text a writer uses to communicate, traditionally categorized as written (prose and verse) or visual (images, films, etc.).

purpose

What the speaker is trying to achieve (thinking, believing, feeling, or doing), connecting back to exigence and specific modes of discourse.

meticulous

Very careful about doing something in an extremely accurate and exact way.

Ethos

Literally meaning “character”; refers to the credibility established by a writer or speaker so the audience will trust them.

Pathos

Literally meaning “suffering”; refers to emotion or the writer’s appeal to the audience’s emotions to make them care about the message.

Logos

Literally meaning “word”; refers to information or the writer’s appeal to logic and reason through organized information and evidence.

Kairos

Literally meaning the “supreme moment”; refers to the appropriate timing of an argument and the speaker's ability to appropriately read the rhetorical situation.

Tone

A speaker, writer, or author’s attitude toward the subject they are discussing, which sets the mood or atmosphere for a text.

vacuous

Emptied of or lacking content; marked by a lack of ideas or intelligence.