rhetorical Terms pt 2

english

topic

The primary subject matter of a written or spoken piece of writing, as in “When the teacher announced that today’s _____ was “grammar,” everyone groaned.”

issue

A point or matter of discussion, debate, or dispute; a matter of public concern; the essential point or crux, as in “Abortion is a controversial ___ in American society, “ or in, “When the teacher announced that today the class would discuss the ___ of how long we should continue to study grammar, suddenly nearly every student was eager to offer his/her arguments.”

theme

In the context of a literary work of art, a key idea that is understood as shaping some larger purpose or meaning of the work, though this idea may not always explicitly discussed as such within the work. Thematic content in a work of art is usually accessed (or “teased out”) by the reader/audience through the act of engaged interpretation of the work of art.

thesis/argument

Usually explicit central claim of a work of writing (primarily nonfiction) or other form of discourse.  The _____ synthesizes why the work is being written in the first place. A _____ is addressed to its audience not as a neutral or objective statement, but as a significant gesture in an ongoing conversation, debate, or project. A meaningful _____ does not just announce a topic; it connects that topic to an “issue” whose significance often extends beyond the scope of the topic. The term “_____” is also used to describe lengthy research papers submitted as a capstone assignments for academic degrees (as in a “senior ___,” or “honors ___,” or “Ph.D. ___”).

claim

In certain cases a synonym for thesis/argument. In most cases an assertion that serves as a building block of or supporting point within a larger argument or analysis.  Typically the topic sentences of body paragraphs within academic papers function as ___ working in support of the main thesis. Readers expect ___ to be backed up immediately with evidence and/or reasoning, whereas they may be somewhat more patient in appraising the development of a main thesis/argument. As ingredients of larger arguments, most often ___ are disputable, though sometimes they serve to call attention to an important fact or state a principle that corroborates the main thesis.

paraphrase

An attempt to objectively replicate the literal meaning of an original text so that it can become more accessible to a secondary audience than it would were that audience to read it in its original form. Effective _____ is usually achieved by altering the diction, syntax, and certain word choices of the original to produce a kind of “translation.” Strict _____ do not alter length except in the interests of comprehensibility. Often _____ are helpful as a means of checking one’s own basic comprehension, but while basic meaning may be effectively “translated” through _____, style, diction, and other culture-specific nuances usually are not.

ALWAYS ANNOUNCE the fact that you are _____ something, as well as the title and author of the original. NEVER abuse _____ in an attempt to pass off other’s ideas as your own. In a _____, any substantive language that you carry over from the original should appear in quotation marks, or else you will be plagiarizing.

summary

A ___ typically hovers between the poles of paraphrase and synthesis. ____s are condensed, disinterested accounts of both the general content and primary formal features of a text/issue/event.  Quite often, when writing a critical analysis in the humanities or social sciences, it is a good idea to provide some _____ of the material to be discussed as a means of orienting or ”situating” readers with respect to the nature and scope of the content one is about to delve into. Used in this way, a _____ can earn credibility for a writer insofar as it demonstrates s/he can efficiently recapitulate the key content of a body of material without seeming overly subjective or misleading. In other words, a _____ can help demonstrate your basic comprehension of the material you are about to discuss in detail. A good _____ of a text, then, would be one equally accepted as “fair enough” by two persons who otherwise disagreed about the text’s ultimate meaning or importance.

It is NOT a good idea, however, to rely exclusively on _____ in critical papers. Use _____ sparingly to set up your arguments. Don’t confuse them with arguments.

synthesis

Very brief statement or succinct “summing up” of the disparate content, style, meaning, intent of a verbal or visual  text, a situation, a problem, a debate, an event, etc. To _____ is to convey the “gist” in one or two sentences. Similar to a summary, a _____ can earn credibility for a writer insofar as it can briefly sum up material without seeming overly subjective or misleading Depending on the circumstances, then, distinguishing a “_____” from a “summary” can be purely relative, a matter of degree.

However, the briefer a _____ becomes, the more choices a writer must make. Not all people may agree about what the “gist” of a complex work is. Therefore the role of a “_____,” particularly when it appears in a short critical paper, or anchors a longish summary, can often overlap with that of a “thesis” in a longer paper.

description

Verbal depiction, most often of physical appearance, but also of situations, or processes, or of other notable qualities of a person, place, thing, situation, event. _____ can include elements of narration, synthesis, summary, paraphrase, etc., and can vary hugely in terms of their length and degrees of objectivity/subjectivity. Thus one might complain, “Her _____ of the overall situation seemed reasonable, but when she moved on to analyze it in detail, I ceased to trust her understanding of the whole.”

analysis

Notice: the inverse of “synthesize.” To carefully break down and categorize distinct elements that constitute or inform some larger issue, problem, text, situation, etc. ____ is a key activity in most critical papers. It facilitates larger explanations by breaking down “evidence” (a long quotation, say) into parts (maybe looking at individual words, or patterns of word use) and noting some important features about these parts or the way they work together. ___ addresses not just how an issue/text/situation appears at first glance, but how it works at levels of fine detail, or how it connects or compares to other issues/texts/situations. -- “The scientists ___ the genetic makeup of the patient’s blood.” --  “I find that outlining the structure of a novel before I write a paper helps me sharpen my ____.”

explanation

[vs. analyze]. A setting forth of precisely HOW and/or WHY something occurs, and often of what the significance (larger meaning) of the occurrence is; to make understandable; to offer reasons for the actions, beliefs, or causes of something or someone. Another key activity in most critical papers. (So, many analyses may contribute to a larger _____, but not all analyses will suffice as complete _____, and nor do all _____ require analysis. Analysis and _____, then, are powerfully reciprocal activities, and neither tends to function well without the other.)

transition/shift

In rhetoric and writing, to shift a reader’s attention from one point of view and/or degree of focus to another. The “steering wheel” of academic arguments-in-process. In academic papers, _____ typically occur between body paragraphs.

Most often, the first sentence of a body paragraph will reference an idea/topic addressed in the private paragraph, but use some sort of _____ expression to shift readers into the next idea/topic, such as “While A [in last paragraph] would appear to indicate X, B [in this paragraph], on the other hand, suggests that Y is at play as well;”  OR  “Looking more closely at A [in last paragraph], we observe that B [in this paragraph] applies in this case;” OR “Reinforcing the poem’s A imagery [in last paragraph] is the B use of the sonnet form [in this paragraph].”

Without clear _____, you will disorient your reader as you move from paragraph to paragraph within a paper. ____ are the bridges that keep the various points you make in your paper linked-but-distinct at the same time.

expose

The verb form means to reveal for display, to uncover, to lay out. Noun form connotes museum exhibits. Adjective form gets used (mainly by composition teachers, almost never in the real world) to describe a mode of non-fiction description that is NOT primarily narration (think thorough explanation backed up with lots of facts—the task of most high school papers). The closest real-life equivalent would be academic and journalistic nonfiction.

disclose

To reveal, but usually in a manner that is reserved or discreet or subtle or gradual or sometimes unintentional.

suggest

To offer an opinion, or  to propose how something might be done. This verb is often helpful in interpretive papers as a means of capturing how imaginative literary works indirectly convey meaning. For example, one will usually do more justice to a poem’s manner of communicating, in asserting that “this pattern of imagery _____ X idea” rather than “this word means the poet thinks X about Y.”

profile

In a verbal context, a brief description of some distinguishing features of a person (personality, biography, appearance, occupation, etc.), but not a complete description of all that might be said about that person. “People magazine is full of _____ of celebrities.”

comment

 Information or opinion offered to provide insight on a given topic or issue, as in, “The commentary offered by the middle eastern scholar helped me understand the Iraq war in a new way.” or “I didn’t appreciate hearing his commentary on the book before I read it. I wanted to form my own opinion.”

imply

To suggest indirectly. So, THE SUBTLE WRITER IMPLIES.

infer

To conclude or decide based on something known, perceived, or assumed. So, inversely, THE SUBTLE READER ____.

explicate

The verb refers to a type of interpretation that makes outwardly evident, by means of a thorough explanation and analysis,  something that might not be overtly or transparently stated in an original work. The adjective means clear, overt, and deliberate in its meaning.