Rhetoric Terms 3

refutation

 In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which the speaker would anticipate objections to the points being raised and counter them.

rhetoric

The art of analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective; the specific features of texts, written or spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners in a situation.

 rhetorical choices

The particular choices a writer or speaker makes to achieve meaning, purpose, or effect.

rhetorical mode

Formal patterns for organizing a text. traditional examples include description, narration, exposition, and argumentation; exposition is frequently subdivided into categories such as comparison/contrast, classification, and division.

rhetorical question

A question posed by the speaker or writer not to seek an answer but instead to affirm or deny a point simply by asking a question about it.

 rhetorical situation

The convergence in a situation of exigency (the need to write), audience, and purpose.

rhetorical triangle

A diagram showing the relations of writer or speaker, reader or listener, and text in a rhetorical situation.

sarcasm

The use of mockery or bitter irony.

slang

Informal language, often considered inappropriate for formal occasions and text.

speaker

The person delivering a speech, or the character assumed to be speaking a poem.

 stance

A writer’s or speaker’s apparent attitude toward the audience.

style

The choices that writers or speakers make in language for effect.

support

In a text, the material offered to make concrete or to back up a generalization, conclusion, or claim.

syllogism

Logical reasoning from inarguable premises

syntax

The order of words in a sentence.

tautology

A group of words that merely repeats the meaning already conveyed.

tests for generalization

1) A fair number of instances must be investigated. (2) The instances investigated must be typical. (3) If negative instances occur, they must be explained. *Show that they are not typical and, therefore, need not be considered as significant.

 thesis

The main idea in a text, often the main generalization, conclusion, or claim

thesis statement

A single sentence that states a text’s thesis, usually somewhere near the beginning.

tone

The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject matter.

understatement

The ironic minimizing of fact presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous. “Our defense played valiantly, and held the other team to merely eight touchdowns in the first quarter.”

verisimilitude

The quality of a text that reflects the truth of actual experience.

voice

The textual features, such as diction and sentence structure, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s persona

warrant

In Toulmin’s model of argumentation, the general statement that establishes a trustworthy relationship between the data and the claim; it is a fundamental assumption (similar to the major premise in formal logic) on which a claim can be made and supported. In an argument the claim and data will be explicit, but the warrant is often implied, especially if the person making the argument assumes that the audience accepts the warrant.