AP Lang Unit 2

why study rhetoric

critical thinking, understanding of influence on audience, informed citizenship

what is rhetoric

the art of effective or persuasive writing/speaking, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques

rhetoric is always

situational (influenced by historical, cultural, and social movements of the time; context)

rhetoric is not good or bad, it is 

effective or ineffective

rhetorical triangle

connection between speaker, audience, message and influence on each other

persona

decorum; the way you present yourself to the intended audience

rhetorical situation

venn diagram; speaker, message, audience with context

SPACECAT

Speaker, purpose, audience, context, exigence, choices, appeals, tone

speaker

persona, author, does this text have particular meaning because of WHO wrote it

purpose

what the speaker wants the audience to think, feel, do as a result of the text

audience

the individual/group of people the speaker believed will read text; intended vs unintended

context

what is going on at the time; how would it be received in a different time?

exigence

the spark that moves the speaker to write the text; why now?

choices

the way you use devices (personification, metaphor, hyperbole, simile, diction, syntax)

appeals

ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), logos (logic)

tone

speaker’s attitude about topic of text; result of diction and syntax; is there a tone shift?