Rhetorical Terms

Bias

A personal opinion, belief, or value that may influence one's judgment, perspective, or claim

Commentary

Discussion and analysis of evidence in relation to the claim which may identify patterns, describe trends, and/or explain relationships.

Context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text. The intent, audience, purpose, bias, situatedness, and/or background of a source or reference.

Counterargument

An opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward that is supported by evidence. Rather than ignoring a counterargument, a strong writer will usually address it through the process of concession and refutation.

Diction

A speaker’s choice of words. Analysis of diction looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker’s message.

Connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its 

dictionary definition, or denotation. Connotations are usually positive or negative, and they can greatly affect the author’s tone. Consider the connotations of the words below, all of which mean “overweight.” That cat is plump. That cat is fat. That cat is obese.

Denotation

The literal or dictionary definition of a word.

Exigence

The issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak.

Juxtaposition

 Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

MY SPACE CAT

A mnemonic device that stands for Message, why?, Speaker, Purpose, Audience, Context, Exigence, Choices, Appeals, and Tone.  It is a handy way to remember the various elements that make up the rhetorical situation and the give and take between the elements of the Aristotelian Triangle.

Rhetoric

As Aristotle defined the term, “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” In other words, it is the art of finding ways to persuade an audience.

Rhetorical Triangle

(Aristotelian Triangle): A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.

Rogerian Triangle

 Developed by psychiatrist Carl Rogers, Rogerian arguments are based on the assumption that fully understanding an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it in a way that is accommodating rather than alienating.

Synthesize

To combine two or more ideas in order to create something more complex in support of a new idea

Syntax

The grammatical structure of sentences. It is how words are placed in a sentence, how sentences are placed in a paragraph, how paragraphs are arranged on a page, and how the passages are arranged in a longer text such as a novel.  Syntax directs readers through a piece, sets the pace of a piece, and gives emphasis to ideas. To learn everything you ever wanted to learn about syntax, click the link below. There are six terms highlighted in orange that are essential for this course.

Text

While this term generally means the written word, in the humanities it has come to mean any cultural product that can be “read”--meaning not just consumed and comprehended, but investigated. This includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion, cultural trends, visuals, and much more.

Thesis Statement

 The chief claim that a writer makes in any argumentative piece of writing, usually stated in one sentence.

Closed Thesis

A closed thesis is a statement of the main idea of the argument that also 

previews the major points the writer intends to make.

Open Thesis

 An open thesis is one that does not list all of the points the writer intends 

to cover in an essay.

Counterargument Thesis

In this type of statement, a summary of a counterargument, 

usually qualified by “although” or “but,” precedes the writer’s opinion. It immediately 

addresses the main counterargument, making the author’s overall point seem stronger 

and more reasonable.

Qualified Argument Thesis

An argument that is not absolute. It acknowledges the 

merits of an opposing view, but develops a stronger case for its own position.

Figurative Language (Figure of speech)

non-literal language, sometimes referred to as tropes or metaphorical language, often evoking strong imagery and or figures of speech to compare one thing to another either explicitly (simile) or implicitly (metaphor). Other forms of figurative language include apostrophe, personification, paradox, overstatement, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.

imagery

Description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds. Imagery may use literal or figurative language to appeal to the senses.

Irony

A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as.”

Motif

a recurring word, phrase, idea, image, object, etc. in a work of literature

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, attitudes (anthropomorphism)

Example: “The frost is a heedless killer and the flower is a playful child.”

Simile

A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things using the words as, like, than, or resembles.

Example: 

When people asked her how she felt about the peace talks that were happening 

right before she died she puffed up like a proud little bird and said, in Arabic, “I 

never lost my peace inside.”

Symbol

Something concrete in a text that stands for an abstract idea or something universal outside of the text.

understatement

A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important,dire, urgent, good, and so on, then it actually is, often for satiric or comical effect.

Examples: 

Describing a category five hurricane as “a bit of weather.”

Leonardo da Vinci had a good idea or two.

Allusion

 Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art.

Analogy

 A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex. 

Example: 

As birds have flight, our special gift is reason.

Anaphora

 A device in which the writer repeats a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple clauses or sentences.

Examples: 

“Tell them to be good, tell them to follow their elders, and tell them to mind their 

manners.” 

“In adversity, his close friends left him, his close colleagues left him, and his close relatives left him.”

The way MLK repeats “I have a dream” in his speech of the same name.

Anecdote

 A short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person that speakers use to illustrate a point

Antanagoge

A way of ordering points to downplay negative points, so the reader feels less strongly about them. This is done by placing a negative point next to a positive one. The statement should be phrased in such a way that it becomes apparent that the benefits more than outweigh the costs of the subject you’re discussing.

Example:

“While cutting automobile pollution may cause car makers to lose money in the 

short run, the benefits of cleaner air and a decrease in deaths by respiratory disease are definitely worth the risk to businesses.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in reverse order. 

Examples: 

“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”—John F. Kennedy

“You don’t stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing.”

“Don’t think less of yourself, just think of yourself less.”

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

“Don’t live to eat, eat to live.”

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction. 

Example: 

We shall . . . support any friend, oppose any foe . . .—John F. Kennedy

Aphorism

These are short, concise, and memorable statements that express a wise idea or truth. They motivate people to action and create the impression that the issues at stake are not necessarily tied to the exact circumstances but that they imply a greater truth.

Apostrophe

A rhetorical device in which the writer breaks out of the flow of the writing to directly address a person or personified object.

Example:

“Liberty, O glorious triumph of man, O mighty force that ends all tyranny! 

Wherever man shakes off his shackles, there you dwell!”

Call to action

Conclude any piece of persuasive writing with a call to action.  Ask your audience to do something.  Ask them to write to their congressman, to boycott a product, to disseminate information, etc.

Climax

Organizing single words, to short clauses, to longer sentences, to entire paragraphs so they proceed from the least to the most important to slowly build your reader up to a state of excitement, then deliver your crowning statements.

Concession to the opposition

Concedes a point or two to win over opponents and to show the speaker is open-minded.  The speaker is able to prove his argument is valid despite these concessions.  In a strong argument, concessions are usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument.

Distinctio

The writer elaborates on the definition of a word to make sure there is no misunderstanding. 

Example:

“Before we can discuss immigration, we need to agree on the fact that there are 

huge differences between legal and illegal immigration.

Enumeratio

The act of supplying a list of details about something. It is used structurally to expand on a central idea, lending force to that idea by enumerating its many different facets. 

Exclamations

Use of highly emotional or provocative statements. 

Example:  

“Give me liberty or give me death!”  “Speech in the Virginia Convention” by 

Patrick Henry

Exemplum

Providing your reader with an example to illustrate your point.

Example: “

The U.S. government gives its citizens freedom; one illustration of this is that we 

have the right to criticize our leaders.”

Hortative Sentence

A sentence that exerts, urges, intrigues, implores, or calls to action. 

Example: 

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those 

problems which divide us. JFK

Hypophora

 The technique of asking a question, then proceeding to answer it. 

Loaded Language

 The use of name calling to evoke an emotional response and to make writing more memorable.  

Example:  

In The American Crisis, Paine uses negative words such as devils, common 

murderers, and highwaymen to describe the British.

Parallelism (Anaphora)

 Repeat the use of a phrase or syntactical pattern to begin or end a series of sentences. Parallelism adds balance and rhythm and, most importantly, clarity to the sentence.  

Example:  

“We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have 

prostrated ourselves . . .”  (“We have” followed by the past tense of a verb)  

“Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry 

Rebuttal/Refutation

 Diminish the power of the opponent by anticipating and then countering his arguments or exposing the weaknesses of his arguments. A denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, refutations often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.

Repetition

 Repeating the same sentence again in the same words or repeating the same word in a sentence is an important technique for achieving cohesion.  Of course, careless or excessive repetition is boring and wordy.  Used skillfully and selectively, however, this technique can help to hold sentences together and focus the reader’s attention on a central idea. 

Example:  

“Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God almighty.  Free at last!”  “I Have a 

Dream” by MLK

Restatement (Similar to motif in fiction)

 Reiterate a key idea in a different way each time.  

Example:  

In the “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry reiterates the key idea 

that we must fight or become slaves:

a.  “For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or 

slavery.”

b.  “They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains . . ..”

c.  “Our chains are forged!  Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!” 

Rhetorical Appeals

 Rhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ethical Appeal (Ethos)

 Use this type of appeal to foster confidence in the writer’s or speaker’s honesty, credibility, open-mindedness, and/or knowledge on the subject.  Ethos is established by both who you are and what you say.

Example:

“Not all the treasurers of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it is murder . . .”  The American Crisis by Thomas Paine 

Emotional Appeal (Pathos)

Speakers appeal to pathos to emotionally motivate their 

audience. More specific appeals to pathos might play on the audience’s values, desires, 

and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other.

Example:  

In The American Crisis, the story of the tavern keeper and his nine-year-old child is intended to arouse his audience emotionally to the need of achieving peace and freedom for their children.

Logical Appeal (Logos)

Speakers appeal to logos, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, a chain of reasoning, or expert testimony to back them up.

Example:  

“Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but “to bind us in all cases whatsoever, and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth?”  The American Crisis by Thomas Paine 

Rhetorical question

 A question to which no answer is expected because the answer is obvious or a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.  Use them to emphasize a point, to create an emotional effect, to anticipate counterarguments, or to empower your audience. This technique will often convince them they are making the decision when in fact you have simply steered them to it.   

Rhetorical Situation

Rhetoric is always situational and each situation is made up of the following parts:

Context:  

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding the text; The time and place the text was written or spoken

Exigence: 

What was the spark or catalyst that moved the speaker to create the text? How 

did that event impact the speaker?

Purpose: 

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

Sententia

A fancy term for a quotation, maxim, or wise saying.

Example:

“We would do well to remember, however, that all is fair in love and war.”

Syllogism

 A logical structure that uses the major premise and minor premise to reach a necessary conclusion. 

Example: 

Major Premise: Exercise contributes to better health. 

Minor Premise: Yoga is a type of exercise. 

Conclusion: Yoga contributes to better health.

Satire

The literary art of diminishing or derogating a subject (idea, custom, behavior, or an institution) by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement and/or contempt, scorn, and indignation for the purpose of improving society through change.

Exaggeration

To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so 

that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen.

Hyperbole

 A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or to 

create a comic effect. While hyperbole does not express the literal truth, it is often used 

in the service of truth to capture a sense of intensity or to emphasize the essential nature 

of something.

Example:

If you claim that it was 250 degrees in the shade, you are using hyperbole 

to express the truth that it was miserably hot.

Incongruity

A kind of irony that deliberately joins two ideas, events, or people that are 

opposites or that are not appropriate to each other to create a humorous or dramatic 

effect. To present things that are out of place or absurd in relation to their surroundings.

Example:

We chuckle at the sight of an elephant in a pink tutu because the two 

elements are incongruous.

Invective

Abusing, denouncing, or attacking the target using negative emotive language, even name-calling. Sometimes in a satirical piece loaded with irony or sarcasm, the creator will state openly his true feelings on a subject.  At other times, a satirist will use only invective to effect change.

Irony

 A contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality—between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected and what really happens, or between what appears to be true and what really is true.

Verbal Irony

occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but really means 

something quite different—often the opposite of what he or she has said.

Example:  

If you are relaying a story to a friend about how your blind date 

was twenty minutes late to your meeting spot in the park on a 

rainy day and you say to your friend, “You know how I love to be 

kept waiting in the rain,” you are using verbal irony.

Situational Irony

occurs when what actually happens is the opposite of what is 

expected or appropriate.

Example:  

A deep sea diver drowning in his bathtub is an example of 

situational irony.

Dramatic Irony

occurs when the audience or reader knows something important 

that a character in a play does not know.

Example: 

  In Titanic the audience knows the ship is going to sink, but none of 

the characters do.

Juxtaposition

 Very similar to incongruity, placing side by side the grandiose and the 

trivial.

Example:

Comparing someone’s grief over a bad haircut to Romeo’s grief over the 

loss of Juliet.

Mockery

 Making your target the subject of laughter, scorn, or ridicule.

Parody

Imitating a work of literature, art, or music for amusement, instruction, or social 

reform.  Not all parodies are satire.

Persona

A narrator the satirist uses or a mask a satirist wears. This narrator is NOT to 

be understood as the satirist’s authentic voice. It is the character through whom the 

action is observed or related.

Example: 

Stephen Colbert’s persona is an ultra-conservative political pundit when, 

in reality, he is a liberal. 

Sarcasm

 A kind of particularly cutting irony, in which praise is used tauntingly to indicate its opposite in meaning.

Example:  

When a mud-soaked, windblown friend arrives for dinner, one might say sarcastically, “Why, don’t you look lovely!”

Understatement

Saying less than what is meant or saying something with less force 

than is appropriate.  It is the opposite of hyperbole and is a form of irony.  Use of 

understatement can make the audience recognize the truth of something by saying that 

just the opposite is true.  It can be used to make an ironic point or to create dead-pan 

humor.

Example:

If a person sitting down to a ten-course meal says, “Ah!  A little snack 

before bedtime,” he is using understatement to emphasize the tremendous amount of food he is about to eat.