English 102 Rhetoric and Composition Assessment Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the English 102 Assessment Study Guide covering core rhetorical vocabulary, appeals, logical fallacies, propaganda, bias, research methods, and academic writing concepts.

Rhetoric

Using communication to influence what an audience thinks, feels or does.

Genre

A kind, style, category or type of communication with recognizable conventions, such as a research article, advertisement or email.

Literacy

Knowledge and skills for understanding and using information in a particular area. Literacy includes more than reading words.

Bias

A tendency or partiality that shapes what we notice, believe or judge.

Analysis

Breaking something into parts to understand how it works.

Synthesis

Connecting parts or sources to develop a larger understanding.

Stakeholder

A person or group with something to gain or lose from an issue.

Rhetorical situation

The circumstances of a message: who communicates, to whom, for what purpose and in what context.

Decorum

Fitting your language, appearance and behavior to your audience’s expectations.

Discourse community

A group that shares goals and ways of communicating.

Lexis

Specialized vocabulary used by a discourse community.

Ethos

A rhetorical appeal centered on credibility and character, addressing why an audience should trust the communicator.

Pathos

A rhetorical appeal centered on emotion and feelings, addressing what a message makes the audience feel.

Logos

A rhetorical appeal centered on evidence and reasoning, addressing whether the reasoning makes sense.

Kairos

A rhetorical appeal centered on timing, place and context, addressing why a message matters right now.

Concession

Acknowledging a valid point in another person’s position to make them more receptive.

Forensic rhetoric

Past-tense rhetoric focused on blame and determining who did something.

Demonstrative rhetoric

Present-tense rhetoric focused on values and determining who is good or bad.

Deliberative rhetoric

Future-tense rhetoric focused on choices and deciding what should be done.

Logical fallacy

A flaw in reasoning that weakens an argument.

Bandwagon (appeal to popularity)

A logical fallacy that treats popularity as proof.

Appeal to authority

A logical fallacy that treats a famous or authoritative person’s claim as enough proof without checking relevant expertise or evidence.

False dilemma

A logical fallacy that presents only two choices when other options exist; also called black-and-white thinking or two extremes.

Slippery slope

A logical fallacy that claims one step will lead to extreme consequences without enough support for the chain.

Ad hominem

A fallacy or propaganda technique that attacks the person instead of responding to the argument.

Straw man

A logical fallacy that stays on topic but distorts someone’s position into an easier, exaggerated argument to attack.

False cause (post hoc)

A logical fallacy that assumes events that happen together, or one after another, prove causation.

Appeal to ignorance

A logical fallacy that claims something is true because it has not been disproven, or false because it has not been proven.

Hasty generalization

A logical fallacy that draws a broad conclusion from too little or unrepresentative evidence.

Tu quoque

A logical fallacy that deflects criticism by pointing to the critic’s hypocrisy.

Red herring

A logical fallacy that leaves the topic and introduces an unrelated issue that distracts from the main argument.

Appeal to tradition

A logical fallacy that claims something is right simply because it has always been done this way.

Loaded question

A logical fallacy that asks a question with an unproven assumption built into it.

Media literacy

The ability to examine, evaluate and use media thoughtfully across written text, images, audio, video or combinations of these modes.

Misinformation

False or inaccurate information shared without the intent to deceive.

Disinformation

False information deliberately created or shared to deceive.

Propaganda

Communication designed to shape beliefs or behavior in support of an agenda, often through emotional, selective or misleading presentation.

Name calling

A propaganda technique that uses negative labels to encourage rejection without examining evidence.

Glittering generalities

A propaganda technique that uses attractive but vague words, such as “freedom” or “progress,” in place of specifics.

Plain folks

A propaganda technique that presents a speaker as an ordinary person just like the audience.

Ad populum

A propaganda technique that appeals to the audience’s group loyalties or prejudices instead of the merits of the issue.

Transfer

A propaganda technique that borrows the feelings associated with a respected or disliked symbol, person or institution.

Faulty cause and effect

A propaganda technique that claims a causal relationship without adequate evidence.

False analogy

A propaganda technique that compares things whose relevant differences undermine the comparison.

Begging the question

A propaganda technique or fallacy that uses the conclusion as its own support.

Card stacking

A propaganda technique that selects favorable evidence while leaving out important contrary evidence.

Testimonial

A propaganda technique that uses an endorsement to persuade, especially when the endorser lacks relevant expertise.

Implicit bias

Automatic associations that influence judgment without conscious intent.

Explicit bias

Conscious, openly endorsed preferences or attitudes.

Confirmation bias

Seeking or favoring information that supports what you already believe.

Affinity bias

Favoring people who seem similar to you.

Perception bias

Interpreting people through stereotypes or assumptions about groups.

Halo effect

Letting one positive quality shape unrelated judgments.

Positionality

How your identities, experiences and social position shape your perspective.

Believing Game

The practice of trying to understand a perspective before criticizing it and asking oneself what evidence could change one's mind.

Scholarly source

A source produced by experts mainly for an academic audience.

Peer reviewed source

A source evaluated by other experts before publication.

Credible source

A source that is trustworthy and appropriate for the particular claim you need to support.

Abstract

A short summary of the whole article: question, method and main findings.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

A persistent identifier used to locate and cite an item.

SIFT

A four-move source evaluation method: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims to the original.

Rhetorical analysis

An explanation of how a text's choices work on an audience and how effectively they support its purpose, as distinguished from a summary.

Friendly skeptic

A peer reviewer who gives specific, respectful feedback, identifies missing evidence or perspectives, and asks questions to help a writer strengthen their argument.