AP Lang Chapter 1 and 2 Terms

Rhetoric

observations of persuasive techniques and rational exchange of varying viewpoints in a text

Texts

cultural products that can be investigated for rhetoric

Context

broad influences (social, cultural, historical movements) that shape rhetoric within a text

Occasion/exigence

Specific circumstances and events that led to the need for the text

Purpose

goal of text

Rhetorical Triangle/Aristotelian Triangle

relationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in a rhetorical text

Speaker

person or group who creates the text (described more specifically than just their name but more of a description)

Persona

existence of a difference between who the speaker is in real life and who they are when delivering the speech

Audience

listener, viewer, or reader of a text

Subject

topic of the text

Rhetorical Appeals

ways of making a message appealing to an audience

Ethos

expertise, knowledge, experience, sincerity, and shared values give the audience reason for listening to the speaker on this subject (credibility)

Logos

the offering of logical thoughts and rational ideas through sources and quantitative data to appeal to an audience

Counterargument

objects or opposing views (often acknowledged to appeal to logos)

Concession

agree with the reasonableness of a counterargument

Refutation

to deny all or part of the counterargument

Pathos

appeal to emotions, values, desires, and hopes (or fears and prejudices)

Diction

writer’s or speaker’s choice of words

Denotation

word’s underlying emotional triggers and associations (connotations(

Active verbs/Clear Modifiers

verbs that carry more energy (avoid to be verbs) and modifiers that appeal to senses that increase audience’s understanding of how something looked or when it happened/frequency of event

Formal diction

energetic word choice that conforms to grammatical rules

Informal diction

energetic word choice that ties to a more conversational and casual expression

Figurative language

words or phrases that are not meant to be taken by literal definition

Allusion

brief, indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, or literary work

Syntax

how words are arranged to form sentences

Periodic sentence

in a sentence, the main clause appears after dependent details

Cumulative sentence

in a sentence, the main clause appears before dependent details

Parallel structure

repetition of the same word, phrase, or clause for emphasis or to call attention

Antithesis

introduction of contrary ideas in a sentence to dramatize central purpose

Composition

arrangement of visual aspects on a page containing rhetorical meaning

Background/Lines/Color

all carry meaning in what tone, movement, and mixing of messages

Focus

high focus indicates easy visibility and emphasis; low focus indicates openness to interpretation

Shape

sharp shapes indicate aggression, directness; rounded shapes indicate gentleness and softness

Foreground/Framing

elements in the foreground indicate they are of utmost importance; framing indicates what elements are and are not as important

Argument

process of reasoned inquiry and rational discourse seeking common ground

Claim

essential piece of argument which puts forward a proposition, stating the main position of an argument

Claim of fact

claim asserting that something is factual or not true without a simple observation at data

Claim of value

claim arguing that something is good/bad, right/wrong, desirable/undesirable

Claim of policy

claim asserting a proposition of change in a local or far-reaching issue

Anecdotes

stories about other people told about or researched that can be used as persuasive evidence in an argumentative essay

Quantitative Evidence

evidence that includes statistical information with numbers/graphs/data analysis to prove an argument

Induction

the use of specific cases and facts to draw a broader conclusion

Deduction

the use of a general statement mixed with a specific case to draw a conclusion

Syllogism

logical structure that uses the major/minor premises of deductive reasoning to reach a logical conclusion

Logical Fallacy

vulnerabilities in an argument caused by faulty reasoning or incorrect use of evidence

Red Herring

occurs when a speaker skips to a new and irrelevant topic to avoid the topic of discussion

Ad hominem fallacy

very common red herring in which the topic is switched to the character of the opposing speaker without relevance

Faulty analogy

focuses on irrelevant similarities between two things

Straw man fallacy

most common fallacy- a speaker deliberately chooses a deliberately poor example to refute an opponent’s viewpoint

Either/or fallacy/False dilemma

speaker presenting two extreme options as the only possibilities without considering middle ground options

Hasty generalization

inadequate evidence to support a particular conclusion

Circular reasoning

repeating the claim as a way to provide evidence (not really evidence)

Post hoc fallacies

incorrect to claim something is a cause just because it happened earlier

Appeal to false authority

when a person with no expertise on the topic is cited as an authority

Ad populum fallacy/Bandwagon appeal

the notion that everybody’s doing it, so it must be a good thing to do

Narration

pattern of development that recounts a series of events from personal experience or reading/observation

Description

pattern of development that evokes the senses by painting a picture

Process analysis

pattern of development that provides a clear explanation of how something works, how to complete a task, etc.

Exemplification

pattern of development providing a series of facts and cases to give concrete expression to general ideas

Comparison and contrast

juxtaposition of two things to highlight their similarities and differences

Definition

a pattern of development that defines a well-known idea (such as success) to establish common ground on abstract terms

Cause and effect

a pattern of development analyzing the causes of an effect or vice-versa

Synthesis

process of bringing together many different sources to construct a clear, precise argument

Closed thesis

statement of the argument’s main idea, previewing the major points the writer intends to make

Open thesis

thesis that does not list all the points it intends to cover in an essay

Counterargument thesis

thesis that immediately summarizes the counterargument and then addresses the main idea