#2 Rhetorical vocab

Appeal to authority

The reference to words, actions or beliefs of a person in authority as a means of supporting a claim, generalization or conculsion

Appositive

A noun or noun phase that follows another noun immediately or defines or amplifies its meaning

Argument

A carefully constructed, well-spoken representation of how a writer sees an issue, problem or subject

Arrangement

In a spoken or written, text the placement of ideas for effect.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in the stressed syllabus of two or more adjacent words

Assumption

An opinion, a perspective or a belief that a writer or speaker thinks the audience holds

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions between related clauses-for example, “I came, I saw, I conquered”

Attitude

The manner in which an action is carried out

Audience

The person or persons who listen to a spoken text or read a written one and are capable of responding to it

Begging of the question

The situation that results when a writer or speaker constructs an argument on an assumption that the audience does not accept

Claim

The ultimate conclusion, generalization or point that a syllogism or enthuse me expresses. The point, back up by support, of an argument.

Allegory

A piece of visual or narrative media uses one thing to “stand in for” a different,hidden idea. It’s a little bit like an algebraic equation, like y = 2x, but in the form of art. Like in algebra, when we talk about meaning in allegory, we have two different variables we’re thinking about, but we don’t call them X and Y. Instead, we call them the tenor and the vehicle. A “tenor” is the “hidden” concept, object, idea, or ulterior meaning; and the “vehicle” is the word, image, or narrative in the story that “carries” it.

alliteration

The repetition constant sounds in the beginning or in the middle Of the two more adjacent words.

Allusion

A reference to a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge.

anecdote

A brief narrative offered in a text to capture the audience's attention or to support a generalization or claim.

anaphora

The repetition of a group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

anticipated objection

The technique a writer or speaker uses in an argumentative text to address and answer objections, even though the audience has not had the opportunity to voice these objections.

antimetabole

The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order-for example, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy."

antithesis

The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas, often in parallel structure-for example, "Place your virtues on a pedestal; put your vices under a rock.”

Anthimeria

The substitution of one part of speech for another-for example, "The poet says we 'milestone our lives."' or “The little old lady turtled down the road.”

apologist

A person or character who makes a case for some controversial, even contentious, position.

apology

An elaborate statement justifying some controversial, even contentious, position.