AP Language Rhetorical Terms

Aristotelian triangle

A diagram that illustrates how the elements, audience, speaker, and subject, are interrelated

audience

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple.

concession

An acknowledgment that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, it is usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument.

connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. They are usually positive or negative, and they can greatly affect the author's tone.

context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

counterargument

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

ethos

Greek for "character." Speakers appeal to this to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic. It is established by both who you are and what you say.

logos

Greek for "embodied thought." Speakers appeal to this, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.

occasion

The time and place a speech is given or a text is written.

pathos

Greek for "suffering" or "experience." Speakers appeal to this to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to this might play on the audience's values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other.

persona

Greek for "mask." The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.

polemic

Greek for "hostile." An aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others. They generally do not concede that opposing opinions have any merit.

propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, it is the use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause.

purpose

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

refutation

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, it often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.

rhetoric

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

rhetorical appeals

Techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are to ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion).

speaker

The person or group who creates a text. This might be a politician who delivers a speech, a commentator who writes an article, an artist who draws a political cartoon, or even a company that commissions an advertisement.

subject

The topic of a text. What the text is about.

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, and much more.