Language of Composition CH 1-3 Terms

AP Lang textbook Language of Composition terms for CH 1-3

Occasion

time and place text was written or spoken

Context

circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding the text

Purpose

goal the speaker wants to achieve

Speaker

the person or group who creates a text

Rhetorical or Aristotelian Triangle

Text is in the middle of the triangle; Bottom Left - Audience; Bottom Right - Subject; Top - Speaker; Speaker has arrows going up and down both sides of the triangle well audience and subject have arrows going towards each other on the bottom side of the triangle.

Persona

means the face or character the speaker shows to his or her audience

Audience

Listener, viewer, or reader of a text or performance

Subject

Topic of the speech, DIFFERENT from the purpose

SOAPS

stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose and Speaker

Rhetorical Appeals

Main ones are Ethos, Pathos and Logos

Ethos

speakers appeal to this to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy.

Automatic Ethos

When a speaker's position or title automatically brings ethos into the situation

Logos

Speakers appeal to reason by offering clear and rational ideas

Pathos

Appeal to emotion, values, desires, and hopes, or fears and prejudices

Concession

An acknowledgment that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.

Connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation.

Counterargument

An opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward.

Polemic

Greek for "hostile." An aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others.

Propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause.

Refutation

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument.

Diction

Speakers choice of words

Syntax

How speakers choice of words or diction is arranged

Tone

Speakers attitude towards the subject as revealed by his or her choice of language

Mood

Feeling created by the work

Figures of speech

Metaphor, similes, personification, and hyperbole

Syntax Constructions

Parallelism, juxtaposition, and antithesis

Sentence Types

Compound, complex, periodic, cumulative, and imperative

Satire

Use of sarcasm or Irony to criticize

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence.

Allusion

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

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in reverse order.

Antithesis

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

Archaic Diction

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Cumulative Sentence

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on.

Hortative Sentence

Sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action.

Imperative Sentence

Sentence used to command or enjoin.

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order).

Juxtaposition

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

Metaphor

Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.

Oxymoron

Paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another.

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Periodic Sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.

Personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.

Rhetorical Question

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

Synecdoche

Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole.

Zeugma

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings.

Argument

A persuasive discourse, a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion.

Rogerian Arguments

Based on the assumption that having a full understanding of an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it in a way that is accommodating rather than alienating.

Claim

Also called an assertion or proposition that states the argument's main idea or position.

Claims of Fact

Assert that something is true or not true.

Claims of Value

Argues that something is good, or bad, right or wrong, or desirable and undesirable and is the most commonly used claim type.

Claim of Policy

Proposing a change.

Closed Thesis

Statement of the main idea that also previews the major points the writer intends to make.

Open Thesis

One where the writer does not list all the points they intend to cover in an essay and is good for an essay with around 5 or more main points.

Counterargument Thesis

Variant of the open and closed thesis which a summary of a counterargument usually qualified by the words 'although' or 'but' precedes the writer's opinion.

Logical Fallacies

Potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument.

Red Herring

Occurs when a speaker skips to a new and irrelevant topic in order to avoid the topic of discussion.

Ad Hominem

Refers to the diversionary tactic of switching the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker.

Faulty Analogy

Susceptible to the charge that two things are not comparable and comes from an analogy.

Straw Man Fallacy

Occurs when the speaker chooses deliberately poor or oversimplified examples in order to ridicule and refute an opponent's point of view.

Either/OR fallacy and False Dilemma

results from inaccurate evidence and is when the speaker presents only two extreme options as the only possible choices

Hasty Generalization

results from insufficient evidence and is when there isn't enough evidence to support a particular conclusion.

Circular Reasoning

repeating a claim as a way to provide evidence and results in no evidence provided at all

First Hand Evidence

something you know from anecdotes you've heard, personal experience, observations, or general knowledge

Second Hand Evidence

evidence accessed through research, reading, and investigation.

Introduction (exordium)

introduces the reader to the subject under discussion. Introductory part where Ethos is established.

Narration (narratio)

provides factual information and background material on the subject at hand and begins developmental paragraphs or establishes why the subject is a problem that needs addressing. Often appeals to Pathos because the writer attempts to evoke an emotional response.

Confirmation (confirmatio)

usually the major part of the text, includes development or proof needed to make the writer's case containing the most specific and concrete detail in the text. Makes the strongest appeal to Logos.

Refutation (refutatio)

addresses the counterargument, bridge between writer's proof and conclusion. The counterargument appeal is largely towards Logos.

Conclusion (peroratio)

one or more paragraphs that brings the essay to a satisfying close. The writer appeals to Pathos, reminds the reader of Ethos established earlier, and brings all writers ideas together and answers the question.

Induction

means arranging an argument so that it leads from particulars to universals

Deduction

when you reach a conclusion by starting with a general principle or universal truth (a major premise) and applying it to a specific case (a minor premise).

Syllogism

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

Toulmin Model

approach to argument created by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin in his book The Uses of Argument (1958), effective in uncovering assumptions that underlie arguments

Reservation

explains the terms and conditions necessitated by the qualifier.

Rebuttal

gives voice to objections in arguments.

Assumption

links claim to the evidence

Warrant

expresses the assumption necessarily shared by the speaker and the audience.

Backing

consists of further assurances or data without which the assumption lacks authority.

Qualifier

when used (for example, usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, most likely), tempers the claim a bit, making it less absolute.

Ad Populum (bandwagon appeal)

This fallacy occurs when evidence boils down to 'everybody's doing it, so it must be a good thing to do.'

Appeal to False Authority

This fallacy occurs when someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue is cited as an authority.

Begging the Question

A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

This fallacy is Latin for 'after which therefore because of which,' meaning that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier.

Quantitative Evidence

Includes things that can be measured, cited, counted, or otherwise represented in numbers — for instance, statistics, surveys, polls, census information.