Comprehensive Glossary of Rhetoric, Style, and Argument Terms

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering key rhetorical terms, style elements, and argument terms and fallacies from the lecture notes.

audience

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text.

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.

context

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

counterargument

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

ethos

Greek for 'character.' Speakers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic.

logos

Greek for 'embodied thought.' Speakers appeal to logos, 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 piece is written.

pathos

Greek for 'suffering' or 'experience.' Speakers appeal to pathos to emotionally motivate their audience.

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.

propaganda

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

purpose

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

refutation

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument.

rhetoric

As Aristotle defined the term, 'the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.'

rhetorical appeals

Rhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling (ethos, logos, and pathos).

rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle)

A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.

SOAPS

A mnemonic device that stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker.

speaker

The person or group who creates a text.

subject

The topic of a text; what the text is about.

text

Any cultural product that can be 'read' — meaning not just consumed and comprehended, but investigated.

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.

synedoche

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.

ad hominem

Latin for 'against the man,' this fallacy refers to the specific diversionary tactic of switching the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker.

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.

argument

A process of reasoned inquiry; a persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion.

backing

In the Toulmin model, backing consists of further assurances or data without which the assumption lacks authority.

begging the question

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

circular reasoning

A fallacy in which the writer repeats the claim as a way to provide evidence.

claim

Also called an assertion or a proposition, a claim states the argument's main idea or position.

claim of fact

A claim of fact asserts that something is true or not true.

claim of policy

A claim of policy proposes a change.

claim of value

A claim of value argues that something is good or bad, right or wrong.

classical oration

The five-part argument structure used by classical rhetoricians: introduction, narration, confirmation, refutation, and conclusion.

closed thesis

A statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make.

deduction

A logical process whereby one reaches a conclusion by starting with a general principle or universal truth (a major premise) and applying it to a specific case (a minor premise).

either/or (false dilemma)

A fallacy in which the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices.

faulty analogy

A fallacy that occurs when an analogy compares two things that are not comparable.

first-hand evidence

Evidence based on something the writer knows, whether it's from personal experience, observations, or general knowledge of events.

hasty generalization

A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached because of inadequate evidence.

induction

A logical process whereby the writer reasons from particulars to universals, using specific cases in order to draw a conclusion.

logical fallacy

Potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument arising from a failure to make a logical connection between the claim and the evidence.

open thesis

An open thesis is one that does not list all the points the writer intends to cover in an essay.

post hoc ergo propter hoc

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.

qualifier

In the Toulmin model, the qualifier uses words like usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, and most likely to temper the claim.

quantitative evidence

Includes things that can be measured, cited, counted, or otherwise represented in numbers.

rebuttal

In the Toulmin model, a rebuttal gives voice to possible objections.

reservation

In the Toulmin model, a reservation explains the terms and conditions necessitated by the qualifier.

Rogerian arguments

Arguments based on the assumption that having a full understanding of an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it accommodationally.

second-hand evidence

Evidence that is accessed through research, reading, and investigation, including factual and historical information, expert opinion, and quantitative data.

straw man

A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.

syllogism

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

Toulmin model

An approach to analyzing and constructing arguments created by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin, stated as a template: Because…, therefore…, since…, on account of…, unless…

warrant

In the Toulmin model, the warrant expresses the assumption necessarily shared by the speaker and the audience.