Shea, The Language of Composition, 3E, Chapter 1-3

Rhetoric

The art of finding ways to persuade an audience by observing the available means of persuasion.

Audience

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text, which can vary in number.

Text

Any cultural product that can be investigated, including writing, images, fashion, and cultural trends.

Propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause, often using rumors, lies, and scare tactics.

Context

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

Occasion

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

Purpose

The goal the speaker wants to achieve with their text.

Rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle)

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

Speaker

The creator of a text, such as a politician, critic, artist, or company.

Persona

The face or character that a speaker shows to their audience.

Subject

The topic of a text, what it is about.

Rhetorical appeals

Techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find important. The major techniques are ethos, logos, and pathos.

Ethos

The credibility and trustworthiness of a speaker, established by who they are and what they say.

Logos

The use of clear, rational ideas, specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to appeal to reason.

Counterargument

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

Concession

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

Refutation

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument.

Pathos

The emotional appeal to motivate audiences by playing on their values, desires, hopes, fears, and prejudices.

Polemic

An aggressive argument that establishes the superiority of one opinion over all others.

Connotation

The meanings or associations readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition.

Satire

The use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual.

Irony

A figure of speech where the speaker says one thing but means something else, creating incongruity.

SOAPS

A mnemonic device representing the elements of the rhetorical situation (Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker).

Wit

The use of laughter, humor, irony, and satire in confirming or refuting an argument.

Diction

A speaker's choice of words. Analysis of this looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker's message.

Syntax

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. This includes word order; the length and structure of sentences; and such schemes as parallelism, juxtaposition, and antithesis.

Rhetorical question

A figure of speech that is posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

Tone

A speaker's attitude toward the subject conveyed by the speaker's stylistic and rhetorical choices.

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere created by a text.

Allusion

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

Analogy

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, this uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex.

Metaphor

Figure of speech that compares two things without using "like" or "as". And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion ... — John F. Kennedy

Simile

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words "like", "as", or "as though".

Personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea. ... with history the final judge of our deeds ... — John F. Kennedy

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.

Parallelism

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

Juxtaposition

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

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction. [W]e shall ... support any friend, oppose any foe ... — John F. Kennedy

Compound sentence

A sentence that includes at least two independent clauses.

Complex sentence

A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. — John F. Kennedy

Periodic sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.

Cumulative sentence

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

Imperative sentence

Sentence used to command or enjoin. My fellow citizens of the world:ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. — John F. Kennedy

Imagery

A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds. This may use literal or figurative language to appeal to the senses.

Oxymoron

A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words. But this peaceful revolution ... — John F. Kennedy

Alliteration

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

Composition

The physical arrangement of visual elements within the frame of an image.

Background

The part of an image that is behind the objects depicted in the foreground. See also "foreground".

Line

A path traced by a moving point in an image, either real or implied. These convey a sense of borders, direction, and motion to the viewer.

Focus

The point in an image to which the eye is immediately drawn. This can also refer to the level of clarity in an image — elements at a high level are clear, and those at a low level are indefinite.

Shape

A two-dimensional form that occupies an area with identifiable boundaries. It can be created by a line, a shift in texture, or a shift in color.

Framing

The presentation of visual elements in an image, especially the placement of the focal point of an image in relation to other visual aspects of that image.

Foreground

The part of an image that is nearest to the viewer.

Thesis statement

The chief claim that a writer makes in any argumentative piece of writing, usually stated in one sentence.

Asyndeton

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

Figurative language (figure of speech)

Nonliteral language, often evoking strong imagery to compare one thing to another either explicitly (simile) or implicitly (metaphor).

Inversion

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

Paradox

A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, urgent, good, etc., than it actually is, often for satiric/comical effect. Also called "litotes".

Archaic diction

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

Hortative sentence

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

Metonymy

Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it. The pen is mightier than the sword.

Scheme

Artful syntax; a deviation from the normal order of words. Common examples of this include parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimetabole.

Synecdoche

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

Trope

Artful diction; from the Greek word for "turning," a figure of speech such as metaphor, simile, hyperbole, metonymy, or synecdoche.

Argument

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

Rogerian argument

These are based on the assumption that fully understanding an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it in a way that is not alienating.

Claim

Also called an assertion or proposition, this states the argument's main idea or position. This differs from a topic or subject in that this has to be arguable.

Assertion

A statement that presents a claim or thesis.

Claim of fact

This asserts that something is true or not true.

Claim of value

This argues that something is good or bad, right or wrong.

Claim of policy

This proposes a change.

Closed thesis

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

Open thesis

This is a statement that does not list all of the points the writer intends to cover in an essay.

Counterargument thesis

This is a statement that provides a brief opposing claim, usually qualified with "although" or "but".

Logical fallacies

These are potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument. They often arise from a failure to make a common-sense connection between the claim and the evidence used to support it.

Red herring

A type of logical fallacy wherein the speaker relies on distraction to derail an argument, usually by skipping to a new or irrelevant topic.

Ad hominem

Latin for "to 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.

Faulty analogy

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

Straw man

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

Either/or (false dilemma)

In this fallacy, the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices.

Equivocation

A fallacy that uses a term with two or more meanings in an attempt to misrepresent or deceive. We will bring our enemies to justice, or we will bring justice to them.

Hasty generalization

A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached because of inadequate evidence. Smoking isn't bad for you; my great aunt smoked a pack a day and lived to be 90.

Circular reasoning

A fallacy in which the argument repeats the claim as a way to provide evidence. You can't give me a C; I'm an A student!

First-hand evidence

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

Anecdote

A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim.

Second-hand evidence

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

Quantitative evidence

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

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.

Appeal to false authority

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

Ad populum fallacy (bandwagon appeal)

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

Introduction ("exordium")

Presents the reader to the subject under discussion.

Exordium

In classical oration, the introduction to an argument, in which the speaker announces the subject and purpose, and appeals to ethos in order to establish credibility.

Narration ("narratio")

Provides factual information and background material on the subject at hand or establishes why the subject is a problem that needs addressing.

Narration

In classical oration, the factual background information, establishing why a subject needs addressing; it precedes the confirmation, or evidence to support claims made in the argument.

Confirmation ("confirmatio")

Usually the major part of the text, this includes the proof needed to make the writer's case.

Confirmation

In classical oration, this major part of an argument comes between the narration and refutation; it provides the development of proof through evidence that supports claims made by the speaker.

Refutation ("refutatio")

Addresses the counterargument. It is a bridge between the writer's proof and conclusion.

Conclusion ("peroratio")

Brings the essay to a satisfying close.