Comprehensive Rhetorical Analysis Terms for Critical Reading and Writing

Rhetoric

the art of being a critical reader in order to find the ways that a writer or speaker uses language to shape people's thoughts and actions in a given situation

Analysis

a detailed examination of anything complex in order to understand its nature or to determine its essential features; explains how the parts work together to create the whole

Rhetorical Analysis

explains how the rhetorical choices made by the author (the parts) work to create the purpose of the text (the whole).

Annotations

notes taken while reading a text including rhetorical choices, shifts in tone, topic, or appeal, and anything to clarify meaning

Rhetorical Choice

the strategies an author uses to engage with the intended audience

Methods

capture the big picture of what is happening in each section of the text; what the author does in each section of a text

Style

an author's unique way of communicating with words

Embedding

Quotations from your sources should fit smoothly into your own sentences; full sentences are not quotes and dropped into your essay

Rhetorical Situation

speaker, audience, context, exigence, purpose

Speaker

the person who composed the text you are reading

Audience

the original intended group the speaker is addressing

Context

the circumstances that form the larger setting for a piece of text

Exigence

an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak

Claim

an assertion of the truth of something; a claim is a debatable statement

Evidence

information that might lead one to believe something to be real or true

Reasoning

the commentary a writer uses to explain how a strategy and evidence support the topic sentence and thesis statement

Line of Reasoning

the way that claims and evidence are intentionally chosen and arranged to lead to the conclusion

Thesis

a combination of methods and purpose statement. Template: Author + type of text + title of text + method 1 + method 2 + method 3 + in order to + rhetorically accurate verb + what the audience should do, know, think, or believe.

Purpose

What the audience should do, know, think, or believe after receiving the message from the writer/speaker

Topic Sentence

the first sentence of a body paragraph that focuses on a method listed in your thesis (not word for word)

Transition

a word or phrase that connects ideas in a paragraph or paragraphs themselves

Appeals

Logos-logical, Ethos-credibility, Pathos-emotional

Counterargument

acknowledging standpoints that go against your argument and then re-affirming your argument

Concession

the act or an instance of conceding-accepting something as true

Rebuttal

a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party

Refutation

statement that proves, or attempts to prove, that another statement is false.

Fallacy

the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument

Shift

In tone, appeals, content (a change is evident in the writing)

Diction

choices that are related to selection of specific words

Syntax

choices that are related to the structure of the sentences

Allusion

A reference to something real or fictional, to someone, some event, or something in the Bible, history, literature, or any phase of culture

Analogy

a comparison between two things

Anaphora

succeeding clauses or phrases start with the same word or phrase

Anecdote

a short interesting story about a real incident or person (sometimes amusing)

Antithesis

Direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings

Aphorism

a concise observation that contains a general truth

Asyndeton

the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence

Euphemism

the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant

Expert testimony

an expert in a field of study is quoted in an article to support the author's opinion

Facts and statistics

use of statistics and facts to make a point and persuade

Hyperbole

extravagant exaggeration

Hypophora

a figure of speech in which the speaker poses a question and then answers the question.

Imagery

language that evokes one or all of the five senses

Irony

when a person says something or does something that departs from what they (or we) expect them to say or do

Juxtaposition

placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose

Metaphor

figure of speech that compares two subjects without the use of "like" or "as" (simile uses like or as)

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Parallel Structure

repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage

Paradox

a self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true

Personification

the attribution of human characteristics to something nonhuman

Polysyndeton

device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession

Repetition

literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times

Rhetorical Question

a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer (it is not merely used to 'make the audience think')

Symbol

something that stands for something else

Tone

Writer or speaker's apparent attitude toward the subject matter and/or issue

Narration

Stories the author shares about themselves, about people they know, people they've heard about to illustrate an argument, to offer evidence or counter-evidence, and sometimes even to substitute for an argument.

Description

When writers describe a person, place, or thing, they indicate what it looks like and often how it feels, smells, sounds, or tastes.

Definition

involves telling the reader what something means—and what it does not.

Problem Solution

First a problem is presented in a detailed manner along with the causes that have led up to the problem. This is followed by a detailed explanation of a solution to the problem.

Simple Sentence

a sentence with only one independent clause (subject and verb that creates a complete idea)

Compound Sentence

a sentence made up of two or more simple sentences

Complex Sentence

contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses (dependent clause contains a subject and verb but cannot stand alone)

Compound/Complex Sentence

contains two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

Inductive Reasoning

moves from specific to general.

Deductive Reasoning

moves from general to specific.

Inductive Example

My best friend was bit by a pitbull as a child; a young girl was bitten by a pitbull in my neighborhood; all pitbulls will attack small children.

Deductive Example

All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; Socrates is mortal.