Vocabulary 

Cynical - Skeptical, negative, pessimistic 

Feign - Fake to pretend

Enigmatic - puzzling, mysterious

Obscure - unfamiliar, little known

Trivial - unimportant, insignificant 

Infinitive - to reflect

Exigent - urgent 

Rapport - a bond or emotional connection 

Efficacy - effectiveness 

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle 

Speaker : Someone who is conveying a point to the audience. Ex: Poet, expert

Audience : Who are they? What do they know? What matters most to them?

Message/Topic : What is the central idea/message?

Important 

Rhetorical : Rhetorical is strategies and languages that we use to communicate to convince or influence others. 

Juxtaposition : Two element that are side by side to compare and contrast

Persona : The personal character the writer/ speaker wants to portray to the audience. the image or identity we wish to project in a given situation.

Occasion : The event where the communication takes place

Exigence : problem/situation that inspired the communication

Examples : Occasion - A memorial service ; Exigence - Honoring the life of the deceased person

Context : The time and place of a communication which includes the current events and socio-cultural movements

Examples : The BLM movement, Women's rights, Vietnam War

Purpose : the writer's objective/goal

Purpose statement template : The speaker’s purpose is/aims to strong signal verb + specific objective

Examples : RHETORICAL SITUATION: You are reading an Atlantic article on the opioid crisis in America.  Write a crispy fry grammatically perfect purpose statement with a strong signal verb.

Purpose statement : The author’s purpose is to spread awareness about the opioid crisis in America. 

Diction : Word choice 

Denotation : Dictionary definition 

Connotation : The emotions/associations of a word

Examples : The word smell is denotation while the word aroma is connotation. 

Loaded language : A strong connotation and bias, often to manipulate the audience

Example : illegal alien ; undocumented immigrant 

Double entendre: Double meaning

Example : Provocative: 

• sexually suggestive - a provocative outfit

• Aggravating -  a provocative comment,

• designed to evoke reflection - a provocative movie/speech

Syntax : sentence structure 

Figurative language :

• Synonym : figures of speech

• Examples : Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification

• Purpose : to create images 

Tone : The speaker’s attitude, feelings and emotions

Style : the way the writer uses language 

Telegraphic sentences : Sentences of 5 words or fewer. 

The effects or the purpose add drama, increase emotional intensity, speed up the pace, increase urgency, express danger or anger, amplify assertiveness

Semantics : the study of the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences in language, and how those meanings are interpreted based on context.