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AP Language Chapter 1 Vocab Flashcards

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10752382759audienceThe listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple.0
10752386086concessionan acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.1
10752392038connotationMeanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation.2
10752396978contextThe circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.3
10752400203counterargumentan opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward.4
10752400204ethosGreek for "character." Speakers appeal to this to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic. It is established by both who you are and what you say.5
11059127056exigencean issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak6
10752406090logosGreek for "embodied thought." Speakers appeal to this by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.7
10752415581occasionthe time and place a speech is given or a piece is written8
10752417381pathosGreek for "suffering" or "experience." Speakers appeal to this to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to this might play on the audience's values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other.9
10752417382personaGreek for "mask." The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.10
10752418938polemicGreek for "hostile." An aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others. They generally do not concede that opposing opinions have any merit.11
10752418939propagandaThe spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, it is the use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause.12
10752420566purposethe goal the speaker wants to achieve.13
10752423756refutationA denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, these often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.14
10752441809rhetoricAs Aristotle defined the term, "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." In other words, it is the art of finding ways to persuade an audience.15
10752443141rhetorical appealsRhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major ones are to ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion).16
10752446342rhetorical triangleA diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text. Also known as the Aristotelian triangle.17
10752450599SOAPSA mnemonic device that stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker. It is a handy way to remember the various elements that make up the rhetorical situation.18
10752457354speakerThe person or group who creates a text. This might be a politician who delivers a speech, a commentator who writes an article, an artist who draws a political cartoon, or even a company that commissions an advertisement.19
10752457355subjectThe topic of a text. What the text is about.20
10752458139textWhile this term generally means the written word, in the humanities it has come to mean any cultural product that can be "read" - meaning not just consumed and comprehended, but investigated. This includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion, cultural trends, and much more.21

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