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AP Language & Composition Terminology Flashcards

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11422431322AudienceThe listener, viewer, or reader or a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple audiences.0
11422447255ConcessionAn acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument.1
11422481236ConnotationMeanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. Usually positive or negative and can greatly affect the author's tone.2
11422525867ContextThe circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.3
11422536397CounterargumentAn opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward.4
11422544403EthosGreek for "character." Speakers appeal to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic. Ethos is established by both who you are and what you say.5
11422554678LogosGreek for "embodied thought." Speakers appeal to reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.6
11422567249Occasionthe time and place a speech is given or a piece is written7
11422571730PathosGreek for "suffering" or "experience." Speakers appeal to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to pathos might play on the audience's values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other.8
11422581452PersonaGreek for "mask." The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.9
11422590984polemicGreek for "hostile." An aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others. generally do not concede that opposing opinions have any merit.10
11422597204Propogandathe 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.11
11438797189Purposethe goal the speaker wants to achieve12
11438805329RefutationA denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, refutations often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.13
11438820460RhetoricAs 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.14
11438832240rhetorical appealsRhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are to ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion).15
11452855048Rhetorical triangleA diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.16
11452864467SOAPSA 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.17
11452884067SpeakerThe person or group who creates a text.18
11452902779subjectThe topic of a text. What the text is about.19
11452905876LogosGreek for "embodied thought." Speakers appeal or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.20

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