Terms : Hide Images
| 14736506745 | Audience | The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts have multiple audiences. | 0 | |
| 14736506746 | Concession | An acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, a refutation challenges the validity of the opposing argument. EX: Lou Gehrig concedes what some of his listeners may think--that his bad break is a cause for discouragement or despair. | 1 | |
| 14736506747 | Connotation | Meaning or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition. Connotations are usually positive or negative, and they can greatly affect the author's tone. Consider the connotations of the words below, all of which mean "overweight" (That cat is plump. That cat is fat. That cat is obese). | 2 | |
| 14736506748 | Context | The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text. | 3 | |
| 14736506749 | Counterargument | An opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward. Rather than ignoring a counterargument, a strong writer will usually address it through the process of concession and refutation. | 4 | |
| 14736506750 | Logos | Speakers' appeal to reason by offering rational ideas, and using specific examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up. | 5 | |
| 14736506751 | Occasion | The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written. | 6 | |
| 14736506752 | Pathos | Speaker's appeal to emotionally motivate an audience. Usually plays on the audience's values, desires, and hopes, on one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other. | 7 | |
| 14736506753 | Persona | The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience. (Greek for mask.) | 8 | |
| 14736506754 | Polemic | Aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others. Polemics generally do not concede that opposing opinions have any merit (Greek for "hostile"). | 9 | |
| 14736506755 | Propaganda | The use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause (The spread of ideas and information to further a cause). | 10 | |
| 14736506756 | Purpose | The goal the speaker wishes to achieve. | 11 | |
| 14736506757 | Refutation | A denial of the validity of an opposing argument. Often follows a concession that acknowledges than an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. Serves as a bridge between the proof and the conclusion. In order to sound reasonable, refutations often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. | 12 | |
| 14736506758 | Rhetoric | As Aristotle defined the term, "The faculty of observing in any given case the means of persuasion." In other words, it is the art of finding ways to persuade an audience. | 13 | |
| 14736506759 | Rhetorical Appeals | Rhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling; the three major appeals are ethos (character), logos (reasons), and pathos (emotion). | 14 | |
| 14736506760 | Rhetorical Triangle (Aristotelian triangle) | A diagram illustrating the interrelationship among the speaker, audience and subject in determining a text. | 15 | |
| 14736506761 | SOAPS | A mnemonic device that stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose and Speaker. It is a handy way to remember the various elements that make up a rhetorical situation. | 16 | |
| 14736506762 | Ethos | Greek for "character." Speakers appeal to ethos 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. | 17 | |
| 14736506763 | Speaker | The person or group who creates a text (can be a politician who delivers a speech, a commentator who writes an article, a political cartoonist or a company commissioning an advertisement) | 18 | |
| 14736506764 | Subject | The topic of a text. What the text is about. | 19 | |
| 14736506765 | Text | Any cultural product that can be "read"--meaning not just consumed and comprehended, but investigated (includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion, cultural trends, and more). | 20 | |
| 14736510144 | Exigence | issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak | 21 |
