Rhetorical Terms

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Rhetoric

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the study and uses of written, spoken and visual language.

EX: Explain how the author’s rhetoric contributes to her argument.

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Rhetorical appeal 

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the qualities of an argument that make it truly persuasive.

EX: Ethos, logos, and pathos are the three most common rhetorical appeals.

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Ethos

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A rhetorical appeal toward credibility

EX: By showing your listener that they should trust you, you can build ethos.

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Logos

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A rhetorical appeal toward logic

EX: By using so many facts and logical explanations, the speaker created a strong sense of logos. 

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Pathos

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A rhetorical appeal toward emotion

EX: By playing the sad song over the commercial, the animal company would like to create pathos and a sense of guilt.

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Exigency

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the moment or event that motivates someone to write or to speak about a specific issue, problem, or situation

EX: The exigency for this slide is that you need to learn this word

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Rhetorical strategies

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the specific writing techniques that authors use to convince the audience of their purpose (how they go about creating the appeals)

EX: In this essay, the speaker relies upon repetition, juxtaposition, and parallel structure as rhetorical strategies to better convey their argument.

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Persona

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a specific term referring to the characteristics one individual presents to another in order to influence the others’ perception of them.

EX: When I speak to my mom, I use a different persona than when I speak to my friends.

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Rhetorical question

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a question that's asked for effect, not to get an answer

EX: When the kid tried to compare school lunch to spending time in prison, he was creating a false analogy, which is a fallacy.

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juxtaposition

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Placing two (usually quite different) things next to each other to encourage the audience to compare and contrast. 

Ex: All is fair in love and war.