Rhetorical Vocabulary
This rhetorical appeal relies on logic, facts, statistics, or reasoning.
What is logos?
The “why” behind a text—what the author wants the audience to think, feel, or do.
What is purpose?
Instead of listing devices, students should analyze how these affect meaning or purpose.
What are rhetorical choices?
Which appeal primarily targets credibility and trustworthiness?
What is ethos?
What is the key task of the rhetorical analysis essay?
To analyze how an author uses rhetorical choices to achieve a purpose.
A rhetorical device in which an author repeats a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
What is anaphora?
This element explains the historical, cultural, or situational background influencing the text.
What is context?
An author includes a personal anecdote early in the text. What is the most likely rhetorical purpose?
To build ethos and emotional connection.
Which appeal is most often strengthened through statistics or expert testimony? Explain.
What is logos?
Varied explanations.
What makes a thesis defensible?
For a thesis to be defensible, the passage must include at least minimal evidence that could be used to support that thesis;however the student need not cite that evidence to earn the thesis point.
This term refers to an author’s word choice and its impact on tone and meaning.
What is diction?
The specific problem or issue that prompts the author to write.
What is exigence?
An author uses short, abrupt sentences after long complex ones. What is the likely effect?
To emphasize urgency, tension, or a key idea.
An author describes vivid suffering to motivate action. Which appeal is dominant and why?
Pathos, because it evokes emotion to influence the audience.
What must a strong thesis for FRQ Q2 include?
A defensible claim about how the author uses rhetorical strategies to achieve purpose.
Occurs when an author chooses a strategy that could alienate, offend, or weaken their argument if it fails.
What is a rhetorical risk?
Why an author might adjust tone, diction, or evidence depending on who is reading.
What is audience?
Why might using humor in a serious political speech be considered a rhetorical risk?
It may undermine credibility or seriousness if the audience expects formality.
Why do strong rhetorical analyses usually discuss multiple appeals rather than just one?
Effective arguments often combine appeals to strengthen persuasion.
Why is “the author uses imagery, diction, and repetition” a weak thesis?
It lists devices without making an analytical claim.
This rhetorical choice involves structuring sentences to emphasize relationships between ideas, often through parallelism, periodic sentences, or fragments.
What is syntax?
Explain how exigence and context work together to shape rhetorical choices.
Exigence creates urgency; context determines which strategies will be effective.
Explain why the same rhetorical choice might be effective for one audience but ineffective for another.
Audience values, beliefs, and expectations shape how rhetoric is received.
Explain how tone can reinforce an author’s purpose even without explicit emotional language.
Tone shapes how ideas are interpreted and guides audience response.
What separates a Row B (4–5) essay from a Row C (6) essay?
Sophisticated commentary, deeper insight, and nuanced understanding of rhetoric.