Rhetorical Terms
Before you start studying these terms, get familiar with Lou Gehrig's Farwell Speech
RHETORICAL TERMS
(before we do anything, you must master these terms)
audience
The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple intended audiences.
Gehrig’s audience was his teammates and fans in the stadium that day, but it was also the teams he played against, the fans listening on the radio, and posterity — us.
concession
An acknowledgment that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, a concession is usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument.
Lou Gehrig concedes what some of his listeners may think — that his bad break is a
cause for discouragement or despair.
connotation
Connotation refers to the emotional or cultural associations that a word carries beyond its literal meaning (denotation). These associations can be positive, negative, or neutral and can significantly influence how a message is received.
Examples of Connotation
Positive Connotation: "Youthful"
Negative Connotation: "Childish"
Positive Connotation: "He is thrifty." (Connotation: Wise, careful with money)
Negative Connotation: "He is stingy." (Connotation: Miserly, ungenerous)
Positive Connotation: Curious
Negative Connotation: Nosy
context
The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.
The context for Lou Gehrig’s speech is the recent announcement of his illness and his
subsequent retirement, but also the poignant contrast between his potent career and his
debilitating disease.
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.
Some of Lou Gehrig’s listeners might have argued that his bad break was a cause for
discouragement or despair.
exigence
the event or occurrence that prompts rhetorical discourse; the exigence is that which begins the “cycle” of rhetorical discourse about a particular issue.
Example: George Bush's 9/11 Speech
Audience: The American people and the people responsible for the attack
Purpose: Console and unify the American people. Threaten anyone involved with or in support of these attacks.
Exigence: Terrorists hijacked planes and attacked buildings and people on American soil resulting in the death of thousands of American citizens.
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.
Lou Gehrig brings the ethos of being a legendary athlete to his speech, yet in it he
establishes a different kind of ethos — that of a regular guy and a good sport who shares
the audience’s love of baseball and family. And like them, he has known good luck and
bad breaks.
logos
Greek for “embodied thought.” Speakers appeal to logos, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and
using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.
Gehrig starts with the thesis that he is “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” and
supports it with two points: (1) the love and kindness he’s received in his seventeen
years of playing baseball, and (2) a list of great people who have been his friends,
family, and teammates.
pathos
Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” Speakers appeal to pathos 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.
The most striking appeal to pathos is the poignant contrast between Gehrig’s horrible
diagnosis and his public display of courage.
kairos
Kairos is a rhetorical concept that refers to the opportune or timely moment for persuasion or argumentation. Unlike other rhetorical concepts such as ethos (credibility), pathos (emotional appeal), and logos (logical appeal), which focus on the content and delivery of the message, kairos emphasizes the context in which the message is delivered and the timing of its presentation.
more on kairos
occasion
The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.
In the case of Gehrig’s speech, the occasion is Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. More
specifically, his moment comes at home plate between games of a doubleheader.
persona
Greek for “mask.” The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.
Lou Gehrig is a famous baseball hero, but in his speech he presents himself as a
common man who is modest and thankful for the opportunities he’s had.
Greek for “hostile.” An 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.
propaganda
The spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, propaganda is the use
of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause.
purpose
The goal the speaker wants to achieve.
One of Gehrig’s chief purposes in delivering his Farewell Address is to thank his fans
and his teammates, but he also wants to demonstrate that he remains positive: he
emphasizes his past luck and present optimism and downplays his illness.
refutation
A 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.
Lou Gehrig refutes that his bad break is a cause for discouragement by saying that he
has “an awful lot to live for!”
rhetoric
As 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.
rhetorical appeals
Rhetorical 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).
A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject/message in determining a text.
A mnemonic device that stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker, and Tone. It is a handy way to remember the various elements that make up the rhetorical situation.
speaker
The 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.
In his Farewell Address, the speaker is not just Lou Gehrig, but baseball hero and ALS
victim Lou Gehrig, a common man who is modest and thankful for the opportunities
he’s had.
subject
The topic of a text. What the text is about.
Lou Gehrig’s subject in his speech is his illness, but it is also a catalog of all the lucky
breaks that preceded his diagno
text
While 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.