Glossary

From RhetorClick

Revision as of 17:13, 12 April 2012

This page is dedicated to key terms from the readings.

A

• Adumbration: the act of providing vague advance indications of a concept to come; also known as "prefiguration" (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Aesthetics: study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Affective fallacy: coined by Wimsatt and Berdsley, the mistake of confusing a rhetorical artifact with its result; evaluating literature by its affect on the reader(see "How to Read a Page" by I. A. Richards)
• Agency: The ability to act and communicate (See Moeller, Ryan and David Christensen "System Mapping: A Genre Field Analysis of the National Science Foundation's Grant Proposal and Funding Process")
• Agitator: someone who urges others to protest or rebel (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Aleatoric: chaotic; random; according to chance (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Ancillary: providing necessary but secondary support to an organization, institution, or industry (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Animism: the spiritual belief, subscribed to by Aristotle, that all objects all objects have souls (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Antistrophos: counterpart; opposite companion (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Antithetical: in direct and unequivocal opposition (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Antilogy: a contradiction in terms or ideas (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Aphorism: a pithy observation that contains a general truth(see Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Apodictic philosophy: something demonstrated therefore true (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Axiological: relating to the study of values (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)
• Axiom: a self-evident truth that requires no proof (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)

B

• Backing: in the Toulmin Model of Argument, a fact or set of facts that support an argument's warrant (see Toulmin, Stephen "The Layout of Arguments")
• Bombast: pretentious or inflated speech or writing
• Bricolage: in art or literature, construction or creation from a diverse range of available things (see April 5 Class Notes)

C

• Canonical: accepted as being accurate and authoritative (see Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Categorical imperative: the philosophical concept proposed by Immanuel Kant that moral obligations are binding in all circumstances, regardless of positive or negative consequences (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Chariot allegory: Socrates compares the soul to chariot horses and their rider. He believes the soul (chariot rider) is immortal and consists of one good horse and one bad horse. The soul is in constant struggle balancing and choosing between the two horses. Through the good soul only, the chariot can make it to eternity or heaven (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)
• Classical rhetoric: theory of persuasive discourse (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Close reading: meticulous, word-level interpretation, rather than general analysis; has greatly influenced modern criticism (Richards February 1 Class Notes)
• Compendia: a brief summary of a larger work or of a field of knowledge (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Continuum: a continuous spectrum; a sequence in which the extremes are quite distinct while individual adjacent elements are similar (Burke January 27 Class Notes)

D

• Datum:
• Death of the Author: Roland Barthe's essay argues that the author's personal background should be irrelevant to interpretation of his or her writing; the concept proposed in the essay (see Barthes, Roland "Death of the Author")
• Deictic: denoting a word or expression whose meaning is dependent on the context in which it is used (see Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Dialectic: two-sided dialogue, formal argumentation system, conversation (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Doxa: constantly evolving day-to-day knowledge, sometimes culturally based (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Dialectical reasoning: moving back and forth between contrary lines of reasoning examing both arguments (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Diachronic: relating to phenomena, often literary or cultural, as they occur or change over a period of time (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Dispositio: the system used for the organization of arguments in Western classical rhetoric (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)

E

• Ecriture: the idea that a text's author becomes a "transcendental anonymity"; the French word for "writing"(see Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Elocutio: the mastery of stylistic elements in Western classical rhetoric and comes from the Latin loqui, "to speak" (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Endoxa:
• Entelechy: a realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality; the actualization of form-giving cause as contrasted with potential existence (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Enthymeme: abbreviated form of a syllogism which assumes one of two premises is a given (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Episteme: knowledge of the absolute, eternal truth (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Esperanto: an artificial international language based as far as possible on words common to the chief European languages (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Ethos: the persuasive appeal of one's character, credibility, or apparent trustworthiness, especially how this character is established by means of speech or discourse (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede
• Etymology: the study of the history of words and their evolution over time (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Existentialism: a philosophical theory emphasizing the individual as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Exegesis: interpretation of a text often exploring its historical context and seeking to identify its cultural significance (see Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Exordium: the introduction, especially of a discourse or treatise (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Extrinsic: not part of the essential nature of someone or something (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)

F

• Fallacious: containing or based on a fallacy (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)
• Forensic speaking: use of rhetoric to attack or defend someone in a judicial setting; defined by Aristotle as one of three forms of rhetoric (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)

G

• Genre: a continuous and structured activity; anything that a large group of people do similarly (see Moeller, Ryan and David Christensen "System Mapping: A Genre Field Analysis of the National Science Foundation's Grant Proposal and Funding Process" )
• Genre agents: documents and websites which offer key information involved in the genre process (see Moeller, Ryan and David Christensen "System Mapping: A Genre Field Analysis of the National Science Foundation's Grant Proposal and Funding Process" )
• Genre field: everything that goes into making a genre (see Moeller, Ryan and David Christensen "System Mapping: A Genre Field Analysis of the National Science Foundation's Grant Proposal and Funding Process")

H

• Heteroglossia: the qualities of a language (such as ideology, perspective, etc.) that are extralinguistic but common to all languages (see The Dialogic Imagination)
• Homonymy: the relation between two words that are spelled the same way but differ in meaning (see Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Hypertext: non-sequential, often digital, writing; writing "in which the logical connections between elements are primarily associative rather than syllogistic" (Slatin March 22 Class Notes)

I

• Inventio: the system or method used for the discovery of arguments in Western rhetoric (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Intentional fallacy: the concept that an author's words alone, not intent, should be examined because an author's mind can never be truly known (Richards February 1 Class Notes)
• Interpretant: how a person perceives a sign or representation (Peirce January 25 Class Notes)
• Inter-textual variations: differences in the way texts are structured through alphanumeric cues (headings and numbers), spatial cues (horizontal and vertical distribution of text) and graphic cues (bullets, arrows, lines, etc.) (see Rhetoric of Text)
• Intra-textual variations: changes in typography and design within a document (see Rhetoric of Text)
• Inventio: the system or method used for the discovery of arguments in Western rhetoric (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Isomorphous: being of identical or similar form, shape, or structure (see "Toward a Methodology for the Human Sciences" by Mikhail Bakhtin)
• Instrumental value judgment: an argument that uses values as a means to alread accepted ends, or as obstacles to their attainment (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Intuitionism: the theory that primary truths and principles, especially those of ethics and metaphysics, are known through intuition rather than learning (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)

J

K

• Krisis: point of judgment, moment of decision (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)

L

• Lexia: parts of a text that are separated from the meaning of the work as a whole to show the multiplicity of meaning and references
• Logology: study of language and symbols (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Logomachies: a dispute over or about words
• Logos: the logical appeal that attempts to persuade the audience using intellect and reason (Persuasive appeals: "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Logical empiricism: the school of philosophy that combines empiricism (the idea that observational evidence is indispensable for knowledge of the world) with a version of rationalism incorporating mathematical and logico-linguistic constructs (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)

M

• Modal Qualifiers:

N

• Natura naturans: nature doing what nature does (see "Toward a Methodology for the Human Sciences" by Mikhail Bakhtin)
• Natura naurata: nature already created (see "Toward a Methodology for the Human Sciences" by Mikhail Bakhtin)
• New Criticism: a movement that viewed texts as completely autonomous (Richards February 1 Class Notes)
• New Rhetoric: theory of argumentation (See "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Node: any object which is linked to another object (Slatin March 22 Class Notes)
• Nominalism: the belief that universals are mere names without any reality (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)

O

• Object: the action you take (Peirce January 25 Class Notes)
• Organon: an instrument for acquiring knowledge; specifically, a body of principles of scientific or philosophic investigation (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Orthographic: projection of a single view of an object onto a drawing surface in which the lines of projection are perpendicular to the drawing surface (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)

P

• Parlance: a particular way of speaking or using words, especially a way common to those with a particular job or interest (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Paradeigma: use of example or anecdotal evidence to prove a point (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Pathos: the appeal to emotion and shared values; often used in advertising and thought to be manipulative but also extrmeely effective (Persuasive appeals: "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede
• Pejorative: a word or phrase that has negative connotations or that is intended to disparage or belittle (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Perennial: continuing without interruption (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Phoneme: a unit of the phonetic system of a language that corresponds to a set of similar speech sounds perceived to be a single distinctive sound in the language (e.g., the velar \k\ of cool and the palatal \k\ of keel) (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Pisteis: proofs, persuasive appeals: (logos, ethos, pathos); artistic (logical, logos, nonlogical, ethos and pathos) and inartistic (tangible evidence) (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Play theory: the theory that any and all activities have rules, specific outcomes, and some sort of strategy to win (See Moeller, Ryan and David Christensen "System Mapping: A Genre Field Analysis of the National Science Foundation's Grant Proposal and Funding Process" )
• Player agents: people involved in the process of play theory (See Moeller, Ryan and David Christensen "System Mapping: A Genre Field Analysis of the National Science Foundation's Grant Proposal and Funding Process" )
• Poeis: fine arts (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Polyglossia: the hybrid nature of language (see Mikhail Bakhtin and The Dialogic Imagination
• Positivist empiricism: emphasizes role of experience and evidence especially sensory perception (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Priori: relating to or derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Promulgation: to make known by open declaration; publish; proclaim formally or put into operation (a law, decree of a court, etc.). (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Proofs: Justification, reasoning, argumentation. (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)

Q

R

• Rationalism: truth is not sensory, but intellectual and deductive. You only know thought through deductive reasoning. (See "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Rationalistic idealism: criterion of truth is not sensory but intelluctual and deductive (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Rediscovers: the effects of analogy or isomorphism with current forms of knowledge that allow the perception of forgotten or obscured figures (See Foucault, Michel "What Is an Author?")
• Representamen: what something represents to you personally (creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign) (Peirce January 25 Class Notes)
• Rhetoric: (see Definitions of Rhetoric)

S

• Semantic: of or relating to meaning in language (see "Toward a Methodology for the Human Sciences" by Mikhail Bakhtin)
• Semiology: the study of signs (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Signified: concept in the mind (not a thing but the notion of a thing) (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Signifier: the material (or physical form) of the sign (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Spatiotemporal: Belonging to both space and time or to space-time (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)
• Syllogism: logical/deductive, conclusion resting on 2 premises (major, minor, conclusion) (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Supra-Textual Structuring: affects the document globally, with section titles, page headers, tabs, page size, orientation, the placement of extra-textual elements (e.g. data display and pictures), icons, page color, and various line, textures, and marks. Supra-textual cues create visual coherence among units in a document (see Rhetoric of Text)
• Synchronic: concerned with events existing in a limited time period and ignoring historical antecedents (see "Nature of the Linguistic Sign" by Ferdinand de Saussure)
• Suasory: Tending to persuade. (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Subjectivism: doctrine that knowledge is merely subjective and that there is no external or objective truth (see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Subverter: to pervert or corrupt by an undermining of morals, allegiance, or faith (see “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric” by Richard Weaver)

T

• Tautologies: a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words; a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form(see "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning" by Chaïm Perelman)
• Techne: art, craft (see "On Distinctions between Classical and Modern Rhetoric" by Andrea A. Lunsford and Lisa S. Ede)
• Telos: an ultimate end. (Burke January 27 Class Notes)
• Trivium: An introductory curriculum at a medieval university involving the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. (Bryant February 3 Class Notes)
• Tropism: growth toward or away from external stimulus (Burke January 27 Class Notes)

U

V

W

• Warrant: in the Toulmin Model of Argument, an often implicit assumption that supports the inference of the claim from the data/evidence (see Toulmin, Stephen "The Layout of Arguments")

X

Y

Z