Glossary

From RhetorClick

Revision as of 20:00, 29 March 2011

This page is dedicated to key terms from the readings.

A

• Aleatoric: according to chance (Lunsford and Ede January 20 Class Notes)
• Animism: according to Aristotle, all objects have souls (Lunsford and Ede January 20 Class Notes)
• Antistrophos: counterpart, companion (Lunsford and Ede January 20 Class Notes)
• Ambiguity: Richards showed how under-examined ambiguities can lead to misinterpretation of an entire work (Richards February 1 Class Notes)
• Affective Fallacy: Wimsatt and Berdsley claimed that evaluating literature by the way it affects the reader is uselessly subjective. Again, literature should be evaluated through its use of language, not outside factors (RIchards February 1 Class Notes)

B

C

• 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. (Weaver: see February 15 Class Notes)
• Classical Rhetoric: theory of persuasive discourse (Perelman: see February 10 Class Notes)
• Close Reading: Richards shifted the focus from general analysis to a meticulous, word-level method of interpretation, which has greatly influenced modern criticism. (Richards: see February 1 Class Notes)

D

• Death of the Author: Roland Barthe's essay argues that the author must be disentangled from the text (Richards: see February 1 Class Notes)
• Dialectic: two-sided dialogue, formal argumentation system, conversation (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Doxa: social knowledge (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)

E

• Episteme: core, truths of the earth knowledge (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Emthymeme: uses audience's assumptions, only use 1 premise (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Ethos: The persuasive appeal of one's character, especially how this character is established by means of speech or discourse. Ethotic appeals rely on the trustworthiness of the speaker or writer. Ethos is an effective appeal because when the audience believes that the speaker does not intend to do them harm, they are more likely to trust what is being said. (Persuasive appeals: see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)*Etymologically (Burke: see January 27 Class Notes)
• Entelechy: the actualization of form-giving cause as contrasted with potential existence. (Burke: see January 27 Class Notes)

F

G

H

• Hypertext: Ted Nelson, who coined the term hypertext, defines it as non-sequential writing. "This means writing in which the logical connections between elements are primarily associative rather than syllogistic, as in conventional text" (Slatin 171). (Slatin: see March 22 Class Notes)

I

• Intentional Fallacy: William K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley asserted that the author's words, not his intent, should be studied. Richards argued that since an authors mind can never be known, we can only examine her words (Richards: see February 1 Class Notes)
• Interpretant: how you perceive the representamen (Peirce: see January 25 Class Notes)

J

K

• Krisis: point of judgment, moment of decision (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)

L

• Logos: the appeal to reason. Logical appeals attempt to persuade the audience using intellect. Most academic arguments rely mainly on logos. (Persuasive appeals: see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Logology: study of language and symbols (Burke: see January 27 Class Notes)

M

N

• New Criticism: Richards' ideas helped establish this movement, which viewed texts as completely autonomous (Richards: see February 1 Class Notes)
• New Rhetoric: theory of argumentation (Perelman: see February 10 Class Notes)
• Node: Any object which is linked to another object (Slatin: see March 22 Class Notes)

O

• Object: the action you take (Peirce: see January 25 Class Notes)

P

• Paradeigma: use of example or evidence to prove a point (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Pathos: the appeal to emotion. When people accept a claim based on how it makes them feels=, they are acting on pathos. A majority of advertisements and arguments in the popular press rely heavily on pathetic appeals. Although the pathetic appeal can be manipulative, it is the cornerstone of moving people to action. (Persuasive appeals: see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Pisteis: proofs, persuasive appeals (logos, ethos, pathos); artistic (logical, logos, nonlogical, ethos and pathos) and inartistic (tangible evidence) proofs (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Poeis: fine arts (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)
• Proofs: Justification, reasoning, argumentation. (Perelman: see February 10 Class Notes)

Q

R

• Rationalism: truth is not sensory, but intellectual and deductive. You only know thought through deductive reasoning. (Perelman: see February 10 Class Notes)
• Representamen: what something represents to you personally (creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign) (Peirce: see January 25 Class Notes)

S

• Signifier: the material (or physical form) of the sign (Saussure: see January 25 Class Notes)
• Signified: concept in the mind (not a thing but the notion of a thing) (Saussure: see January 25 Class Notes)
• Syllogism: logical/deductive, conclusion resting on 2 premises (major, minor, conclusion) (see January 20 Class Notes, from Lunsford and Ede)

T

• Techne: art, craft (Lunsford and Ede: see January 20 Class Notes)
• Telos: an ultimate end. (Burke: see January 27 Class Notes)
• Tropism: growth toward or away from external stimulus (Burke: see January 27 Class Notes)

U

V

W

X

Y

Z