The Language of Composition 2e by Shea, Scanlon, Aufses

The Language of Composition 2e by Shea, Scanlon, Aufses is the 2nd edition of the The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric textbook authored by Renée H. Shea, Bowie State University, Maryland, Lawrence Scanlon, Brewster High School, New York, and Robin Dissin Aufses, Lycée Français de New York, and published by Bedford/St. Martin's in 2013.

• Ad hominem. Latin for "against the man," this fallacy refers to the specific diversionary tactic of switching the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker. If you argue that a park in your community should not be renovated because the person supporting it was arrested during a domestic dispute, then you are guilty of ad hominem.
• Ad populum (bandwagon appeal). This fallacy occurs when evidence boils down to "everybody's doing it, so it must be a good thing to do." Example: "You should vote to elect Rachel Johnson — she has a strong lead in the polls." Polling higher does not necessarily make Senator Johnson the "best" candidate, only the most popular.
• Alliteration. Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence. Example:

  [L]et us go forth to lead the land we love . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Allusion. Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art. Example:

  Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Analogy. A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex. Examples:

  As birds have flight, our special gift is reason. -- Bill McKibben

  and

  If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him though I drown myself. . . . But he that would save his life, in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to hold slaves and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people. -- Henry David Thoreau

• Anaphora. Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. Example:

  . . . not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Anecdote. A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim.
• Annotation. The taking of notes directly on a text.
• Antimetabole. Repetition of words in reverse order. Example:

  [A]sk not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. -- John F. Kennedy

• Antithesis. Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction. Example:

  [W]e shall . . . support any friend, oppose any foe . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Appeal to false authority. This fallacy occurs when someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue is cited as an authority. A TV star, for instance, is not a medical expert, though pharmaceutical advertisements often use celebrity endorsements. Example: "According to former congressional leader Ari Miller, the Himalayas have an estimated Yeti population of between 300 and 500 individuals."
• Archaic diction. Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words. Example:

  . . . beliefs for which our forebears fought . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Argument. A process of reasoned inquiry. A persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion.
• Aristotelian triangle. See rhetorical triangle.
• Assertion. A statement that presents a claim or thesis.
• Assumption. See warrant.
• Asyndeton. Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. Example:

  [W]e shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. -- John F. Kennedy

• Audience. The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple audiences. Example: "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."
• Backing. In the Toulmin model, backing consists of further assurances or data without which the assumption lacks authority. For an example, see Toulmin model.
• Bandwagon appeal. See ad populum fallacy.
• Begging the question. A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt. It "begs" a question whether the support itself is sound. Example: "Giving students easy access to a wealth of facts and resources online allows them to develop critical thinking skills."
• Circular reasoning. A fallacy in which the argument repeats the claim as a way to provide evidence. Example: "You can't give me a C; I'm an A student!"
• Claim. Also called an assertion or proposition, a claim states the argument's main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable.
• Claim of fact. A claim of fact asserts that something is true or not true. Example:

  The number of suicides and homicides committed by teenagers, most often young men, has exploded in the last three decades . . . -- Anna Quindlen

• Claim of policy. A claim of policy proposes a change. Example:

  Yet one solution continues to elude us, and that is ending the ignorance about mental health, and moving it from the margins of care and into the mainstream where it belongs. -- Anna Quindlen

• Claim of value. A claim of value argues that something is good or bad, right or wrong. Example:

  There's a plague on all our houses, and since it doesn't announce itself with lumps or spots or protest marches, it has gone unremarked in the quiet suburbs and busy cities where it has been laying waste. -- Anna Quindlen

• Classical oration. The Five-part argument structure used by classical rhetoricians. The five parts are:
  1. Introduction (exordium). Introduces the reader to the subject under discussion.
  2. Narration (narratio). Provides factual information and background material on the subject at hand or establishes why the subject is a problem that needs addressing.
  3. Confirmation (confirmatio). Usually the major part of the text, the confirmation includes the proof needed to make the writer's case.
  4. Refutation (refutatio). Addresses the counterargument. It is a bridge between the writer's proof and conclusion.
  5. Conclusion (peroratio). Brings the essay to a satisfying close.
• Closed thesis. A closed thesis is a statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make. The three-dimensional characters, exciting plot, and complex themes of the Harry Potter series make them not only legendary children's books but enduring literary classics.
• Complex sentence. A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Example:

  If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. -- John F. Kennedy

• Compound sentence. A sentence that includes at least two independent clauses. Example:

  The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. -- John F. Kennedy

• 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. Example: "Lou Gehrig concedes what some of his listeners may think — that his bad break is a cause for discouragement or despair."
• Confirmation. In classical oration, this major part of an argument comes between the narration and refutation; it provides the development of proof through evidence that supports the claims made by the speaker.
• Connotation. Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. Connotations are often positive or negative, and they often greatly affect the author's tone. Consider the connotations of the words below, all of which mean "overweight." Example: "That cat is plump. That cat is fat. That cat is obese."
• Context. The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text. Example: "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. Example: "Some of Lou Gehrig's listeners might have argued that his bad break was a cause for discouragement or despair."
• Cumulative sentence. Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on. Example:

  But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course — both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war. -- John F. Kennedy

• Deduction. Deduction is a logical process wherein you reach a conclusion by starting with a general principle or universal truth (a major premise) and applying it to a specific case (a minor premise). The process of deduction is usually demonstrated in the form of a syllogism: Example. MAJOR PREMISE: "Exercise contributes to better health." MINOR PREMISE: "Yoga is a type of exercise." CONCLUSION: "Yoga contributes to better health."
• Diction. A speaker's choice of words. Analysis of diction looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker's message.
• Either/or (false dilemma). In this fallacy, the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices. Example: "Either we agree to higher taxes, or our grandchildren will be mired in debt."
• Enthymeme. Essentially a syllogism with one of the premises implied, and taken for granted as understood. Example: "You should take her class because I learned so much from her last year." (Implied premise: If you take her class, you will learn a lot too.)
• Equivocation. A fallacy that uses a term with two or more meanings in an attempt to misrepresent or deceive. Example: "We will bring our enemies to justice, or we will bring justice to them."
• 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.
• Exordium. In classical oration, the introduction to an argument, in which the speaker announces the subject and purpose, and appeals to ethos in order to establish credibility.
• Fallacy. See logical fallacy.
• False dilemma. See either/or.
• Faulty analogy. A fallacy that occurs when an analogy compares two things that are not comparable. For instance, to argue that because we put animals who are in irreversible pain out of their misery, so we should do the same for people, asks the reader to ignore significant and profound differences between animals and people.
• Figurative language (figure of speech). Nonliteral language, sometimes referred to as tropes or metaphorical language, often evoking strong imagery, figures of speech often compare one thing to another either explicitly (simile) or implicitly (metaphor). Other forms of figurative language include personification, paradox, overstatement (hyperbole), understatement, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony.
• First-hand evidence. Evidence based on something the writer knows, whether it's from personal experience, observations, or general knowledge of events.
• Hasty generalization. A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached because of inadequate evidence. Example: "Smoking isn't bad for you; my great aunt smoked a pack a day and lived to be 90."
• Hortative sentence. Sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action. Example:

  Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. -- John F. Kennedy

• Hyperbole. Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point. Example:

  My first and last name together generally served the same purpose as a high brick wall. -- Firoozeh Dumas

• Imagery. A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds. Imagery may use literal or figurative language to appeal to the senses. Example:

  Your eyes glaze as you travel life's highway past all the crushed animals and the Big Gulp cups. -- Joy Williams

• Imperative sentence. Sentence used to command or enjoin. Example:

  My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. -- John F. Kennedy

• Induction. From the Latin inducere, "to lead into," induction is a logical process wherein you reason from particulars to universals, using specific cases in order to draw a conclusion, which is also called a generalization. Example. "Regular exercise promotes weight loss. Exercise lowers stress levels. Exercise improves mood and outlook." GENERALIZATION: "Exercise contributes to better health."
• Inversion. Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verbobject order). Example:

  United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do. -- John F. Kennedy

• Irony. A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity. Example:

  Nature has become simply a visual form of entertainment, and it had better look snappy. -- Joy Williams

• Juxtaposition. Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences. Example:

  The nations of Asia and Africa are moving at jet-like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. -- Martin Luther King

• Logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument. They often arise from a failure to make a logical connection between the claim and the evidence used to support it.
• 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.
• Metaphor. Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as. Example:

  And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Metonymy. Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it. Example: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
• Modifier. An adjective, adverb, phrase, or clause that modifies a noun, pronoun, or verb. The purpose of a modifier is usually to describe, focus, or qualify. Example:

  Sprawling and dull in class, he comes alive in the halls and in the cafeteria. -- David Denby

• Mood. The feeling or atmosphere created by a text.
• Narration. In classical oration, the factual and background information, establishing why a subject or problem needs addressing; it precedes the confirmation, or laying out of evidence to support claims made in the argument.
• Nominalization. The process of changing a verb into a noun. Example: "Discuss becomes discussion. Depend becomes dependence."
• Occasion. The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written. Example: "In the case of Gehrig's speech, the occasion is Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. More specifically, his moment came at home plate between games of a doubleheader."
• Open thesis. An open thesis is one that does not list all of the points the writer intends to cover in an essay. Example: "The popularity of the Harry Potter series demonstrates that simplicity trumps complexity when it comes to the taste of readers, both young and old."
• Oxymoron. A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words. Example:

  But this peaceful revolution . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Paradox. A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth. Examples:

  There is that scattereth, yet increaseth. -- The Bible

  and

  To live outside the law you must be honest. -- Bob Dylan

• Parallelism. Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. Example:

  Let both sides explore. . . . Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals. . . . Let both sides seek to invoke. . . . Let both sides unite to heed . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• 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. Example: "The most striking appeal to pathos is the poignant contrast between Gehrig's horrible diagnosis and his public display of courage."
• Periodic sentence. Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end. Example:

  To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Peroration. In classical oration, the final part of an argument. It follows the refutation and typically appeals to pathos as it moves the audience toward the conclusion.
• Persona. Greek for "mask." The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience. Example: "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."
• Personification. Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea. Example:

  . . . with history the final judge of our deeds . . . -- John F. Kennedy

• Polemic. 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.
• Polysyndeton. The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. Example: "I paid for my plane ticket, and the taxes, and the fees, and the charge for the checked bag, and five dollars for a bottle of water."
• Post hoc ergo propter hoc. This fallacy is Latin for "after which therefore because of which,"meaning that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier. One may loosely summarize this fallacy by saying that correlation does not imply causation. Example: "We elected Johnson as president and look where it got us: hurricanes, floods, stock market crashes."
• 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. Example: "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."
• Qualified argument. An argument that is not absolute. It acknowledges the merits of an opposing view, but develops a stronger case for its own position.
• Qualifier. In the Toulmin model, the qualifier uses words like usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, and most likely to temper the claim a bit, making it less absolute. For an example, see Toulmin model.
• Qualitative evidence. Evidence supported by reason, tradition, or precedent.
• Quantitative evidence. Quantitative evidence includes things that can be measured, cited, counted, or otherwise represented in numbers— for instance,statistics, surveys, polls, census information.
• Rebuttal. In the Toulmin model, a rebuttal gives voice to possible objections. For an example, see Toulmin model.
• Refutation. A denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, a refutation often follows a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. One of the stages in classical oration, usually following the confirmation, or proof, and preceding the conclusion, or peroration. Example: "Lou Gehrig refutes that his bad break is a cause for discouragement by saying that he has 'an awful lot to live for!'"
• Reservation. In the Toulmin model, a reservation explains the terms and conditions necessitated by the qualifier. For an example, see Toulmin model.
• Rhetoric. Aristotle defined rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." In other words, it is the art of finding ways of persuading 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).
• Rhetorical question. Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer. Example:

  Will you join in that historic effort? -- John F. Kennedy

• Rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle). A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.
• Rogerian arguments. Developed by psychiatrist Carl Rogers, Rogerian arguments are based on the assumption that fully understanding an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it in a way that is accommodating rather than alienating.
• Satire. The use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual.
• Scheme. Artful syntax; a deviation from the normal order of words. Common schemes include parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimetabole.
• Second-hand evidence. Evidence that is accessed through research, reading, and investigation. It includes factual and historical information, expert opinion, and quantitative data.
• Simile. A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though. Example:

  Zoos are pretty, contained, and accessible. . . . Sort of like a biological Crabtree & Evelyn basket selected with you in mind. -- Joy Williams

• SOAPS. A mnemonic device that stands for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker. 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. Example: "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."
• Stance. A speaker's attitude toward the audience (differing from tone, the speaker's attitude toward the subject).
• Straw man. A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea. Example: "Politician X proposes that we put astronauts on Mars in the next four years. Politician Y ridicules this proposal by saying that his opponent is looking for 'little green men in outer space.'"
• Subject. The topic of a text. What the text is about. Example: "Lou Gehrig's subject in his speech is his illness, but it is also an expression of his gratitude for all of the lucky breaks that preceded his diagnosis."
• Syllogism. A logical structure that uses the major premise and minor premise to reach a necessary conclusion. Example. MAJOR PREMISE: "Exercise contributes to better health." MINOR PREMISE: "Yoga is a type of exercise." CONCLUSION: "Yoga contributes to better health."
• Synecdoche. Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole. Example:

  In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. -- John F. Kennedy

• Syntax. The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. This includes word order (subject-verb-object, for instance, or an inverted structure); the length and structure of sentences (simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex); and such schemes as parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimetabole.
• Synthesize. Combining two or more ideas in order to create something more complex in support of a new idea.
• 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.
• Tone. A speaker's attitude toward the subject conveyed by the speaker's stylistic and rhetorical choices.
• Toulmin model. An approach to analyzing and constructing arguments created by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin in his book The Uses of Argument (1958). The Toulmin model can be stated as a template: Because (evidence as support), therefore (claim), since (warrant or assumption), on account of (backing), unless (reservation). Example: "Because it is raining, therefore I should probably take my umbrella, since it will keep me dry on account of its waterproof material, unless, of course, there is a hole in it."
• Trope. Artful diction; from the Greek word for "turning," a figure of speech such as metaphor, simile, hyperbole, metonymy, or synecdoche.
• Understatement. A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, urgent, good, and so on, than it actually is, often for satiric or comical effect. Also called litotes, it is the opposite of hyperbole. Example:

  You might want to write clearly and cogently in your English class. The night in prison was novel and interesting enough. -- Henry David Thoreau

• Warrant. In the Toulmin model, the warrant expresses the assumption necessarily shared by the speaker and the audience.
• Wit. In rhetoric, the use of laughter, humor, irony, and satire in the confirmation or refutation of an argument.
• Zeugma. Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings. Examples: "When you open a book, you open your mind." and

  Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden . . . -- John F. Kennedy