AP Seminar Rhetoric Cheat Sheet
Thesis Formula: Despite [counterargument], [claim] because Line of Reasoning:
[warrant]. Can be 2 sentences. OK to reorder.
Argument Formula:
● Scope & Severity (how big/bad the problem is)
● Context & Complexity (why it’s like this/hard to fix)
● Solution with Implementation & Implications
Useful Terms:
Analogy Comparing two things to strengthen your claim. Ex: GSMST is a high school in the
way that sharks are fish. This implies that GSMST is a much tougher high school
than most.
Anecdote A quick story told to support the claim.
Anecdotal Evidence Evidence that only comes from personal stories. It’s not always terrible or wrong, but
it’s much weaker than something like a study done by a prestigious university.
● You can’t extrapolate reliably from anecdotal evidence even if relevant.
Argument from Acknowledging the other side’s argument but still supporting your claim. This
Concession strengthens your claim/gives you ethos bc it shows you thought it all the way out.
Call to action Encouraging the audience to act on your claim. This might or might not involve
kairos. Usually in the conclusion.
Counterargument or A reasonable reason that a reasonable person would reasonably disagree with
Counterclaim your claim. This is NOT “some might claim/argue/say/think/believe.”
● A reasonable counter to the claim that we should have a free day is that you
have AP Seminar task deadlines to stick to.
● It’s not good if only one small biased or bad group would disagree with your
claim.
Defining the Terms Clarify your terms to make sure you’re on the same page. Ex: When you say
“education,” do you mean all levels? Just high school? Just the USA?
Rebuttal To rebut an argument is to point out why your opponent is wrong–say they make a
claim that dogs are easy pets to care for. You could rebut that by saying that dogs
require daily walks while cats don’t.
Repetition Any repetition is probably important. Don’t just say it emphasizes the claim–of course
it does. What exactly is it emphasizing and why might that be effective for the target
audience?
Target Audience The people you think the argument is addressed to. Make your best guess. NEVER
talk about the reader–you don’t know how people reacted. But you can speculate on
why something might be effective for a particular target audience.
Aristotle’s Rhetorical Situation:
Ethos Authority, credibility
● Remember to consider the target audience. If something is published in the
newspaper, you don’t need the full scholarly stats to have ethos. Also,
relevance is tricky–do you have ethos bc you have relevant understanding of
the field, or does that maybe make you biased?
Kairos Appeal to timeliness/urgency--we need to do this now. NOT just any mention of time.
You might connect this to call to action at the end of Exam Part A.
Logos Logic
● You will probably use this a lot to organize your analysis of claims and
subclaims on Exam Part A
Deductive logic (Deductive is Definite) If the premises are true, then the
conclusion is definitely true.
Inductive logic (Inductive is Iffy) If the premises are true, then the
conclusion is probably true.
Syllogism A major premise, a minor premise, and a
conclusion. If the premises are true, the
conclusion should be.
Enthymeme "En theh meme" A syllogism or other argument in which a
premise or the conclusion is omitted
because it’s obvious.
Faulty logic is usually called a fallacy. Here are 2 common types:
False Alternative Presenting only 1 explanation when there
could be others. Ex: Ms. Malm is absent,
so she must be sick. Maybe she’s on
vacation!
False Dichotomy Presenting only 2 choices when there
really are more–this is a way to control
the argument. Ex: Love it or leave it.
Mythos A set of underlying beliefs or assumptions; the background or origin story; the a priori
● This can show how the author sets up the claim at the start of Exam Part A. If
you see it in multiple places, connect it, but it’s usually just the first para.
Pathos Appealing to the audience's emotions–can be any emotion.
● Use this sparingly
Loaded Language Overly/unnecessarily emotional language,
like “meat is murder.”
Telos Author’s purpose
● The author can’t use this–it’s just their purpose in writing the article
