English I Vocabulary

Logical Fallacy

the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed

Counterclaim/counterargument

an argument that argues in opposition to the author's claim

Logos

logic- facts, evidence, statistics

Ad Hominem

(of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining

Red Herring

an attempt to redirect a conversation away from its original topic; when someone introduces an irrelevant piece of information that distracts the reader or listener

EX: "A police officer pulls a car over for speeding. The driver complains, saying that they shouldn’t pay a fine since there are so many dangerous criminals out there and the police should be chasing them instead.”

Reasoning

the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way

Pathos

appealing to the emotion or passion of the reader

EX: A commercial with sad music and videos of abandoned animals needing to be adopted is appealing to you

Claim

an assertion of the truth of something, typically one that is disputed or in doubt

EX: John Allen is the best NFL quarterback

Ethos

ethics/ the author’s credibility

Rebuttal

a refutation or contradiction; in law, a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party

Diction

the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

Evidence

the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid

EX: Cookie crumbs left on the counter are evidence that you ate the last cookie.

Concession

an argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges (or appears to acknowledge) the validity of an opponent's point

EX:I acknowledged that my opponent's claim was valid. 

Hasty Gneralization

a claim made on the basis of insufficient evidence

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true)