Studied by 9 peopleLogical Fallacies
“potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument” ; can be used to manipulate or decieve
Argument
"a persuasive discourse, a coherent and considered movement from claim to conclusion”
Rogerian Arguments
“based on the assumption that having a full understanding of an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it in a way that’s accommodating rather than alienating.”
Claim
argument’s main idea or position; differs from a topic or a subject in that claim needs to be arguable
Circular Reasoning
involves repeating claim as a way to provide evidence, which results to no evidence at all
Ex: “Buy this shampoo because it’s the best shampoo!”
Hasty Generalization
not having enough evidence to support a particular conclusion
Ex: Smoking isn’t bad, because someone’s aunt smoked for 90 years.
Counter Argument Thesis
A variant of open and closed thesis; usually qualified by ‘although’ or ‘but’ precedes the writer’s opinion
Ex: Although the Harry Potter series may have some literacy merit, its popularity has less to do with storytelling than with merchandising.
Closed Thesis
statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews major points the writer intends to make
Ex: 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
Open thesis
one that does not list all the points the writer intends to cover in an essay; can be due to the length
Ex: The popularity of the Harry Potter series demonstrates that simplicity trumps complexity when it comes to the taste of readers, both young and old.
Either/Or Fallacy
False dilemma; using inaccurate evidence
Ex: “Either we agree to higher taxes or our grandchildren will be mired in debt.”
Straw man Fallacy
occurs when speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example to ridicule and refute an opponent’s viewpoint
Ex: Politician X wants to go to Mars. Politician Y says to find “little green men” which isn’t true
Faulty Analogy
analogy; susceptible to change that two things aren’t comparable
Ex: Animals vs. people misery
Red Herring
occurs when speaker skips to new and irrelevant topic in order to avoid topic of discussion
Ad Hominem Fallacy
tactic of switching argument from the issues to the character of the other speaker; type of red herring
Ex: You argue that park should be renovated, because someone who supports it got arrested during domestic dispute; doesn’t relate to the topic
First-Hand Evidence
something you know, either from personal experience, anecdotes from others, observations, or general knowledge of events
Second-Hand Evidence
evidence accessed through research, reading, and investigation; includes factual and historical information, expert opinion, and quantitative data
Quantitative Evidence
includes things that can be represented in numbers, such as statistics, surveys, polls, census information, etc.
Bandwagon appeal
occurs when evidence boils down to “everybody is doing it, so it must be a good thing to do”
Claims of Value
argues that something is right or wrong, good or bad, etc.
Ex: Brad Pitt is the best leading man in Hollywood.
Claims of Fact
asserts if something is true or not
Ex: Argues that Zimbabwe has an unstable government
Claim of Policy
proposing a change
Ex: Raising money for charity, people should spend more time together, etc.
Clause
grammatical unit that contains both a subject and verb
Independent Clause
“expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence”
Dependent/Subordinate Clause
“cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause"
Ex: “Other than baseball, football is my favorite sport.”
Independent clause = “football is my favorite sport”
Dependent clause = “Other than baseball”
Balanced Sentence (Parallelism)
“sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale. Both parts are parallel grammatically.”
Ex: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
Purpose
specific intention or objective that the author/speaker had in mind when creating the work
Rhetoric
persuasive speaking or writing
Rhetorical Device
anything that a speaker uses to construct meaning (could be noun based on example)
Rhetorical Choice
anything a speaker does to construct meaning (action verbs based on example)
Ethos
appeal to the character, authority, or credibility of a speaker
Pathos
appeal to emotions of audience
Logos
appeal to reasonability of the message (logic)
Thesis
speaker’s overarching claim that he or she intends to prove by supporting it with evidence and reasoning
Implied Thesis
author does not explicitly say what he or she is arguing, but you can still clearly tell by reading the piece.
Synthesis
combining the thoughts of others with one’s own to produce a new cohesive argument
Line of Reasoning
complex interplay of how a thesis guides an essay’s topic sentences, transitions and organization interrelate paragraph, and how the entirety of a discourse in some way relates to unifying message or argument
Methods of Development
patterns of thought (or) ways people construct thoughts as they think
Some words associating with narration
narrates, recounts, conveys, depicts, reminisces, projects, chronicles, etc.
Some words associating with cause-and-effect
showcases, blames, reveals, highlights, exposes, uncovers, examines, instigates, divulges, unearths, reports, etc.
Ways to begin introduction paragraph
1) Present quote
2) Express intriguing statement
3) Narrate anecdote
4) Ask questions
5) Provide statistics
6) Describe scenario
7) Provide context
8) Specific time in history
Once you engage your reader in your intro paragraph, what should you do next?
contextualize why you are writing about your argument (like exigence)
Two ways to contextualize your argument in the introduction paragraph
1) Exigence
2) Summarize and include multiple positions and perspectives that others have about the topic that’s going to be discussed
Best alternative words meaning “says, states, claims”
argues, posits, theorizes, suggests, implied, presents, details, refutes, challenges, exposes, supports, charges, qualifies, recounts, concedes, remembers, narrates, depicts
Euphemism
from the Greek word that means “good speech”; words that are more agreeable or less offensive substitue for a generally unpleasant word or concept
ex: “earthly remains” rather than “corpse”
Emphasis
rhetorical principle that requires stress to be given to important elements in an essay at the expense of less important elements; words may be emphasized by placing them at the beginning or end or by judiciously italicizing them
Ideas may be emphasized by repetition or by accumulation of specific detail
Objective and Subjective Writing
Objective: author tries to present material fairly without bias
Subjective: author stressed personal responses and interpretations
Slippery Slope
arguments suggesting that one thing will lead to another, oftentimes with disastrous results
Example: “If you get a B, no one will ever love you and you will be a bad student for the rest of your life.”
False Need
arguments create an unnecessary desire for things
Example: You need an expensive car or people won’t think you’re cool.
Metonymy
term from the Greek meaning “changed label” or “substitute name”; figure of speech in which the name of one object is substitued for that of another closely associated with it
Example: “The White House declared” rather than “the President declared”
Process Analysis
type of development in writing that stressed how a sequence of steps produces a certain effect
Example: explaining to the reader all of the steps involved in balancing a checkbook would be a process essay
Ad Populem Argument
fallacious argument that appeals to the passions and prejudices of a group rather than its reason
Example: supporting an issue because it’s the “American Way”
Anaphora
repetition of a group of words at the beginning of successive clauses
Dogmatism
shuts down discussion by asserting that the writer’s beliefs are the only acceptable ones
Moral Equivalence
compares minor problems with much more serious crimes
Example: These mandatory seatbelt laws are fascist
Body Paragraphs
part of the essay that develop and support the main argument the speaker is making
Commentary
explains the assumptions and understandings that the writer brings to the table to establish a relationship between the evidence and the claims that are provided
Some words to use for Commentary
because, since, therefore, due to, thus, etc.
Connotation
meaning of a word when surrounded by other words and linguistic elements
Denotation
dictionary meaning of a word
Examples of Connotation and Denotation
Coloring Book
Denotation: book to color in
Connotation: Children’s activity
Consequence
Denotation: Outcome
Connotation: something negative
Bias
favoring someone or something in a way that may seem unfair
Diction
author word choice
Tone
speaker’s attitude towards a subject
Mood
emotional atmosphere speaker creates for the audience to experience
Note
Flashcard