EXTRA IMPORTANTS FOR LANGUAGE ARTS

Bandwagon

When someone argues that something is true just because everyone else believes it.
Example: "Everyone is watching this show, so it must be the best!"

Ad Hominem

• Attacking the person rather than the argument itself.
  Example: "You're wrong because you're not smart enough to understand."

Straw Man

Misrepresenting or exaggerating someone else's argument to make it easier to attack.
Example: "You want to make all school work optional," but you only said homework should be less.

False Dilemma

Presenting only two choices when there might be more.
Example: "You can either be rich or you can be happy," but there are other ways to live.

Slippery Slope

Arguing that a small action will lead to big, usually bad, consequences without proof.
Example: "If we let kids eat candy in class, next they’ll be eating it all day every day!"

Appeal to Authority

Using the opinion of an authority figure (even if they’re not an expert on the topic) to support an argument.
Example: "My teacher says this, so it must be true!"

Circular Reasoning

The reason for something is just a restatement of the thing itself.
Example: "I know it’s true because it says so in the book, and the book is always right."

Hasty Generalization

Making a broad statement based on little evidence.
Example: “All students at my school love pizza because the two people I asked did.”

Red Herring

Bringing up an unrelated topic to distract from the real issue.
Example: “Why are we talking about my homework? Let’s talk about how you always interrupt me!”

Nouns

Person, place, thing, or idea.
Example: dog, happiness.

Verbs

Action or state of being.
Example: run, is.

Adjectives

Describe nouns.
Example: happy, blue

Adverbs

Describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Example: quickly, very.

Pronouns

Words that replace a noun.
Example: he, they, it.

Conjunctions

Words that connect clauses or sentences.
Example: and, but, or.

Prepositions

Words that show the relationship between a noun and another word.
Example: on, in, under.

Interjections

Words that express strong emotions or feelings.
Example: wow, ouch.

Simple Sentence

• One independent clause.
  Example: She ran.

Compound Sentence

Two complete sentences (independent clauses) joined together.

• I studied for the test, but I still didn't do well.

Complex Sentence

One complete sentence (independent clause) + one incomplete thought (dependent clause).

• Even though I studied, I still didn't do well.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The subject and verb must agree in number (singular or plural).
Example:
Singular: The dog barks.
Plural: The dogs bark.

Prefix

A syllable added to the beginning of a word.
Example: un- means not.

Suffix

A syllable added to the end of a word.
Example: -ly makes an adjective into an adverb.

Root Word

The base part of a word.
Example: act in action or react.