argument midterm

Reluctant conclusion

When a speaker appears to reach a conclusion unwillingly

Enthymeme

A rhetorical syllogism that leaves out a premise because it’s assumed the audience already agrees with it.

Controversia

A Roman rhetorical exercise involving debate over a hypothetical legal or moral case to practice argumentation.

Peritrope

A rhetorical turn where an opponent’s argument is used against them

Ethos

The appeal to a speaker’s credibility

Logos

The use of logic

Pathos

The appeal to emotion in order to move or persuade an audience.

Decorum

The art of matching tone

Phronesis

Practical wisdom or good judgment; an appeal to the audience’s sense of reason and experience.

Dubitatio

A rhetorical technique where the speaker pretends to be uncertain or modest to gain the audience’s trust.

Protagoras

A Sophist who claimed “man is the measure of all things

Socrates

A Greek philosopher known for questioning assumptions through dialogue and exposing contradictions in others’ beliefs.

Carneades

A skeptical philosopher who argued that truth is uncertain and that arguments should be judged by probability.

Antonius

In Cicero’s De Oratore

Crassus

Also from De Oratore

List summaries

Condensed reviews that organize main ideas or terms into a clear

Syllogism

A logical structure with two premises leading to a conclusion

Deductive reasoning

Logical thinking that moves from general principles to specific conclusions.

Inductive reasoning

Reasoning that moves from specific examples to broader generalizations or theories.

Satirical summaries

Summaries that exaggerate or mock the original text’s style or ideas to highlight its flaws or tone.

Aidos

A Greek concept of shame

Apraxia

the charge that skepticism leads to a state of total inaction, making it impossible to live a coherent life

Ataraxia

A state of calmness or peace of mind achieved by suspending judgment and avoiding disturbance.

Two-logoi fragment

A Sophist idea suggesting every argument has two opposing sides

Human-measure fragment

From Protagoras: “Man is the measure of all things

Cicero

A Roman orator and philosopher who emphasized rhetoric as a tool for civic engagement and moral responsibility.

Marie Hochmuth

A 20th-century rhetorical scholar who analyzed how speeches reveal human motives and social context.

Lucy Stone

A 19th-century abolitionist and women’s rights advocate known for her skillful public speaking and debate.

Backfire effect

When attempts to correct someone’s beliefs actually strengthen their original misconceptions.

Cognitive debiasing

Strategies used to reduce errors in thinking and decision-making caused by biases.

Metacognition

The awareness of one’s own thought processes; thinking about how you think and learn.

Burden of proof

The obligation to provide evidence or justification for one’s claims in an argument.

Presumption

The default belief or accepted position that must be overturned by sufficient evidence or reasoning.

Argument field

The context or domain in which an argument operates

Sophists

Ancient teachers of rhetoric who taught persuasive speaking and argued that truth can be relative.

Isocrates

A Greek rhetorician who emphasized moral education and practical wisdom through eloquent speech.

Aristotle’s three forms of persuasion (Heinrichs)

The classical framework of ethos (credibility)

Historical development of antilogic and controversia (Mendelson)

The evolution of rhetorical practices that emphasize debating both sides of an issue; antilogic originated with the Sophists’ belief that every argument has a counterargument

“Tense switching” strategy for reframing arguments (Heinrichs)

A rhetorical technique that shifts arguments between past (blame)

The ‘They say / I say’ template approach to argumentation (Graff & Birkenstein)

A writing model that structures academic arguments around responding to others’ ideas—summarizing what “they say” and then presenting what “I say”—to promote clarity