lang fallacies and terms

rhetorical fallacy

a misleading argument used to make a weak argument appear stronger

emotional fallacies

appeal to the audience’s passions rather than to rational judgement

argument against the person (ad hominem)

moves from a condemnation of a person’s opinions to a condemnation of her character

argument by force (ad baculum)

makes an explicit or implicit threat of violence, persuading by fear

argument to shame (ad verecundiam)

appeals to the reader’s sense of personal modesty or collective shame over moral ideas

argument to the wallet (ad crumenam)

persuade the audience to act or to dissuade them from acting based on the amount of money that action would cost

invalid standards of proof

arguments that use false or misleading evidence

argument by authority

speaker glorifies the non speaker reputation of an authority instead of exploring the merits of an issue

argument by definition

use as proof explained, unsupported definitions which are a type of generalization

argument by popularity

mistakes majority opinions for informed opinions

hypothetical argument

likens the situation under discussions to an imagined scenario in which the details are similar, but the outcome is different

implied argument

a fallacy that rests on principles that are never explicitly stated

proof of absence

assumes that the lack of evidence itself is a kind of proof

sequence and consequence

errors in logical order and missing links in the chain of reasoning

if…then

limits the possible consequences of an action to one result

non sequitur

refers to a missing link in the chain of reasoning (“it does not follow”)

post hoc fallacy

an error in consequence (“after this therefore because of this”)

slippery slope

assumes that a given act or decision will trigger a series of inevitable and progressively more serious consequences

diversionary tactics

designed to confuse the audience and prevent careful analysis of an argument’s flaws

begging the question

asserts in advance what is yet to be proven

circular reasoning

repeats the effect in different words and passes it off as the cause

irrelevancy

true statement that happen to have nothing to do with the issue at hand

red herring

an exercise in misdirection and an effective way of ignoring the real question

semantic slithers

clever and misleading shifts in the meaning of words designed to confuse the audience and prejudice the argument

equivocation

repeating the same word or phrase using different usually disparging meanings

loaded terminology

prejudges issues, events, or individuals by tagging them with an adjective that arouses strong emotions.

name calling

tags have unpleasant social or political connotations intended to anger the audience

glittering generalizations

so called virtue words designed to trigger reflexive approval rather than thoughtful reflection

misconstrue an argument

interpret its meaning incorrectly, often intentionally

attributing intent

rephrase a statement in terms of what you think the writer or speaker means to say rather than what she says

decontextualizing

taking an expression out of context therefore the reader cannot know the speaker’s full / true intent

either…or

limits one’s choices to two trapping one into binary thinking

false analogy

assumes wrongly that because two people, things, or events are alike in some ways, they must be alike in all ways

generalization (overstatement)

assumes that a few examples or even a clear trend proves a universal truth

oversimplification

interprets an idea in a simplified form losing some of the necessary subtleties and details

overstatement

exaggerates the claim of an argument as it goes beyond its evidence

statistics

not facts, but interpretations of facts that describe one part of a larger, more complex problems

straw man

restates an opposing argument as a weak proposition (distortion of the original)

alliteration

repetition of the same sound beginning several words in a sequence

anaphora

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

anastrophe

transposition of normal word order

allusion

brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictional) or to a work of art

antimetabole

repetition of words in reverse order

antithesis

opposition or contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction

asyndeton

omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

argument

a process of reasoned inquiry; a persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion

audience

the listener, viewer, or reader of a test

claim

the argument’s main idea or position

claim of fact

asserts that something is true or not true

claim of policy

proposes a change

claim of value

argues that something is good or bad, right or wrong

concession

an acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable

connotation

meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition or denotation

context

the circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text

counterargument

an opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward

denotation

the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests

ethos

to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic

quantitative evidence

things that can be measured, cited, counted, or otherwise represented in numbers

qualitative evidence

non-numerical data or information that is descriptive in nature

figurative language

the use of words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning in order to convey a complicated meaning, clarity, or evocative comparison

find hand evidence

evidence based on something the writer knows, whether it’s from personal experience, observations, or gernal knowledge of events

logical fallacy

potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument

logos

appeals by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up

metaphor

figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as

occasion

the time and place a speech is given or piece is written

parallelism

the arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures placed side by side, making them similar in form

pathos

appeals to emotionally motivate their audience

personification

attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea

qualifier

uses words like usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, and most likely to temper the claim, making it less absolute

rebuttal

gives voice to possible objections

refutation

a denial of the validity of an opposing argument

rhetoric

the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion

rhetorical question

figures of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer

second hand evidence

evidence that is accessed through research, reading, and investigation

simile

a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as

SOAPS

situation

occasion

audience

purpose

speaker

speaker

the person or group who creates a text

subject

the topic of a text

text

any cultural product that can be “read”

deductive reasoning

the process of reaching a conclusion that is guaranteed to follow, if the evidence provided is true and the reasoning used to reach the conclusion is correct

inductive reasoning

a method of drawing conclusions by going from the specific to the general

juxtaposition

placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences

oxymoron

paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another

propaganda

the spread of ideas and information to further a cause

cumulative sentence

sentences that complete the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on

hortative sentence

sentences that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action

imperative sentence

sentence used to command or enjoin

periodic sentence

sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end

synedoche

zeugma

use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings