Fallacies Quiz- AP Lang

False Need

create an unnecessary desire for things

Red Herring

An argument that pretends to establish a particular conclusion but that really argues for something else entirely

Ad Populum

Encourages an audience to agree with the writer because everyone else is doing so.

Sentimental Appeals

Uses emotion to distract the audience from the facts

Slippery Slope

An assertion that one undesirable action will lead to a worse action, which will lead to a worse one still, all the way down the slope until we reach a disastrous bottom

Either-or-

thinking

Reduce complicated issues to only two possible courses of action.

Scare Tactics

Try to frighten people into agreeing with the arguer by threatening them or predicting unrealistically dire consequences.

Ad verecundiam (False Authority)

Asks the audience to agree with the assertion based simply on his or her character or the authority of another person who may not be fully qualified to offer that assertion.

Personal Authority

When someone offers personal authority as proof.

Ad Hominem

Attacking a person's character rather than addressing the issue at hand.

Strawman

Misrepresenting an opponent's position to make it easier to attack.

Moral Equivalence

Compares minor problems with much more serious crimes (or vice versa)

Hasty Generalization

A conclusion based on insufficient evidence.

Post Hoc/Faulty Causality

Assuming that an event is caused by another simply because one event occurs after the other. It confuses chronology for causation.

Non Sequitur

A statement that does not logically relate to what comes before it. An important logical step may be missing in such a claim.

Faulty Analogy

An inaccurate, inappropriate, or misleading comparison between two things.