AP Lang: types of claims, logical fallacies, thesis types, footnotes

euphemism

describing something with ‘gentler’ words to ‘soften the blow’ of the original meaning

ex: not the sharpest tool in the shed means not so smart. 

colloquial

everyday language, one will not write that way, informal

pedantic

so precise and nit picky, paying unnecessary attention to really small details (negative connotation)

ex: Did you dot your ‘i’’s and cross your ‘t’’s?

didactic

moral instruction, over the top moralizing, in your face, so overly moral about an idea that it is hard to see it any other way

ex: a didactic set out to expose social injustice

pseudonym

a name that a writer/musician can go under rather than going under their own name. Separates their personal and professional lives. 

ex: Lady Gaga, Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Lana del Rey, George Orwell, Dr. Seuss

cacophony

unpleasant to heare, clash of sounds, discordant, sounds that don’t go well with the tone of a word

ex: hard K’s, X’s, nails on a chalkboard

euphony

pleasant sounds that flow well together, roll off the tongue well; sounds that go with the tone of the word

claim

an assertion THAT IS ARGUABLE

assertion

point you are trying to make

first hand evidence

something you know, whether it’s from personal experience, anecdotes you’ve heard from others, observations, or your general knowledge of events

• personal experience (adds a human element and can be an effective way to appeal to pathos, great way to make an abstract issue more human, can interest readers and draw them in).

• anecdotes about other people that you’ve observed or been told

• current events - through your own observations (being at the scene)

• journalists being an eye witness to something'

• memoirs

• autobiographies

• interviews

second hand evidence

evidence accessed through research, reading, and investigation. Includes factual and historical information, expert opinion, and quantitative data. When you cite what someone else knows, not what you know. Central appeal to logos

• historical information (verifiable facts that a writer knows from research. Can provide background and context to current debates. Can help establish a writer’s ethos because it shows they have taken the time and effort to research the matter. Often used to develop a point of comparison or contrast to a more contemporary situation.

• expert opinion (an expert is someone who has published research on a topic or whose job gives them specialized knowledge. You might cite the viewpoint of an individual who is an “expert” in a local matter)

• textbooks, biographies

quantitative evidence

includes things that can be represented in numbers: statistics, surveys, polls, census information. Can be persuasive in its appeal to logos.

open thesis

a statement that does not list all the points the writer intends to cover in an essay, more beneficial for a longer essay

closed thesis

a statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make. Closed because it limits the number of points the writer will make, often includes (or implies) the word because. 

periodic sentence

the main clause of the sentence is at the end of the sentence

cumulative

the main clause of the sentence is at the beginning of a sentence

Why use metaphors?

• helps audience visualize what you are talking about

• helps to elucidate what is being said

• helps sympathize to something that someone might see easier

Why shouldn’t one use clichés?

• shows you don’t have much knowledge on what you are talking about

• you are not creating your own ideas - taking from others

• you might not know the actual meaning but these words are so overused

• ex: don’t judge a book by its cover

Why use footnotes?

• provide necessary information that is relevant to the text but might interrupt the flow of the piece

• something that helps drill into a certain topic, but does not fit into the flow of what you are saying

• don’t have to read it to know what is going on

claim of policy

proposing a change. generally begins with a definition of the problem, explains why it is a problem, and then explains the change that needs to happen

ex: Declaration of Independence, Constitution, JFK Inaugural Speech

claim of fact

assert that something is true or not true. Can be verified and must be arguable

ex: Zimbabwe has an unstable government. (you can argue against it).

Restaurants on Main Street are more popular with older patrons than younger ones.

claim of value

argues that something is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable. May be personal judgments based on taste, or may be more objective evaluations based on external criteria. Must be arguable. 

Ex: Brad Pitt is the best leading man in Hollywood.

While Pitt may be the best looking actor in Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio is more highly paid and his movies tend to make more money. 

music/movie reviews

Logicial fallacies

potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument. Failure to make a logical connection between the claim and the evidence used to support the claim. May be accidental but can also be used to manipulate or deceive. Mistake or error in reasoning that makes your argument weak or invalid

fallacies of relevance

fallacies that result from using evidence that is irrelevant to the claim. Occurs when a speaker skips to a new and irrelevant topic in order to avoid the topic of discussion

fallacies of accuracy

fallacies that result from using evidence that is either intentionally or unintentionally inaccurate

fallacies of insufficiency

fallacies that occur when evidence is insufficient

bandwagon/ad populum

• occurs when evidence boils down to “everybody’s doing it, so it must be a good thing to do”

• the speaker argues that if it’s popular and lots of people believe it, it must be true

  • just because many people believe something does not make it true and doesn’t make it sound reasoning for an argument

• often used in propaganda

• people generally enjoy to feel like they belong - appeals to their sense to be desirable and desire to fit in

straw man

occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent’s viewpoint

ex: If someone suggests increasing funding for public schools, someone else might respond, “So you want to bankrupt the country by giving everyone easy A’s?”

either-or fallacy / false dilemma

• speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices

• offers only two ways to view the issue, and both are extreme and inaccurate

circular reasoning

• repeating the claim as a way to provide evidence, resulting in no evidence at all

• ex: You can’t give me a C, I’m an A student.

• ex: Buy this shampoo because it’s the best shampoo!

ad hominem

• "against the man”

• tactic of switching the argument from the issue at hadn to the character of the other speaker

• personal attack

• arguing agains the person instead of addressing the issue

• ex: Senator Smith’s vote on the tax policy is wrong because he drinks excessively. 

  • While Senator Smith’s behavior may be frowned upon, his tax policy vote is independent of his behavior.

• Ex: If you argue that a park in your community should not be renovated because the person supporting it was arrested during a domestic dispute. (The person’s character is not relevant to the claim)

appeal to false authority

• occurs when someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue is cited as an authority

• Ex: A TV star is not a medical expert, even though pharmaceutical advertisements often use celebrity endorsements. 

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

• “After which therefore because of which”

• it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier

• correlation does not imply causation

• faulty cause and effect reasoning. An argument about cause and effect as to show that two things occur together and are actually connected

• Ex: because the rooster crowed, the sun came up. 

faulty analogy

• two things may not be comparable

• a comparison of two things where one may be irrelevant or inconsequential compared to the other

• advertisements sometimes draw these analogies to appeal to pathos

• assuming that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are not necessarily alike in some other respect

hasty generalization

• not enough evidence to support a particular conclusion

• fallacy of insufficiency

• faulty conclusion is reached due to inadequate evidence

• Ex: Smoking isn’t bad for you; my great aunt smoked a pack a day and lived to be 90.

• Ex: processed foods are not bad for you. My sister ate Cheetos every day for 80 years and never had any issues with her health.

Slippery slope

• presents a chain of cause and effect whereby the first cause establishes an irreversible trend, sometimes called the “domino effect”

• Ex: If I let you skip dinner, then I’ll have to let the other kids skip dinner.

  • the proof may be okay, but it leads to the wrong conclusion.

• Ex: If I fail this test, I fail the quarter, then I will fail the year, then I will not get into college of my choice, then I won’t meet the spouse of my dreams, then my life will be ruined, all because I failed this test.