Hasty Generalization
Making assumptions about a whole group or range of cases based on a sample that is inadequate (usually because it is atypical or just too small)
Missing the Point
The premises of an argument support a particular conclusion
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc/Faulty Causality
A faulty assumption that the cause of a relationship is the result of what preceded it.
Slippery Slope/The Camel's Nose
The arguer claims that some form of chain reaction, usually ending in some dire consequence, will take place, but there's really not enough evidence for that assumption.
Weak Analogy
When the two things that are being compared aren't really alike in the relevant respects
Appeal to Authority
A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution that's not related to the topic.
Appeal to Pity
This type of fallacy uses the audiences's sympathy, concern, or guilt in order to overwhelm their sense of logic
Appeal to Ignorance
A fallacy that uses an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion's correctness.
Straw Man
A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.
Red Herring
A fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the subject under discussion
False Dichotomy
The arguer sets up the situation so it looks like there are only two choices. The arguer then eliminates one of the choices, so it seems that we are left with only one option: the one the arguer wanted us to pick in the first place.
Equivocation
When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument.
Begging the Question
An argument that asks the reader to simply accept the conclusion without providing real evidence by saying the same point in different words.
Non-Sequitur
A gap in the sequence of your logic
Circular Reasoning
One statement is true because of the other statement, and the other statement is true because of the previous statement.
Reductio Ad Absurdum
Extending someone's arguments to ridiculous proportions then criticizing the result that no reasonable person would take such a position.
Poisoning the Well
Presenting negative information about a person before he/she speaks so as to discredit the person's argument.
Appeal to Tradition
Because something has always been done a particular way, it should continue to be done that way.
Stacking the Deck
Any evidence that supports an opposing argument is rejected, omitted, or ignored. (One-sided argument)
Hypothesis Contrary to the Fact
Offering poorly supported claims about what might have happened in the past or future if (the hypothetical part) circumstances or conditions were different
Moving the Goalposts
Demanding from an opponent that he or she address more and more points after the initial counter
Satire
Making fun of some aspect of culture, society, and/or human nature in an attempt to improve it or inspire change
Formal/Direct Satire
the satiric voice speaks, usually in the first person, either directly to the reader or to a character in the satire
Indirect Satire
A fictional approach to criticism where characters who represent certain points of view are made to seem ridiculous by their thoughts and behavior
Horatian
Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not the anger, but a wry smile.
Juvenalian
Provokes a darker kind of laughter; addresses social evil and points with contempt to the corruption of men and institutions through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule.
Optimist Satirist
Likes people, but thinks they are rather blind and foolish
Pessimist Satirist
Loves individuals, hates mankind
Diatribe/Invective
a bitter verbal attack
Farce
Exciting laughter through exaggerated, improbable situations. Usually contains low comedy: quarreling, fighting, coarse wit, horseplay, noisy singing, boisterous conduct, trickery, clownishness, drunkenness, slap
Caricature
a representation in which the subject's characteristic features are deliberately exaggerated;
Grotesque
Creating a tension between laughter and horror or revulsion; the essence of all "sick humor" or "black humor"
Understatement
the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.
Juxtaposition
Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts
Sarcasm
taunting on a personal level by saying something and meaning the opposite
Parody
A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.
Burlesque
A parody meant to ridicule a subject; a grotesque imitation.
Mock-heroic
imitating the style of heroic literature in order to satirize an unheroic subject
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Exaggeration
To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen
Incongruity
To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings.
Reversal
To present the opposite of the normal order (the order of events, standard order of something obvious.)
Situational Irony
irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.
Verbal Irony
When a writer or character says one something but means the opposite.
Judgement
When character, intelligence, beliefs, decisions or preferences are questioned in a way that causes shame
Play/ Wit
mockery, imitation, and clever humor
Misunderstanding
Intentional misinterpretation or misunderstanding of in a conversation, situation, or circumstance
Absurdum
Taking something to an extreme to make a point
Dramatic Irony
Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the scene.
Vice
immoral or wicked behavior
folly
foolishness