Persuasion, Argumentation, Rhetorical Appeals, and Logical Fallacies

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, rhetorical strategies, reasoning types, and logical fallacies from the lecture notes.

Persuasion

An appeal in order to compel some action.

Argumentation

Forming reasons, and drawing conclusions, and applying them to a case in debate.

Claim / Assertion / Proposition / Thesis

Something asserted or maintained, the main point or position of your argument.

Subclaims

A subordinate point to a larger claim or position in your argument.

Support / Evidence

Support or evidence used to help strengthen your argument.

Concession

Conceding, acknowledging, or admitting an opponent's point.

Fact

An actual occurrence.

Statistic

A collection of quantitative data.

Example / Anecdote

An individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern, and usually a short narrative of a relevant episode.

Opinion

A judgment, view, or appraisal, formed in the mind.

Analogy / Comparison

A comparison to a directly parallel case.

Authority / Expertise

Support from an authority on the subject.

Shared Beliefs / Values

When a writer argues that if something is widely believed or valued, then reality should accept it.

Casual Relationship (C/R)

A writer asserts one thing that results from another.

Call to Action (CTA)

Words that urge the reader or listener to take action.

Emotional (Pathos)

Appeal based on emotion.

Logical (Logos)

Appeal based on logic or reason.

Ethical (Ethos)

Appeal based on the character of the speaker.

Kairos

An appeal based on the timing or opportunity.

Sentimental

Evoking sorrow or pity.

Classical

Syllogism; major proposition, minor proposition, followed by conclusion.

Rogerian

To solve a problem by compromise.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning in the form of if A, then B.

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning which starts specific then goes general.

Ad Hominem

Attacks the personality of the individual.

Ad Populum

A proposition is held to be true because it is widely held to be true by some sector of the population.

Ad Vericundiam

Belief that something said by a great person is true, even if times have changed or prove to be wrong.

Non Sequitur

When 1 statement isn't logically connected to another.

False Analogy

When 2 cases are not sufficiently parallel.

Post Hoc

Circular reasoning.

Hasty / Sweeping / Over-generalization

Uses too few examples to reach a valid conclusion.

Stereotyping

An oversimplified conception that one is regarded as embodying a set type.

Begging the Question

Assumes something to be true that needs proof.

False Authority

When the person in question is not a legitimate authority on the subject.

Slippery Slope

Some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question.

Equivocation

Use of expressions susceptible of double meaning.

Oversimplification

When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of an issue.

Double Standard

Set of principles permitting greater opportunity or liberty to one than to another.

Either / Or Reasoning

Does not allow for any shades of meaning, compromise or intermediate cases.

Smoke Screen

An opponent creates a weakened, incomplete, and often a distorted version of an argument, then destroys it.

Purple Patch

Overly ornate writing.

Red Herring

A distractor.