AP Test Terms Flashcards
Ad Hominem
A fallacy attached to a person, not on issues or assertions; “against the man”
Bandwagon
A fallacy of “everyone is doing to”; to side with a popular opinion over your own
Begging the Question
Claim includes a word or phrase that needs proving before argument can proceed; a conclusion is true based on a claim that needs evidence; “begging” you to accept the conclusion and assume every point is true
Deductive Reasoning
A logical argument; syllogism; two premises lead to a truth; general statements followed by specific examples lead to conclusion
Hasty Generalization
Fallacy of manipulation; drawing a hasty conclusion about a population; the size of the sample is too small to support the conclusion
Inductive Reasoning
Based on examples; moves from a series of specifics to a generalization; starts with observations/examples and then reaches a general conclusion
Non Sequitur
“It does not follow”; making a statement that does not make sense or follow logic
Poisoning the Well
A person or character is introduced with language that suggests they are not reliable before the audience knows anything about them; commuting a preemptive ad hominem attack against an opponent; provide bias opinion if speaker before they ever speak
Post Hoc
“After this, therefore because of this”; A must have caused B because A happened before B
Red Herring
An argument that distracts the audience by raising issues/topics irrelevant to the case; distraction tactic; diverts attention from he real issue
Slippery Slope
Domino theory; one thing leads to another; usually negative; an idea or action will lead to something terrible
Fallacy
Failure of logical reasoning; appears reasonable, but it false; causes arguments to be invalid
Straw Man
A person in an argument defines his opponents position when the opponent is not around in a way that is easy to attack; opponents argument it overstated/misrepresented so that he can be refuted more easily
Parable
A story which teaches a moral or a lesson
Burlesque
Ludicrous parody; grotesque caricature; to mock
Vignette
Brief sketch or narrative; (very) short story
Didactic
A work intended to teach
Parody
A composition designed to ridicule a style or author; mocking
Bildungsroman
Coming of age; development of a young person usually from adolescence to maturity
Eulogy
A dignified, formal speech or writing which praises dead or alive
Elegy
Poem of tribute or mourning about someone who has died
Lament
Poem expressing grief, mourning
Romanticism
Began in late 18th century; imagination and emotion are superior to reason; poetry is superior to science; distrust of industry and city life and idealization of rural life and of the wilderness; interest in the more natural past and the supernatural
Transcendentalism
Every individual can reach ultimate truths through spiritual intuition which transcends reason and sensory experience; Emerson and Thoreau
