APN 31-40 Flashcards
Understatement
For example, you win 10 million dollars in a lottery. When you tell a news reporter
“I am delighted”, you are making an understatement. Similarly, suppose a team loses to its
opponent 50 to 0 in a soccer match and the captain of the team says in a post-match ceremony
says, “We did not do well”, it is an understatement because he is tring to decrease the intensity
of the loss. It is the opposite of HYPERBOLE or OVERSTATEMENT
`Colorful Diction
Diction is your conscious choice of words as a writer. It stands to reason that
“Colourful Diction” is a very purposeful word choice that will serve to accentuate meaning and
tone
Counterargument
an argument or set of reasons put forward to oppose an idea or theory
developed in another argument. When writing in the argumentative mode, it is MANDATORY that
the writer acknowledge the “other” side to his or her argument. It is part of the refutation of
someone else’s claim to support your own “side” of the argument that you are making.
Claim
If somebody gives an argument to support his/her position, it is called making a claim.
Different reasons are usually presented to prove why a certain point should be accepted as logical. A
general model is given below to explain the steps following in making a claim:
Premise 1
Premise 2
Premise 3 . . .
Premise N
Therefore,
Conclusion
Evidence
is a type of literary device that appears in different categories of essays and theses
in the form of paraphrase and quotations. It is presented to persuade the readers and used with powerful
arguments in the texts or essays. In rhetoric, when a person makes a claim or presents an argument, he
needs to present evidence in support of his claim and argument in order to establish the veracity and
authenticity of his claim or argument. If there is no evidence, the claim stands quashed. The same is true
with a case in law where a case or litigation is quashed, if there is no evidence to support the claim.
However, literary evidence is only used in literature, essays and research papers for persuasion and
convincing purposes.
warrant
is the glue that holds an argument together. It links the evidence to the claim.
It says something like “This evidence supports the claim because…” and it is always in a similar form that
is more of a statement of support of “WHY” your evidence supports your assertion/claim.
Fallacy
is an erroneous argument dependent upon an unsound or illogical contention.
There are many fallacy examples that we can find in everyday conversations.
Logical Fallacy
In argumentation, a formal fallacy (also called deductive fallacy) is a pattern of
reasoning/thinking rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure that can neatly be expressed
in a standard logic system, for example propositional logic. An argument that is
formally fallacious is always considered wrong.
Prophecy
Many believe that a prediction and a prophecy are the same, but they are mistaken. It is
true that both “forecast” the future, but there is a significant difference. A prophesy has all the
elements of a prediction except the element of time. Without the element of time, a prophecy is
hard to determine. A “prophecy” has more of a religious connotation since there is an element of
uncertainty about time.
Prediction
is a forecast made by those who calculate the parameters of the subject
involved after evaluating the odds they can predict the future. The weather forecast is a good
example. A “prediction” is limited to a time element, unlike a prophesy.