Ch.3 Clear thinking, critical thinking, and clear writing Flashcards
Can not say with certainity
Vague
Word, phase, or sentence has more than 1 meaning
EX: Jake saw her duck. Duck is an example of an ambiguous word as it can mean “a bird” or “bend.”
Ambigous
When a statment contains an expression that has more than one meaning
Ex: “drew”
“She knew a little french”
Semantic Ambiguity
Grammar sentence structure
“Linda likes candy more than Howard”
-Unclear what “more than” refers to”
- Is it Howard or how much Howard like candy
Syntax
When it is unclear if you are reffering to a group of things collectively or indivdually
Group Ambiguity
Occurs when a claim is open to two or more interpretations because of its structure
“you will need a birth certificate or a driver’s license and other photo ID.”
You will need either a birth certificate or a driver’s license and you will also need an additional photo ID.
Or
You will need either a birth certificate or both a driver’s license and an additional photo ID.
Syntactic ambiguity
A lack of specificality
Generality
Definitions like those we find in dictionaries; they tell us what a word ordinarily means.
Lexical definitions
Designed to make a term more precise (i.e. less vague or general) or to stipulate a new or different meaning from the ordinary one.
For example, the word “dollars” is too general to be used in its normal sense in an international sales contract, because it could apply to U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, etc. So we make the meaning precise by stipulating that, In this contract, the term ‘dollars’ will refer exclusively to Canadian dollars.
Precising or stipulative definitions
Used to persuade or slant someone’s attitude or point of view toward whatever the “defined” term refers to.
Persuasive or rhetorical definition
A lengthy introduct before stating an actual fact
The Windy Preample
No organization attempt in essay
The Stream-of-Consciousness Ramble
Writers record their first reaction to an issue without considering the issue in any depth or detail
The Knee-Jerk Reaction
People who record their automatic response to some issue without thinking it over
If they are supposed to evaluate the health benefits of bicycling, they will bury the topic in an essay on the history of cycling
The Glancing Blow
Writers of this type of essay expect the reader to follow them through non sequiturs, abrupt shifts in direction, and irrelevant sidetracks.
Let the Reader Do the Work
Provides example
Ostensive
Uses term already been used
Stipulative
A specific operational process
Operational
More useful than opperational
Essential
