Literary and Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
Active Voice: Definition
The subject of the sentence performs the action.
Active Voice: Example
“Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house.”
Active Voice: Effect
More direct
Allusion: Definition
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
Allusion: Example
“Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.”
Allusion: Effect:
Helps the reader understand something by having it be compared to something familiar.
Alter-ego: Definition
A character that is used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts; when an author
speaks directly to the audience through a character.
Alter-ego: Example
In Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest, Shakespeare
talks to his audience about his own upcoming retirement, through the main character in the play, Prospero.
Alter-ego: Effect
The speaker can talk to the audience directly.
Anecdote: Definition
A brief recounting of a relevant episode.
Anecdote: Example
A politician who is arguing for a different type of healthcare program includes an anecdote about a little girl who was not able to have a transplant due to insurance.
Anecdote: Effect
often inserted into fictional or non
fictional texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor.
Antecedent: Definition
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Antecedent: Example
“If I could command the wealth of all the world by lifting my finger, I would not pay such a price for it.”
Antecedent: Effect
Replaces a word or phrase that may be too complex.
Classicism: Definition
Art or literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world; sticks to traditional themes and structures
Classicism: Example
Shakespeare in poetry and theatre
Classicism: Effect
To show the traditional structure of writing
Comic relief: Definition
when a humorous scene is inserted into a serious story, in order to lighten the mood
somewhat.
Comic relief: Example
“gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth
Comic relief: Effect
to lighten the mood in writing
Diction: Definition
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Diction: Example
An essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise than street slang.
Diction: Effect
The word choice has a big effect on the piece of writing.
Colloquial: Definition
Ordinary or familiar type of conversation.
Colloquial: Example
“She’s out” for “She is not at home.”
Colloquial: Effect
Makes the phrases shorter and into what people normally say.
Connotation: Definition
Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations suggested by a
word.
Connotation: Example
“policeman,” “cop,” and “The
Man”
Connotation: Effect
Implies the meaning instead of the literal meaning.
Denotation: Definition
The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.
Denotation: Example
Police man- a member of a police force.
Denotation: Effect
Gives literal meaning instead of implying it.
Jargon: Definition
The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity.
Jargon: Example
Lawyers speak using particular jargon, as do soccer players.
Jargon: Effect
Only those people in that specific group know what is being said.
Vernacular: Definition
Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a regional clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech
Vernacular: Example
How some people from a certain states talk differently that other people in other states.
Vernacular: Effect
Diversity of how people may talk.
Didactic: Definition
A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
Didactic: Example
Most books written for children
Didactic: Effect
teaches a lesson or moral
Adage: Definition
A folk saying with a lesson.
Adage: Example
“A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
Adage: Effect
Teaches a lesson
Allegory: Definition
A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent
qualities or concepts.
Allegory: Example
Animal Farm, by George Orwell,
Allegory: Effect
The interaction of these characters, things, and events is meant to reveal an
abstraction or a truth.
Aphorism: Definition
A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle.
Aphorism: Example
“God helps them that help themselves,”
Aphorism: Effect
memorable summation of the author’s point.
Ellipsis: Definition
The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author.
Ellipsis: Example
“The whole day, rain, torrents of rain.”
Ellipsis: Effect
used to show omitted text in a quotation.
Euphemism: Definition
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.
Euphemism: Example
“Physically challenged,” in place of “crippled.”
Euphemism: Effect
used to exaggerate correctness to add humor.
Figurative Language: Definition
writing that is not meant to be taken literally.
Figurative Language: Example
The world is my oyster.
Figurative Language: Effect
To be taken not so serious and sometimes lighten the mood.
Analogy: Definition
comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables.
Analogy: Example
“America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle.”
Analogy: Effect
argues that the relationship between the first pair of variables is the same as the relationship between the second pair of variables.
Hyperbole: Definition
Exaggeration.
Hyperbole: Example
“My mother will kill me if I am late.”
Hyperbole: Effect
To show exaggeration.
Idiom: Definition
A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.
Idiom: Example
“I got chewed out by my coach.”
Idiom: Effect
To not be taken literally
Metaphor: Definition
Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words.
Metaphor: Example
“My feet are popsicles.”
Metaphor: Effect
to compare two things
Metonymy: Definition
Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept.
Metonymy: Example
“Relations between London and Washington have been strained,”
Metonymy: Effect
Developing literally symbolization
Synecdoche: Definition
A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its
parts, or vice versa.
Synecdoche: Example
“The cattle rancher owned 500 head.”
Synecdoche: Effect
used as a rhetorical device
Simile: Definition
Using words such as “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two very
different things.
Simile: Example
“My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles.”
Simile: Effect
spark your reader’s imagination while getting the information across
Synesthesia: Definition
a description involving a “crossing of the senses.”
Synesthesia: Example
“A purplish scent filled the room.”
Synesthesia: Effect
one sense is described using terms from another.
Personification: Definition
Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.
Personification: Example
“The tired old truck
groaned as it inched up the hill.”
Personification: Effect
connects readers with the object that is personified
Foreshadowing: Definition
When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.
Foreshadowing: Example
character’s thoughts can foreshadow
Foreshadowing: Effect
adds dramatic tension to a story by building anticipation about what might happen next
Genre: Definition
The major category into which a literary work fits.
Genre: Example
prose, poetry, and drama.
Genre: Effect
what kind of writing it is
Gothic: Definition
Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death.
Gothic: Example
Dracula
Gothic: Effect
how the piece of writing is written
Imagery: Definition
Word or words that create a picture in the reader’s mind.
Imagery: Example
The familiar tang of his grandmother’s cranberry sauce reminded him of his youth.
Imagery: Effect
Uses the five senses to compare things
Invective: Definition
A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong, abusive language.
Invective: Example
I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.
Invective: Effect
device used to insult a person or thing.
Irony: Definition
When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.
Irony: Example
someone who talks a lot having nothing to say when asked a question
Irony: Effect
intended to provoke the reader into thinking harder and analyzing a situation
Verbal irony: Definition
- When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.
Verbal irony: Example
“walk in the
park”
Verbal irony: Effect
expresses humor, affection, or emotion, by saying the opposite of what they mean to somebody who is expected to recognize the irony.
Dramatic irony: Definition
When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the
character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out.
Dramatic irony: Example
horror movies, we (the
audience) know who the killer is, which the victim-to-be has no idea who is doing the slaying.
Dramatic irony: Effect
effective tool to sustain and excite the readers’ interest
Situational irony: Definition
Found in the plot (or story line) of a book, story, or movie. Sometimes it makes you laugh because it’s funny how things turn out.
Situational irony: Example
example, Johnny spent two hours
planning on sneaking into the movie theater and missed the movie.
Situational irony: Effect
To lighten the mood while being ironic.
Juxtaposition: Definition
Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.
Juxtaposition: Example
juxtapose the average day of a
typical American with that of someone in the third world in order to make a point of social commentary
Juxtaposition: Effect
Authors often use juxtaposition
of ideas or examples in order to make a point.
Mood: Definition
The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice
Mood: Example
mood of most horror films is eerie.
Mood: Effect
evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions
Motif: Definition
a recurring idea in a piece of literature.
Motif: Example
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the idea that “you never really
understand another person until you consider things from his or her point of view” is a motif,
Motif: Effect
to suggest a mood, theme, or even a moral.
Oxymoron: Definition
When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox
Oxymoron: Example
“wise fool,”
Oxymoron: Effect
produces a dramatic effect in both prose and poetry
Pacing: Definition
The speed or tempo of an author’s writing.
Pacing: Example
author’s pacing can be fast, sluggish, stabbing, vibrato, staccato, measured
Pacing: Effect
controls the pace of the story.
Paradox: Definition
A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true
Paradox: Example
“You can’t get a job without
experience, and you can’t get experience without getting a job.”
Paradox: Effect
makes statements that often summarize the major themes of the work they are used in
Parallelism: Definition
Sentence construction which
places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns.
Parallelism: Example
“Cinderella swept the
floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs.”
Parallelism: Effect
used to add emphasis, organization, or sometimes pacing to writing.
Anaphora: Definition
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row.
Anaphora: Example
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Anaphora: Effect
helps make the writer’s point more
coherent.
Chiasmus: Definition
When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed.
Chiasmus: Example
“Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
Chiasmus: Effect
used for emotional aesthetic
Antithesis: Definition
Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure.
Antithesis: Example
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Antithesis: Effect
proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect
Zuegma (Syllepsis): Definition
When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the
meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies.
Zuegma (Syllepsis): Example
“I quickly dressed myself and the salad.”
Zuegma (Syllepsis): Effect
produces a unique artistic effect, making the literary works more interesting and effective
Parenthetical Idea: Definition
Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence.
Parenthetical Idea: Example
“In a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil.”
Parenthetical Idea: Effect
used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence.
Parody: Definition
An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes.
Parody: Example
The Simpsons often parody Shakespeare plays.
Parody: Effect
to entertain people
Persona: Definition
The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story.
Persona: Example
The Old Man and Sea (By Ernest Hemingway).
Persona: Effect
voice chosen by the author for a particular artistic purpose.
Poetic device: Definition
A device used in poetry to manipulate the sound of words, sentences or lines.
Poetic device: Example
hyperbole
Poetic device: Effect
tools/enhancements used to, well, enhance your writing
Alliteration: Definition
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.
Alliteration: Example
“Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore”
Alliteration: Effect
to add artistic style to a poem or other literary form
Assonance: Definition
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
Assonance: Example
“From the molten-golden notes”
Assonance: Effect
to accelerate the musical effect in the poems
Consonance: Definition
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words.
Consonance: Example
“Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door”
Consonance: Effect
provides the structure of poetry with a rhyming effect
Onomatopoeia: Definition
The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.
Onomatopoeia: Example
Snap, rustle, boom, murmur
Onomatopoeia: Effect
making the description more expressive and interesting.
Internal rhyme: Definition
When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within a single line.
Internal rhyme: Example
“To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”
Internal rhyme: Effect
makes a poem or story unified
Slant rhyme: Definition
When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly – they are merely similar.
Slant rhyme: Example
“I sat upon a stone, / And found my life has gone.”
Slant rhyme: Effect
create a certain rhythm to a poem without using direct rhyme.
End rhyme: Definition
When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme.
End rhyme: Example
“Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you.”
End rhyme: Effect
it makes language sound more beautiful and thoughtfully-composed, like music
Rhyme Scheme: Definition
The pattern of a poem’s end rhymes.
Rhyme Scheme: Example
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May. a
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b
Rhyme Scheme:Effect
used to create balance and relieve tension, manage flow, create rhythm, and highlight important ideas
Stressed and unstressed syllables: Definition
In every word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed, or said with more force
than the other syllable(s).
Stressed and unstressed syllables: Example
In the name “Nathan,” the first syllable is stressed.
Stressed and unstressed syllables: Effect
Emphasizes syllables in words or doesn’t emphasize syllable in words.
Meter: Definition
A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry.
Meter: Example
Twelfth Night (By William Shakespeare)
Meter: Effect
gives poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound.
Free verse: Definition
Poetry that doesn’t have much meter or rhyme.
Free verse: Example
Walt Whitman’s “I Dream’d in a Dream.”.
Free verse: Effect
do not follow regular rhyme scheme rules, yet still provide artistic expression.
Iambic pentameter: Definition
Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.
Iambic pentameter: Example
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
Iambic pentameter: Effect
allows poetry to be full of movement, imagery, and a musical quality.
Sonnet: Definition
A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter. Usually divided into three quatrains and a couplet.
Sonnet: Example
“How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Sonnet: Effect
has a great adaptability to different purposes and requirements. Rhythms are strictly followed
Polysyndeton: Definition
When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions.
Polysyndeton: Example
“I walked the dog, and fed
the cat, and milked the cows.”
Polysyndeton Effect
The overuse of conjunctions in close succession helps achieve rhythm
Pun: Definition
When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way.
Pun: Example
“I was stirred by his cooking lesson.”
Pun Effect
being witty and humorous, puns add profound meanings to texts, and shape the way in which the text is interpreted by the readers
Rhetoric: Definition
The art of effective communication.
Rhetoric: Example
Creation (By Hladia Porter Stewart)
Rhetoric: Effect
tool for writers and orators which empowers them to convince their readers and listeners about their point of view
Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle: : Definition
The relationships, in any piece of writing,
between the writer, the audience, and the subject
Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle: : Example
writer
subject audience
Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle: Effect
All analysis of writing is essentially an analysis of the relationships between the
points on the triangle.
Rhetorical Question: Definition
Question not asked for information but for effect.
Rhetorical Question: Example
“The angry parent asked the
child, ‘Are you finished interrupting me?’”
Rhetorical Question: Effect
to lay emphasis on some point being discussed, when no real answer is expected
Romanticism: Definition
Art or literature characterized by an idealistic, perhaps unrealistic view of people and the world, and an emphasis on nature.
Romanticism: Example
Pride and Prejudice (By Jane Austen)
Romanticism: Effect
recurrent themes in the evocation or criticism of the past
Sarcasm: Definition
A generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded.
Sarcasm: Example
Road not taken (By Robert Frost)
Sarcasm: Effect
source of humor or simply as a way to prove a point
Satire: Definition
- A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect.
Satire: Example
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (By Mark Twain)
Satire: Effect
targets human vices and follies, or social institutions and conventions.
Sentence : Definition
A sentence is group of words (including subject and verb) that expresses a complete thought.
Sentence : Example
I ate breakfast.
Sentence : Effect
Makes a complete thought
Appositive: Definition
A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning.
Appositive: Example
“Bob, the lumber yard worker, spoke with Judy, an accountant from the city.”
Appositive: Effect
defines or explains another noun
Clause: Definition
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.
Clause: Example
“Other than baseball, football is my favorite sport.”
Clause: Effect
it’s a grammatical unit
Balanced sentence: Definition
A sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each
other like equal weights on a scale.
Balanced sentence: Example
“If a free
society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
Balanced sentence: Effect
help provide perspective for an audience to understand the message being conveyed in a given statement.
Compound sentence: Definition
Contains at least two independent clauses but no dependent
clauses.
Compound sentence: Example
We won the game, but my uniform was muddy.
Compound sentence: Effect
compound sentences express more than one complete though
Complex sentence: Definition
Contains only one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause.
Complex sentence: Example
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aurelian Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
Complex sentence: Effect
elevates a writer’s credibility
Cumulative sentence: Definition
When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.
Cumulative sentence: Example
Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream by Joan Didion
Cumulative sentence: Effect
setting a scene or for panning, as with a camera, a place or critical moment, a journey or a remembered life, in a way not dissimilar to the run-on
Periodic sentence: Definition
When the main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence.
Periodic sentence: Example
In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued.
Periodic sentence: Effect
promotes energy, as it preserves the unity of the sentence and concentrates its strength in a single point
Simple sentence: Definition
Contains only one independent clause.
Simple sentence: Example
Joe waited for the train.
Simple sentence: Effect
Simple sentences sometimes play a role in a literary device known as segregating style, where a writer employs a number of short, balanced sentences in a row for emphasis
Declarative sentence: Definition
- States an idea. It does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question.
Declarative sentence: Example
“The ball is round.”
Declarative sentence: Effect
simply states a fact or argument, states an idea, without requiring either an answer or action from the reader, it does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question
Imperative sentence: Definition
Issues a command.
Imperative sentence: Example
“Kick the ball.”
Imperative sentence: Effect
gives instruction or advice
Interrogative sentence: Definition
Sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns
Interrogative sentence: Example
“To whom did you kick the ball?”
Interrogative sentence: Effect
gather information and clear up confusion as well as engage in interesting conversations with others
Style: Definition
The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. Style may be conscious or unconscious.
Style: Example
speaking formally
Style: Effect
It’s what sets one author apart from another and creates the “voice” that audiences hear when they read
Symbol: Definition
Anything that represents or stands for something else.
Symbol: Example
the jungle in Heart of Darkness
Symbol: Effect
has the effect of making a literary work more complex
Syntax/sentence variety: Definition
Grammatical arrangement of words.
Syntax/sentence variety: Example
The boy jumped happily. The boy happily jumped. Happily, the boy jumped.
Syntax/sentence variety: Effect
enhances its meanings, and contributes toward its tone
Theme: Definition
The central idea or message of a work.
Theme: Example
Love, Death, Good vs. Evil
Theme: Effect
give the central idea/lesson/moral
Thesis: Definition
The sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning,
or proposition.
Thesis: Example
In (title of work), (author) (illustrates, shows) (aspect) (adjective).
Thesis: Effect
gives the main purpose of the writing
Tone: Definition
A writer’s attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and
organization.
Tone: Example
playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal
Tone: Effect
expresses the writer’s attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience
Understatement: Definition
The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant
than it is.
Understatement: Example
“Our defense played valiantly, and held the other team to merely eight touchdowns in the first quarter.”
Understatement: Effect
used to change the perspective of the subject
Litotes: Definition
a particular form of understatement, generated by denying the opposite of the statement which otherwise would be used.
Litotes: Example
(The flavors of the mushrooms, herbs, and spices combine to make the dish not at all disagreeable).
Litotes: Effect
uses two negative terms to express a positive,
Argument: Definition
An argument is a piece of reasoning with one or more premises and a conclusion.
Argument: Example
Pride and Prejudice (By Jane Austen)
Argument: Effect
reasoning of something
Premises: Definition
Statements offered as reasons to support a conclusion are premises.
Premises: Example
Premise: All Spam is pink
Premise: I am eating Spam
Conclusion: I am eating something that is pink
Premises: Effect
useful for developing and writing an outline for a debate
Conclusion: Definition
A conclusion is the end result of the argument – the main point being made.
Conclusion: Example
“My position is 100% correct. I have collected both primary and secondary sources to prove it. The essay proves that violent video games may motivate adolescents to take part in school bullying and even commit crimes.”
Conclusion: Effect
the ending of an argument
Aristotle’s appeals: Definition
The goal of argumentative writing is to persuade an audience that one’s ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else’s.
Aristotle’s appeals: Example
ethos, pathos, and logos.
Aristotle’s appeals: Effect
to persuade an audience
Ethos (credibility): Definition
means being convinced by the credibility of the author.
Ethos (credibility): Example
commercial in which a celebrity endorses a product
Ethos (credibility): Effect
a writer tries to convince the
audience the he or she someone worth listening to
Pathos: Definition
means persuading by appealing to the reader’s emotions.
Pathos: Example
As we approach the start of the line, for the first time I hear the steady pop, pop, pop of live animals being stunned
Pathos: Effect
uses emotion to persuade the audience
Logos: Definition
means persuading by the use of reasoning, using true premises and valid
arguments.
Logos: Example
All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal
Logos: Effect
uses logic to persuade the audience
Concession: Definition
Accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint.
Concession: Example
If the government gives tax credits to special interest groups, the tax credits are an example of a concession
Concession: Effect
Often used to make one’s own argument
stronger by demonstrating that one is willing to accept what is obviously true and reasonable, even
if it is presented by the opposition.
Conditional Statement: Definition
A conditional statement is an if-then statement and consists of two parts, an antecedent and a
consequent.
Conditional Statement: Example
“If you studied hard, then you will pass the test.”
Conditional Statement: Effect
tells the “conditions” in which something happens
Contradiction: Definition
A contradiction occurs when one asserts two mutually exclusive propositions
Contradiction: Example
“the towering midget”
Contradiction: Effect
the argument goes against itself.
Counterexample: Definition
A counterexample is an example that runs counter to (opposes) a generalization, thus falsifying it.
Counterexample: Example
Premise: Jane argued that all whales are endangered.
Premise: Belugas are a type of whale.
Premise: Belugas are not endangered.
Conclusion: Therefore, Jane’s argument is unsound.
Counterexample: Effect
to (opposes) a generalization,
Ad hominem: Definition
Latin for “against the man”. Personally attacking your opponents instead of their
arguments.
Ad hominem: Example
A lawyer who argues that his client should not be held responsible for theft because he is poor.
Ad hominem: Effect
is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, feeling rather than
intellect.
Appeal to authority: Definition
The claim that because somebody famous supports an idea, the idea must be
right.
Appeal to authority: Example
advertisement
Appeal to authority: Effect
is often used in advertising.
Appeal to the bandwagon: Definition
The claim, as evidence for an idea, that many people believe it, or
used to believe it, or do it.
Appeal to the bandwagon: Example
In the 1800’s there was a widespread belief that bloodletting cured
sickness.
Appeal to the bandwagon: Effect
based on the assumption that the opinion of the majority is always valid
Deductive argument: Definition
An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide a guarantee of the truth of the
conclusion.
Deductive argument: Example
All men are mortal
Deductive argument: Effect
are intended to provide support for the
conclusion that is so strong that, if the premises are true, it would be impossible for the conclusion
to be false.
Fallacy: Definition
A fallacy is an attractive but unreliable piece of reasoning.
Fallacy: Example
Appeal to Ignorance
Fallacy: Effect
Writers do not want to make obvious fallacies in their reasoning, but they are often used unintentionally, or when the writer thinks they can get away with faulty logic.
Appeal to emotion: Definition
An attempt to replace a logical argument with an appeal to the audience’s
emotions.
Appeal to emotion: Example
an appeal to sympathy, an appeal to revenge, an appeal to patriotism
Appeal to emotion: Effect
uses the manipulation of the emotions rather than valid logic to win an argument
Bad analogy: Definition
an appeal to sympathy, an appeal to revenge, an appeal to patriotism
Bad analogy: Example
“We have pure
food and drug laws regulating what we put in our bodies; why can’t we have laws to keep
musicians from giving us filth for the mind?”
Bad analogy: Effect
used in enhancing the meaning of a composition and is also used in helping the readers in creating a visual image in their minds
Cliche thinking: Definition
Using as evidence a well-known saying, as if it is proven, or as if it has no
exceptions.
Cliche thinking: Example
“I say: ‘America: love it or leave it.’ Anyone who disagrees with anything our country does must hate America. So maybe they should just move somewhere else.”
Cliche thinking: Effect
it’s the same thing as something else
False cause: Definition
Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one.
False cause: Example
“Before women got the vote, there were no nuclear weapons. Therefore women’s suffrage must have led to nuclear weapons.”
False cause: Effect
does not provide an adequate logical ground for a causal conclusion
Hasty generalization: Definition
A generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data.
Hasty generalization: Example
“My uncle didn’t go to college, and he makes a lot of money. So, people who don’t go to college do just as
well as those who do.”
Hasty generalization: Effect
A generalization
Non Sequitur: Definition
A conclusion that does not follow from its premises; an invalid argument.
Non Sequitur: Example
“Hinduism is one of the world’s largest religious groups. It is also one of the world’s oldest
religions. Hinduism helps millions of people lead happier, more productive lives. Therefore the
principles of Hinduism must be true.”
Non Sequitur: Effect
an invalid argument.
Slippery slope: Definition
The assumption that once started, a situation will continue to its most extreme
possible outcome.
Slippery slope:Example
“If you drink a glass of wine, then you’ll soon be drinking all the time, and then you’ll become a homeless alcoholic.”
Slippery slope: Effect
an assumption
Inductive argument: Definition
An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth
of the conclusion.
Inductive argument: Example
Joe wore a blue shirt yesterday. Joe’s shirt today is blue. Joe will wear a blue shirt tomorrow as well.
Inductive argument: Effect
based on your ability to recognize meaningful patterns and connections
Sound argument: Definition
A deductive argument is said to be sound if it meets two conditions: First, that the line of reasoning from the premises to the conclusion is valid. Second, that the premises are true.
Sound argument: Example
All multiples of ten are multiples of five.
Sound argument: Effect
stress certain sounds and create musical effects.
Unstated premises: Definition
Not every argument is fully expressed.
Unstated premises: Example
If it snows, then it’s cold
Unstated premises: Effect
can effect the overall argument
Valid argument: Definition
An argument is valid if the conclusion logically follows from the premises.
Valid argument: Example
Premise: Either Elizabeth owns a Honda or she owns a Saturn. Premise: Elizabeth does not own a Honda.
Premise: Therefore, Elizabeth owns a Saturn.
Valid argument: Effect
the argument is true
