Rhetoric

Question 1

Ad Hominem

Answer 1

Argument that attacks a person’s character rather than their reasoning

Question 2

Ad Populum

Answer 2

Suggests everyone knows something so it must be true

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literature that the author believes the reader will be familiar with

Question 4

Anecdote

Answer 4

Short or amusing story/event often proposed to support a view or make an audience laugh

Question 5

Appeal to Patriotism

Answer 5

Appeals to an audiences love of country, implying they are treasonous if they choose not to

Question 6

Appeal to Pity

Answer 6

An attempt to use compassion or pity to replace a logical argument

Question 7

Argument by Anology

Answer 7

A point by point comparison between two things for the purpose of clarifying the least familiar of the two subjects

Question 8

Bandwagon

Answer 8

Persuading people to do something by letting them know others are doing it too

Question 9

Begging the Question

Answer 9

Entails making an argument, the conclusion of which is based on an unstated or unproven assumption

Question 10

Bifurcation

Answer 10

Assumes that two categories are mutually exclusive and exhaustive, a member is one or the other and no third party

Question 11

Cardstacking

Answer 11

When you present the best case for your side, and leaving out the bad, and present the worst case for the opponent, leaving out the good

Question 12

Glittering Generality

Answer 12

Uses slogans or simple phrases that sound good but provide little or no information

Question 13

Hasty Generalization

Answer 13

Draws conclusions from only a few examples

Question 14

Name Calling

Answer 14

Creates fear or prejudice be using negative words to create a unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, belief, or person

Question 15

Parallelism

Answer 15

Using the same grammatical form to express ideas of equal worth

Question 16

Plain Folks Appeal

Answer 16

Depicts a product as attractive to the ordinary man or women. Spokesperson is from humble beginnings, someone they can trust

Question 17

Post Hoc

Answer 17

Assuming one thing caused another simply because it happened prior to that event

Question 18

Red Herring

Answer 18

Answering a question by changing the subject, using misleading or unrelated evidence to support a conclusion

Question 19

Repetition

Answer 19

Uses the repeating of a word, phrase, or idea to alert the audience that it is important

Question 20

Rhetorical Questions

Answer 20

A question to which the answer is not expected because the answer is obvious

Question 21

Scare Tactics

Answer 21

Trying to frighten people into agreeing with the arguer by threatening them or predicting unrealistically dire consequences

Question 22

Slippery Slope

Answer 22

Suggests that one action will lead to a series of bad actions that end in an inevitable and undesirable end

Question 23

Straw Man

Answer 23

When a person ignores another person’s actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of the position

Question 24

Testimonial

Answer 24

Using the words and images of a famous person or expert to persuade

Question 25

Tansfer

Answer 25

Projects positive or negative qualities of a person, entity, object, or value to another in order to make the second more acceptable or discredit it