RS Terms #41-60 Flashcards
Bandwagon
Either saying that supporting a specific cause/stance would result in the rejection of peers or using the popular support of a cause/stance to persuade others to support it as well: Everyone who goes to those parties drinks. If you don’t drink, no one will invite you to anything.
Begging the question
Fallacy of logical argument that assumes the reader will automatically accept an
assertion without proper support. “Lying is universal, we all do it; we must all do it. Therefore, the wise thing is for us to diligently train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously.”—Mark Twain
Binary classification
The task of classifying the members of a given set of objects into two groups on the basis of whether they have some property or not. Some typical binary classification tasks are * medical testing to determine if a patient has certain disease or not (the classification property is the disease)
Cacophony
Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony: “The powers of prunes are prudent to provide potent palliative prophylaxis of potential pooper problems, priming you for purging. “—Rob Bohnenberger
Caricature
Descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet of personality; used for comic effect or criticism
Cause and effect
Examination of the causes and/or effects of a situation or phenomenon; this can be an author’s main organizational strategy, or it can be one paragraph used to support a point in an essay developed through another pattern.
Challenge
The author disagrees with a given assertion
Charts / Graphs / Diagrams
Visual representations of data to display information and assist reasoning
Chiasmus
A syntactical structure by which the order of the terms in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second. This may involve a repetition of the same words (“Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure” –Byron) or just a reversed parallel between two corresponding pairs of ideas. It is named after the Greek letter chi (x), indicating a “criss-cross” arrangement of terms.
Chronological ordering
An organizational strategy where events or actions are organized according to their order of occurrence. “They have gills as larvae; as the grow they turn a luminescent red, lose their gills, and walk out of the water to spend a few years paddling around in damp places on the forest floor.”—Annie Dillard
Circular logic/thinking/reasoning
A fallacy which involves repeating assertions endlessly without real
support.
1. the Bible is the infallible word of God
2. the Bible says that God exists. Therefore,
3. God exists.
The REAL question of whether or not God exists has not been addressed.
Classification as a means of ordering
An organizational strategy where objects are arranged according to class; e.g. media classified as print, television, and radio.
Clause
A sentence-like construction that is contained within a sentence or a simple sentence, usually containing a subject and a verb or verbal.
Coherence
Quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle. See “The Gettysburg Address,” for a speech with great coherence.
Colloquial diction
Words or phrases (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing which is usually inappropriate in formal writing, e.g. y’all, ain’t, guys, stuff, kind of, etc..
Comic relief
Something said or done that provides a break from the seriousness of the text. “The hair was yellow like that of a circus kewpie doll, the face heavily powdered and rouged as though to form an abstract mask, the eyes hollow and smeared a cool blue, the color of a baboon’s butt.”—Ralph Ellison
Complex sentence
A sentence containing one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses: Although Canada is a rich country, it still has many poor people. (The dependent clause is italicized, and the independent clause is underlined.)
Compound sentences
Two or more independent clauses (simple sentences) joined by a coordinating conjunction: Canada is a rich country, but it still has many poor people.
Conceit
A juxtaposition that makes a surprising connection between two seemingly different things. An elaborate, usually intellectually ingenious poetic comparison or image, such as an analogy or metaphor in which, say a beloved is compared to a ship, planet, etc. The comparison may be brief or extended. Oxymorons are also common, such as freezing fire, burning ice, etc.
Concession (Aristotelian concession)
conceding a point in an argument means actually agreeing with the opponent on a particular issue. This is not done as a sign of weakness, however, but in order to strengthen ethical appeal because the author comes across as a reasonable person who is willing to see more than one side of the argument. You admit that the opposing claim is valid; however, you demonstrate how it is possible to accept it without rejecting your whole argument.
