Week One

Question 1

Appeal to authority

Answer 1

Appeals to an authority who is not an expert in
the field.

Question 2

Snob appeal

Answer 2

Appeals to people’s desire for status and
exclusivity.

Question 3

Appeal to fear

Answer 3

Threatens the audience indirectly.

Question 4

Appeal to pity

Answer 4

Uses sympathy to gain favor.

Question 5

Begging the question

Answer 5

Offers no support other than repeating the
conclusion in different words.

Question 6

Loaded question

Answer 6

Asks a question that contains an assumption that must be proven

Question 7

Question begging epithet

Answer 7

Using an emotive and loaded word to assert a
claim that must be proven.

Question 8

Double standard

Answer 8

Judges and labels the same act differently
depending on the person or group that does it.

Question 9

Equivocation

Answer 9

Shifts the meaning of a term within a single
argument.

Question 10

Fallacious argument

Answer 10

Something about the argument might be
persuasive but it lacks logical support.

Question 11

False analogy

Answer 11

Compares two or more things that are not in
essence similar and suggests because they share
some qualities, they should share others.

Question 12

False cause

Answer 12

Clairs a causal relaticnship where only
chronology exists.

Question 13

False dilemma

Answer 13

Presents only two choices when others exist.

Question 14

Hasty generalization

Answer 14

Generalizes from too small a sample or
unrepresentative of the target population.

Question 15

Personal attack

Answer 15

Attacks the person representing the argument*
rather than the argument itself.

Question 16

Tu quoque (personal attack)

Answer 16

Discredits an argument because the behavior of the person doesn’t match the position supported.

Question 17

Poisoning the well

Answer 17

Makes an assertion that will intimidate the audience and discourage future discussion

Question 18

Red herring

Answer 18

Shift the discussion to a completely different topic

Question 19

Slippery slope

Answer 19

Claims that an action should be avoided because
it will lead to a series of extremely undesirable
consequences.

Question 20

Straw man

Answer 20

Creates a distorted version of the opposition‘s arguments to make it easy to destroy (light on fire)