WR122 Winter 2006 Michael Dembrow, Instr.

REVIEW FOR FINAL

Be prepared to define and use the following terms and concepts:

· The basic types of Argument:

Position Arguments

Proposal Arguments

Rebuttals

· The two major parts of any argument based on reason: claim & evidence (or statement & proof, or thesis and support)

· When considering your audience (about your readers), what kinds of things should you take into consideration?

· How do you establish credibility for yourself and for those that you claim as authority figures?

· Does emotion have a role in argument? Why or why not?

· The three major argument appeals (to logic, to emotion, to ethics)

· How does language choice affect emotion in an argument?

· Types of evidence (e.g., statistics, testimony/authority, anecdote, personal experience, etc.); the advantages and potential problems of each.

· The major logical fallacies (be able to define and give an example):

v Ad hominem (name-calling, personal attack)

v Bandwagon Appeal (the myth of majority rules; “everyone does it, so it must be right”)

v Begging the Question (assuming as fact what may not be fact)

v Circular Reasoning (true because it’s true)

v False/Misleading Analogy (it’s like that, so we must treat it like that)

v Faulty Cause & Effect (Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc)

v Faulty use of authority (false testimonial)

v Hasty Generalization (one example does not a conclusion make; stereotyping)

v Non Sequitur (it does not follow; irrelevant examples; avoiding the issue)

v Oversimplification (gross generalizations)

v Poisoning the Well (Guilt by Association)

v Positive Transfer (Glory by Association, Inappropriate Appeal to Authority)

v Red Herring (Avoiding the Issue, Diversion, Hijacking)

v Slippery Slope (the wedge, the camel’s nose under the tent; “if we give in to that, before we know it, we will be agreeing to . . .”)

v Stacking the Deck (data beautification)

v Straw Man (creating, and then combating a problem that didn’t exist)

v Stroking (ad populum)

v Suppressed Alternatives (either/or, false dilemma)

· Advertising as Argument

· Structuring an Argument/Rebuttal

· In general, ways to make your writing more effective in style, e.g., :

--periodic sentences

--active verbs

--avoiding passive

--saving strongest for last

--parallel constructions

--figures of speech: metaphors, analogy

--euphony (“beautiful-sounding”)

· How to correctly construct a Works Cited/References Page

Winter 2006

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