A Massive Review of Fallacies, Parallelism and other Language TermsTeam Time!

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

• American Bill Gates owns more money than many small countries. Therefore, each American owns more money than many small countries.

Composition- arguing the group must have the same qualities or characteristics as its members.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

• 85% of consumers purchase IBM computers rather than Macintosh; all those people can’t be wrong. IBM must make the best computers.

Hypothesis contrary to fact- the claim about IBM making the best computers is not supported well. The number of people purchasing computers does not equate with quality.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

The Bible says that we should love all mankind, therefore, I should love death row murders or the two men who planted the bombs at the Boston Marathon.

Ad vericundiam- appeal to authority using the bible, figures, data, ect…

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

'President Reagan was a great communicator because he had the knack of talking effectively to the people.'

Circular reasoning- talking effectively does not mean one is a good communicator, there is no evidence given as to why Reagan is a good communicator.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

- Three congressional representatives have had affairs. Therefore, members of Congress are adulterers.

Hasty Generalization- not all congressional reps have affairs.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

-The BMW LDFKfmkldi9d88 costs more than the Kia kdjoioelkKKF, therefore it must have a better engine.

Snob Approach- the BMW is a more expensive car, therefore it has a better engine. False, it may have a better engine but not because of the price!

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

• The Ouji board has never worked for me. It must be a fake.

Appeal to ignorance- not knowing that a certain statement is true is taken to be proof that it is false.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

• The level of mercury in seafood may be unsafe, but what will fishers do to support their families?

Red Herring- changing the subject or avoiding the argument by presenting a question or statement unrelated to the argument.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

• Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all dirty, lazy hippies.

Ad hominem- attacking the man or institution rather than the issue.

• To which fallacy does this example apply?

• People who don't support the proposed state minimum wage increase hate the poor.

Straw Man- oversimplifying a viewpoint and then attacking the hollow argument created in the oversimplification.

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below?

• We lived and laughed and loved and left.

Polysyndeton- deliberate use of many conjunctions

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below? • You held your breath and the door for me."

Zeugma- The use of a verb that has two different meanings with objects that complement both meanings.

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below? • We must learn to live together as brothers or

perish together as fools.

Antithesis-The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases grammatical structure, or ideas.

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below? • I can write better than anybody who can write

faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better."

Antimetabole: A sentence strategy (a form of chiasmus) in which the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first. The same words are used but in a reverse order.

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below?

As seen on a plumbers truck: “A Flush Beats a Full House

Zeugma- The use of a verb that has two different meanings with objects that complement both meanings.

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below? • Next time? There won’t be a next time.

Epanalepsis: Repeats the beginning word of a clause or sentence at the end. The beginning and end are two positions of strongest emphasis, so special attention is called by having the same word in both places.

Which form of parallelism fits best with the example below? • Come then: let us to the task, to the battle, to the

toil--each to our part, each to our station. Fill the armies, rule the air, pour out the munitions, strangle the U-boats, sweep the mines, plow the land, build the ships, guard the streets, succor the wounded, uplift the downcast, and honor the brave.

Isocolon: Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length.

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • In the farmhouse I saw, with my own eyes, this

sight: there was a man, of young age and graceful proportion, whose body had been torn limb from limb. The torso was here, an arm there, a leg there. . . .All this I saw with my own eyes, and it was the most fearsome sight I ever witnessed."

Pleonasm- the use of an excessive amount of words to say something

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example?

• Kurt Cobain died from a fatal heroin overdose.

Tautology is where two near-synonyms are placed consecutively or very close together for effect

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • Every gun that is made, every warship launched,

every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

Tricolon is the rhetorical term for a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. An ascending tricolon is comprised of parts increasing in strength, magnitude, or word length with each pause, whereas a descending tricolon decreases in magnitude or size with each part.

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • I visited my shrink today.

Meiosis is a form of understatement that dismisses or belittles especially by using terms that make something seem less significant than it really ought to be, often used ironically.

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • I have been rather reluctant to have a volume of sermons printed. My misgivings have grown out of the fact that a sermon is not an essay to be read but a discourse to be heard. It should be a convincing appeal to a listening congregation."

Homily- a speech in the form of a sermon

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot."

Paradox- a figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • How is it possible to have a civil war?

Oxymoron- when seemingly contradictory terms appear within a sentence or phrase

Which rhetorical device is exemplified in the following example? • see my body is borrowed

i got it on loanfor the time in between my mom and some maggots

Metonomy- a word or phrase is substituted for another word or phrase that is closely associated

Define the following rhetorical terms.• syntax

A major component of grammar, the study of the way words form sentences and phrases

Define and provide an example of the following rhetorical terms.• diction

Diction- the way in which a writer uses words in speech or writing

Define and provide an example of the following rhetorical terms.• aphorism

Aphorism- a brief statement of principle

• Dramatic irony

Define and provide an example of the following rhetorical terms.

Dramatic irony- An occasion in a play, film, or other work in which a character’s words or actions convey a meaning unperceived by the character but understood by the audience.