Literary Terms

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Fallacy

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- flawed arguments, often used to manipulate readers by appealing to their prejudices and fears

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Hasty Generalization

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is a form of improper induction. drawing conclusion based on too little evidence. For example, assuming that a student who has applied to two colleges and was rejected does not warrant the assumption that the student is a bad student.

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Steretype

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A form of media representation by which instantly recognized characteristics are used to label members of social or cultural groups. While often negative, stereotypes can contain an element of truth and are used by the media to establish an instant rapport with the audience

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Inductive Reasoning

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moving from specific facts, observations, or experience to a general conclusion, which is useful when addressing a skeptical audience. It also operates off of inference.

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Deductive Reasoning

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reasoning moves from generalization believed to be true to a more specific conclusion, which is particularly useful in argumentative essays because the reader is more likely to be swayed by logic over evidence. The process of deduction is often called a syllogism

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Inference

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Statement about unknown based on the known

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Syllogism

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- which is a three part proposition of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion

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Major Premise

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the premise of a syllogism that contains the major term (which is the predicate of the conclusion)

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Minor Premise

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the premise of a syllogism that contains the minor term (which is the subject of the conclusion)

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Sound Syllogism

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sound syllogism is one that is valid and has true premises

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Enthymeme

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is a syllogism with one of the premises unstated. This is what you usually use in papers and you usually use them after conclusive subordinating conjunctions like therefore, consequently, and since, for example: Melissa is on the dean’s list: therefore she is a good student. What is implied? The implication is that all students on the dean’s list are good students

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Equivocation

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occurs when the meaning of a key word r phrase shifts during arguments like it is not in the public interest for t he public to lose interest in politics.

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Either Or Fallacy

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is when a complex situation is overly simplified and presented as if it only has two sides. For Example, if you state that policies the U.S has with Latin American countries are either harmful or beneficial, when there is a lot of grey area

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Post Hoc fallacy

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is Latin for “ after this, therefore because of this”, which means you mistakenly infer that because one event follows another, the first even caused the second one. For example, after the U.S sold wheat to Russia, the price of wheat went up dramatically in the United States.

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Begging the Question

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also known as circular reasoning---- occurs when a writer states a debatable premise as if it were true. For example, sadistic experiments on animals should be stopped because they clearly constitute cruel and unusual punishment. (Certainly, the sadistic experiments are cruel, but it is not yet proven, that the experiments that the writer is referring to are in fact sadistic.)