A Massive Review of Fallacies, Parallelism and other Language Terms

Team Time!

• The following is what part of speech?

• Mitch wore a plaid shirt. He looked spiffy.

Antecedent- the noun or noun phrase a pronoun refers to.

• 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.

The following is what type of sentence? “In America everybody is of the opinion that

he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards."

Compound/Complex Sentence- contains two or more independent clauses or one or more subordinate clauses

• 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.

The following is what type of sentence? “Hungry I am.”

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Inverted Order Sentence- Predicate comes before the subject- created for rhyming effect

• The following sentence is an example of what type of parallelism?

• "It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place.“- Catcher in the Rye

Anaphora- repetition of the same word or groups of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

• 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 borrowedi 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.

Based on the example below, what is a participle? • The crying baby hurt my ears.

A participle is…• A verbal that is used as an adjective and most

often ends in ing or ed. Verbal's are based on verbs and express and action or state of being but they function as adjectives.

Create a sentence with a subordinating conjunction.

Subordinating Conjunction• The subordinating conjunction provides a

necessary transition between two ideas and it reduces the importance of one clause to another.