TERMINOLOGY--AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
LOGICAL FALLACY: AN ERROR IN REASONING
COMMON FALLACIES:
1. False Dichotomy—Two choices are given when there are more than two choices.
2. Begging the Question—an assumption that a statement has been proved, when it has not.
3. Equivocation "to call by the same name" —The same term is used in an argument in different places, but the word has different meaning.
4. Straw Man argument—a misrepresentation of an opponent’s argument
5. Ad Hominem—attacks the individual instead of the argument
6. Non sequitur—comments or information that do not logically flow from a premise or the conclusion
7. Slippery slope—a series of increasingly unacceptable consequences is drawn.
8. Post hoc ergo propter hoc—because one thing follows another, it is held to cause another
9. Poisoning the well—presenting negative information about a person before he/ she speaks so as to discredit the person’s argument
10. Circular Reasoning--restates the argument rather than actually proves it
______
Hortative sentence—a sentence which advises or calls the audience to action
Periodic sentence—a sentence in which a series of dependent clauses is followed by an independent clause
Imperative sentence-- a sentence which commands its listener to take action
Cumulative sentence—a sentence in which an independent clause is followed by a series of dependent clauses
Asyndeton—a sentence in which the conjunctions in a series of phrases are left out (I came, I saw, I conquered.)
TERMS:
1. Alliteration: a stylistic device in which words having the same first consonant sound, occur close together
Common Examples of Alliteration
In our daily life, we notice alliteration in the names of different companies. It makes the name of a company catchy and easy to memorize. Here are several common examples.
· Dunkin’ Donuts
· PayPal
· Best Buy
· Coca-Cola
2. Allusion
Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text.
Examples of Allusion in Everyday Speech
The use allusions are not confined to literature alone. Their occurrence is fairly common in our daily speech. Look at some common examples of allusions in everyday life:
· The rise in poverty will unlock the Pandora’s box of crimes.
– an allusion to Greek myth, “Pandora’s box”
· “This place is like a Garden of Eden.”
– a biblical allusion to the “garden of God” in the Book of Genesis.
3. Anaphora
In writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect is known as anaphora.
Common Examples of Anaphora
It is common for us to use anaphora in our everyday speech to lay emphasis on the idea we want to convey or for self affirmation. Read the following examples:
· “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better.”
· “My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.”
· “I want my money right now, right here, all right?”
Example of Anaphora in Literature:
“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens starts with following lines:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
4. Antimetabole
Antimetabole is derived from a Greek word which means “turning about.” It is a literary term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order. “You like it; it likes you” and “Fair is foul and foul is fair” etc. Chiasmus and antimetabole are similar, but antimetabole will reverse the EXACT SAME WORDS in the sentence, while chiasmus will reverse grammatical structure, not necessarily with the same words. (Helpful hint: you would never have antimetabole and chiasmus together as options for a multiple choice test.)
Famous Examples of Antimetabole
Just see these examples of how it has been used since the time of Socrates to the present modern age.
· “Eat to live, not live to eat.”- Socrates
· “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
· “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961.
· “We do what we like and we like what we do.” – Andrew W.K., “Party Hard”
· “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.” Malcolm X, “Malcolm X”
· “You stood up for America, now America must stand up for you.” Barack Obama – December 14, 2011.
5. Antithesis
A contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other, such as “hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”
· To err is human; to forgive, divine.--Alexander Pope
· Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heav’n.--John Milton
· We shall support any friend, oppose any foe.--JFK
6. Apostrophe
A writer or speaker detaches from reality and addresses an imaginary character, human or otherwise.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.”
“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty an dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.” --John Donne
7. Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect.
Let us try to understand chiasmus with the help of an example:
“Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.”
Examples of Chiasmus in Literature
The use of chiasmus as a rhetorical device dates back to the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Its traces have been found in the ancient texts of Sanskrit and also in the ancient Chinese writings. Greeks, however, developed an unmatched inclination for this device and made it an essential part of the art of oration.
“It is not the oath that makes us believe the man,
but the man the oath.” – Aeschylus (5th Century B.C.)
“Love as if you would one day hate,
and hate as if you would one day love.” – Bias (6th Century B.C.)
8. Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things or objects that are poles apart from each other but have some characteristics common between them. In other words, a resemblance of two contradictory or different objects is made based on a single or some common characteristics.
Common Speech Examples of Metaphors
1. My brother wasboiling mad. ( he was too angry.)
2. The assignment wasa breeze. ( the assignment was not difficult.)
3. It is going to beclear skiesfrom now on. ( clear skies are not a threat and life is going to be without hardships)
4. The skies of his future began todarken. (Darkness is a threat; therefore, the coming times are going to be hard for him.)
5. Her voice ismusic to his ears. ( her voice makes him feel happy)
9. Metonymy
The substitution of the name of a thing with something else, which is closely related to it.
Examples:
· Suits for business people
· The White House for the president
· Boots on the ground for soldiers at war
· Wall Street today closed high refers to the New York Stock Exchange
10. Personification
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings. For example, when we say, “The sky weeps” we are giving the sky the ability to cry, which is a human quality. Thus, we can say that the sky has been personified in the given sentence.
Common Examples of Personification
· Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t she?
· The wind whispered through dry grass.
· The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.
· The fire swallowed the entire forest.
We see from the above examples of personification that this literary device helps us relate actions of inanimate objects to our own emotions.
11. Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part.
Examples of Synecdoche from Everyday Life
It is very common to refer to a thing by the name of its parts. Let us look at some of the examples of synecdoche that we can hear from casual conversations:
· “All hands on deck” refers to sailors.
· The phrase “gray beard” refers to an old man.
· The word “sails” refers to a whole ship.
· “Nice wheels” refers to the whole car.
12. Zeugma
Zeugma, from Greek “yoking” or “bonding,” is a figure of speech in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas.
For instance, in a sentence “John lost his coat and his temper,” the verb “lost” applies to both noun “coat” and “temper.” Losing a coat and losing temper are logically and grammatically different ideas that are brought together in the above-mentioned sentence. Zeugma, when used skillfully, produces a unique artistic effect making the literary works more interesting and effective as it serves to adorn expressions, and to add emphasis to ideas in impressive style.
Uses of Zeugma
The zeugma is sometimes used to create drama, add emotion or produce some sort of shock value. While there can still be an underlying sense of confusion, generally an zeugma is used purposely as shown in these examples:
"The farmers in the valley grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored." (Wunderland)
"He opened his mind and his wallet at the movies."
"He fished for compliments and for trout." (Words & Stuff)
She dug for gold and for praise.
The disgruntled employee took his coat and his vacation.