GLOSSARY
- Accurate evidence
- Evidence from reliable sources that is quoted carefully and in context.
- Ad hominem fallacy
- The logical fallacy of undermining an argument by attacking the person who is making the argument instead of addressing the argument itself.
- Allusion
- A reference within a work to a person, literary or biblical text, or historical event. This shorthand device reminds the reader of something that enlarges the context of the situation being written about.
- Analogy
- An extended comparison that explains an unfamiliar item, concept, or situation by comparing it to a more familiar one.
- Annotating
- Making notes of your questions, reactions, and ideas on the document itself.
- Antithesis
- An opposing statement that tests whether an argumentative thesis is debatable.
- Appeal to doubtful authority
- The use of nonexperts to support an argument.
- Applied ethics
- The field of philosophy that applies ethical principles to real-life issues (such as abortion, the death penalty, animal rights, or doctor-assisted suicide).
- Argument
- A logical and persuasive presentation of evidence that attempts to convince people to accept (or at least to consider) the writer’s position.
- Argument by analogy
- An argument that claims that its position is valid because it is similar in some ways to a position on another issue that readers are likely to accept.
- Backing
- In a Toulmin argument, the evidence that supports the warrant.
- Bandwagon appeal
- An attempt to convince people that something is true because it is widely held to be true.
- Begging-the-question fallacy
- An illogical assumption that a statement is self-evident (or true) when it actually requires proof.
- Bias
- Preconceived ideas or prejudices, which are often used in an argument instead of factual evidence.
- Brainstorming
- Making quick notes on a topic to generate ideas.
- Causal chain
- A sequence of events in which one event causes the next, which in turn causes the next, and so on.
- Cause-and-effect argument
- An argument that explains an event or a situation by considering its likely causes or outcomes.
- Circular reasoning
- An attempt to support a statement by simply repeating the statement in different terms.
- Claim
- In a Toulmin argument, the main point, usually stated as a thesis.
- Clustering
- Creating a diagram to map out your thoughts.
- Common ground
- Points of agreement that are shared by those on opposing sides of an argument.
- Common knowledge
- Factual information (such as a writer’s date of birth, a scientific fact, or the location of a famous battle) that can be found in several credible sources. Common knowledge does not require documentation.
- Conclusion
- The last part of a syllogism.
- Confirmation bias
- The tendency that people have to accept information that supports their own beliefs and to ignore information that does not.
- Confrontational argument
- A kind of argument that is characterized by conflict and opposition.
- Contributory causes
- The less important causes in a causal argument.
- Credibility
- Trustworthiness. A credible source is believable.
- Criteria for evaluation
- Standards by which a subject (or source) is evaluated.
- Critical response
- A passage in which a writer examines the ideas that are presented in an argument and evaluates them.
- Current source
- A source containing up-to-date information. Current sources are especially important in discussions of scientific subjects and may be less important in other subjects.
- Debatable thesis
- A thesis statement that presents a position with which people might disagree.
- Deductive reasoning
- A form of reasoning that moves from general statements (or premises) to specific conclusions. See inductive reasoning.
- Definition argument
- An argument that is based on the idea that something fits or does not fit a particular definition of a key term.
- Dictionary definition
- A structure for definition that consists of the term to be defined, the general class to which the term belongs, and the qualities that differentiate the term from other items in the same class.
- Dilemma
- A choice between two or more unfavorable alternatives.
- Distortion
- An unfair tactic of argument in which the writer misrepresents evidence—for example, by presenting an opponent’s view inaccurately or by exaggerating his or her position.
- Documentation
- Information that identifies the sources used in an argument.
- Editing and proofreading
- The final steps in the writing process, which check that an essay is well organized, convincing, and clearly written and has no distracting grammatical, spelling, and mechanical errors.
- Either/or fallacy
- Faulty reasoning that presents only two choices when there are actually three or more choices.
- Enthymeme
- A syllogism with one or two parts of its argument (usually the major premise) missing.
- Equivocation
- The use of two different meanings for the same key term in an argument.
- Ethical argument
- An argument that focuses on whether something should be done because it is good or right.
- Ethical dilemma
- A conflict between two or more possible actions, each of which will potentially have negative outcomes.
- Ethical principles
- A set of ideas or standards that guides someone to an ethically correct conclusion.
- Ethics
- The field of philosophy that studies the standards by which an act can be judged right or wrong or good or bad.
- Ethos
- An appeal to the trustworthiness or credibility of a speaker or writer.
- Evaluate
- To express an opinion about the quality of something.
- Evaluation argument
- An argument that presents a positive or negative judgment, asserts that someone else’s positive or negative judgment is not accurate or justified, or demonstrates that one thing is or is not superior to another.
- Evidence
- The facts, observations, expert opinion, examples, and statistics that support a thesis statement. In a Toulmin argument, the evidence is called the grounds.
- Fact
- A statement that can be verified (proven to be true).
- Fallacy
- An error in reasoning that undermines the logic of an argument.
- False dilemma
- See either/or fallacy.
- Formal argument
- An argument developed according to set rhetorical principles in academic discussion and writing. See informal argument.
- Formal outline
- A presentation of an essay’s main and subordinate points that uses a number/letter system to designate the order in which the points will be discussed.
- Freewriting
- Writing continuously for a set time to generate ideas without worrying about spelling or grammar.
- Grounds
- In a Toulmin argument, the evidence that is used to support the claim.
- Hasty generalization
- An error in reasoning that occurs when a conclusion is based on too little evidence or when the gap between the evidence and conclusion is too wide.
- Highlighting
- Using underlining and symbols to identify an essay’s most important points.
- Identifying tag
- A phrase that identifies the source of a quotation, paraphrase, or summary.
- Immediate cause
- In a causal argument, the cause that occurs right before an event.
- Inductive leap
- In inductive reasoning, a stretch of the imagination that enables a writer to draw a reasonable conclusion from the existing information.
- Inductive reasoning
- A form of reasoning that begins with specific observations (or evidence) and moves to a general conclusion. See deductive reasoning.
- Inference
- A statement that uses what is known to draw a conclusion about what is unknown.
- Informal argument
- An argument that occurs in daily life about politics, sports, social issues, and personal relationships. See formal argument.
- Informal outline
- A list of the ideas that will be discussed in an essay. See formal outline.
- Jumping to a conclusion
- See hasty generalization.
- Logic
- The principles of correct reasoning that enable someone to tell whether a conclusion correctly follows from a set of statements or assumptions.
- Logical fallacy
- A flawed argument.
- Logos
- An appeal to logic.
- Main cause
- In a causal argument, the most important cause.
- Major premise
- See syllogism.
- Means of persuasion
- The appeals— logos, pathos, and ethos —that writers use to persuade their audience.
- Metaphor
- A comparison in which two dissimilar things are compared without the word like or as.
- Middle term
- The term in a syllogism that appears in both the major and minor premises but not in the conclusion.
- Minor premise
- See syllogism.
- Misuse of statistics fallacy
- When data are misrepresented.
- Non sequitur fallacy
- Illogical reasoning that occurs when a conclusion does not follow from the premises or is supported by weak or irrelevant evidence or by no evidence at all.
- Objective source
- A source that is not unduly influenced by personal opinions or feelings.
- Operational definition
- A definition of how something acts or works that transforms an abstract concept into something concrete, observable, and possibly measurable.
- Opinion
- A personal judgment; therefore, an idea that is open to debate.
- Parallelism
- The use of the same or a similar structure in the repetition of words, phrases, or clauses.
- Paraphrase
- A passage that presents a source’s ideas in detail, including its main idea and key supporting points and perhaps key examples.
- Parenthetical references
- In MLA and APA documentation, citations that identify the source of a paraphrase, quotation, or summary.
- Pathos
- An appeal to the emotions.
- Peer review
- The process of having colleagues examine and critique written work. Informally, school work is read by friends or classmates; formally, scholarly work is read by experts in the field to confirm its accuracy.
- Persuasion
- The act of influencing an audience to adopt a particular belief or to follow a specific course of action.
- Plagiarism
- The use of the words or ideas of another person without attributing them to their rightful author.
- Popular magazine
- A periodical that is aimed at general readers. It generally is not an acceptable source for research.
- Post hoc fallacy
- Faulty reasoning that asserts that because two events occur closely in time, one event must have caused the other.
- Premises
- Statements or assumptions on which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn.
- Previewing
- During active reading, forming a general impression of a writer’s position on an issue, the argument’s key supporting points, and the context for the writer’s remarks.
- Propaganda
- Biased or misleading information that is spread about a particular viewpoint, person, or cause.
- Proposal argument
- An argument that attempts to convince people that a problem exists and that a particular solution is both practical and desirable.
- Qualifiers
- In a Toulmin argument, statements that limit the claim.
- Quotation
- Words or sentences taken directly from a source.
- Quoting out of context
- Removing a quotation from its original setting for the purpose of distorting its meaning.
- Reading critically
- Questioning or challenging material instead of simply accepting it as true. This often involves assessing the accuracy of facts in sources and considering the evidence that supports them.
- Reason
- In a Toulmin argument, a statement that supports the claim.
- Rebuttals
- In a Toulmin argument, refutations of opposing arguments.
- Red herring fallacy
- An irrelevant side issue that diverts attention from the real issue.
- Refutation
- The section of an argumentative essay that identifies opposing arguments and presents arguments against them.
- Refute
- To disprove or call into question.
- Relevant evidence
- Evidence that applies specifically (not just tangentially) to the topic under discussion.
- Remote causes
- In a causal argument, incidents that occurred in the past but may have had a greater impact than more recent events.
- Representative evidence
- Evidence that is drawn from a fair range of sources, not just from sources that support a particular position.
- Revision
- The careful and critical review of a draft.
- Rhetoric
- The effect of various elements working together to form a convincing and persuasive argument.
- Rhetorical analysis
- A systematic examination of the strategies that a writer employs to achieve his or her purpose.
- Rhetorical question
- A question that encourages readers to reflect on an issue but does not call for a reply.
- Rhetorical situation
- The combination of the writer, the writer’s purpose, the writer’s audience, the topic, and the context.
- Rhetorical strategies
- The ways in which argument writers present ideas and opinions, including but not limited to thesis, organization, evidence, and stylistic techniques (simile, metaphor, allusion, parallelism, repetition, and rhetorical questions).
- Rhetorical triangle
- A graphic representation of the three kinds of appeals in an argument—logos (reason), ethos (credibility), and pathos (values and beliefs).
- Rogerian argument
- A model of argument that assumes that people of good will can avoid conflict by identifying common ground and points of agreement. It is based on the work of Carl Rogers, a twentieth-century psychologist who felt that traditional confrontational arguments could be counterproductive.
- Scholarly journal
- A periodical that is usually written by experts, documented, and peer reviewed.
- Scientific method
- A way of using induction to find answers to questions. It involves proposing a hypothesis, making a series of observations to test the hypothesis, and arriving at a conclusion that confirms, modifies, or disproves the hypothesis.
- Self-evident
- A proposition that requires no proof or explanation.
- Simile
- A figure of speech that compares two unlike things by using like or as.
- Skeptical
- Having an open mind but still needing to be convinced.
- Slanting
- An unfair tactic that makes an argument appear stronger by presenting only evidence that supports a particular position and ignoring evidence that challenges it.
- Slippery-slope fallacy
- An illogical argument that holds that one thing will cause a series of events that ends in an inevitable, unpleasant conclusion, usually with no evidence that such a sequence will actually occur.
- Straw man fallacy
- An intentional oversimplification of an opposing argument to make it easier to refute.
- Sufficient evidence
- Evidence that includes enough facts, statistics, and expert opinion to support the essay’s thesis.
- Summary
- A concise restatement of the main idea of a passage (or article or book) without the examples, explanations, and stylistic devices of the source.
- Sweeping generalization
- See hasty generalization.
- Syllogism
- A model for deductive reasoning that includes a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Some types of syllogisms are:
- Sound syllogism
- A syllogism that is both true and valid.
- True syllogism
- A syllogism in which the premises are consistent with the facts.
- Valid syllogism
- A system in which a conclusion follows logically from its premises.
- Synthesis
- A combination of summary, paraphrase, quotation, and a writer’s own ideas that supports an original conclusion.
- Taking a stand
- Expressing a position in the form of a thesis statement.
- Thesis
- The position that an argument supports.
- Thesis statement
- A single sentence in an argumen-tative essay that states a position on an issue.
- Thinking critically
- Questioning rather than accepting ideas at face value.
- Toulmin argument
- An argument that includes the claim (the main point), the grounds (the evidence a writer uses to support the claim), and the warrant (the inference—either stated or implied—that connects the claims to their grounds).
- Unfair appeal
- An appeal to an audience’s fears or prejudices.
- Visual
- An image—such as a chart, graph, table, photo, drawing, or diagram.
- Visual argument
- An advertisement, chart, graph, table, diagram, Web page, photograph, painting, or other representation that communicates a position through images.
- Warrant
- In a Toulmin argument, the inference or assumption, either stated or implied, that connects a claim to its grounds.
- Works-cited list
- An alphabetical list of sources that appears at the end of an essay that follows MLA style.
- Writing process
- The process of planning, drafting, revising, and editing an argument.
- You-also fallacy (tu quoque)
- An illogical assertion that a statement is false because the speaker has said or done the opposite. It attacks a person for doing the thing that he or she is arguing against.