1. American Literature Research Paper

2. » An effort to understand how people attempt to influence others through language and symbolic action » This includes speeches, books, articles » Symbolic methods include Architecture; movies, television shows, memorials, websites, advertisements, photos and other images, dance, and popular songs

3. » Carefully studying any kind of persuasive action in order to understand it better and to appreciate the tactics involved

4. » Arguments that are flawed by their very nature or structure

5. » Scare Tactics Exaggerating possible dangers well beyond their statistical likelihood. It’s easier to imagine it happening than its rarity.

6. » Either-Or Choices Simplifying arguments and give them power by reducing complicated issues to two choices, one obviously preferable over the other “Ask any company where they’d rather locate and hire workers—a country with crumbling roads and bridges, or one that’s committed to high-speed Internet and high-speed railroads and high-tech research and development?”

7. » Slippery Slope Portrays today’s tiny misstep as tomorrow’s slide into disaster. Becomes wrong when the writer exaggerates the consequences of an action

8. » Overly sentimental appeals Using tender emotions to distract readers from the facts. Used often on television news stories for higher ratings. Seldom give a complete picture of a complex issue.

9. » Bandwagon Appeals Urge people to follow the same path everyone else is taking.

10. » Appeals to False Authority Offering yourself or another as sufficient to warrant a claim Trust only expert sources. Verify their credentials

11. » Ad Hominem Arguments Arguments that attack the character of a person rather than the claims they make You destroy reasonable appeals or distract from the appeal the person is making

12. » Stacking the Deck Showing only one side of the story – the one in your favor

13. » Hasty Generalization An inference drawn from insufficient evidence “Because my Honda broke down, all Hondas must be junk.” It’s the basis for most stereotypes about people or institutions. “Women are bad drivers; men are slobs…”

14. » Faulty Causality The belief that just because one event or action follows another, the first causes the second. Ex: In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” the author feels the impact of technology has made the younger generation less intelligent. However, another expert argued after the article came out that the Internet is increasing intelligence and making the younger generation more intelligent.

15. » Begging the Question A circular argument that goes nowhere. Ex: You can’t give me a C in this course because I’m an A student. Claim: You can’t give me a C… Reason: …because I’m an A student. Warrant: An A student is someone who can’t receive Cs.

16. » Equivocation Half truths or arguments that give lies an honest appearance based on tricks of language. Ex: a plagiarist who copies a paper word for word from the source and then claims, “But I wrote the paper myself.” Meaning she physically copied it herself. A trick on the word “writing.”

17. » Non Sequitur An argument who claims, reasons or warrants do not connect logically. Ex: “You don’t love me or you’d buy me that bicycle!” Claim: You must not love me… Reason: …because you haven’t bought me that bicycle. Warrant: Buying bicycls for children is essential to loving them

18. » Red Herring This technique changes the subject abruptly to throw readers or listeners off the trail.

19. » Faulty Analogy When comparing something familiar to something unfamiliar is taken too far or two seriously. Comparing the familiar to the unfamiliar is used often to help people better understand issues. They become faulty analogies when the comparisons are inaccurate or inconsequential.