English 103:
CRITICAL THINKING
Table of Contents
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1. Hooks (p. 3-6)
2. Conclusions (p. 7- 8)
3. Style and Revision (p. 9-23)
4. Propositions and Arguments (p. 24-32)
5. Counter-Argument (p. 33-40)
6. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos (p. 41-52)
7. Logical Fallacies (p. 53-65)
8. Syllogisms (p. 66)
9. Induction and Deduction (p. 67-73)
10. Classical and Modern Rhetoric (p. 74-85)
11. Rhetorical Devices (p. 86-110)
Hooks
 DEFINITION
 A HOOK is the opening of almost
anything you write. You want to
provide a juicy idea that will make
your reader want to continue reading.
Types of Hooks
1. Interesting or shocking Fact
 2. Interesting or shocking Idea
 3. Interesting or shocking Statistic
 4. Interesting or shocking Quote
 5. A Rhetorical Question
 6. A Personal Narrative (or personal
experience)
 7. In Medias Res or “in the middle of things”
Personal Annecdote
 “It is Christmas Eve in the year of…1969.
Three hundred Chicanos have gathered in
front of St. Basil’s Roman Catholic
Church. Three hundred brown-eyed
children of the sun have come to drive the
money-changers out of the richest temple
in Los Angeles”—beginning of Oscar Zeta
Acosta’s The Revolt of the Cockroach
People
Interesting Fact
 “I’ve been around and seen the Taj
Mahal and the Grand Canyon and
Marilyn Monroe’s footprints outside
Grauman’s Chinese Theater, but I’ve
never seen my mother wash her own
hair.”—the opening of “Hair” by
Marcia Aldrich
Conclusions
Provide a Final Reflection
 Select one of these Modes
 Additional Analysis
 Speculate about the Future
 Close with a Quotation that offers deeper
insight
 Close with a Story or a Question
 Call Your Readers to Action
Style
Style
 GOOD STYLE can be achieved by varying
diction, varying sentence structure, varying
word choice, varying lengths of sentences,
and thru the use of figurative language or
figurative devices
8 Keys to Good Style
 1. Make your Subjects Clear
 2. Attach verbs to Subjects who perform crucial




actions
3. Use specific nouns, not abstract ones
4. Use specific verbs, not abstract ones
5. Meaning becomes Clearer as Verbs become more
Specific
6. Avoid unnecessary Passive Voice
8 Keys to Good Style
 7. Use Metadiscourse to introduce, transition, and
conclude


Introduce and Conclude: we will “explain,” “show,”
“argue,” “claim,” “deny,” “suggest,” “expand,” etc.
Transitioning: “therefore,” “hence,” or “as a result”
 8. In a sentence, progress from known information
to new claims and information
 Source: Style: Toward Clarity and Grace
Revising a Body Paragraph
 1. Does your Topic Sentence make a clear Argument?
 2. Does your paragraph support that claim and
develop the concept?
 3. Have you anticipated objections?
 4. Clarify your Word Choice and the purpose of Each
Sentence
 5. Delete or Omit any Ideas that seem outside the
discussion
Adios, Strunk and White
 Freighting
 Offers a way to flow by visualizing a simple
sentence as flatbed freight cars, each one capable
of having more similar material piled vertically on
top of it
 1. Uncle Bob chewed a red apple.
Freighting
 Loading Subjects
 2. Uncle Bob, Aunt Lynn, and my cousins chewed a
red apple.
 Loading Verbs
 3. Uncle Bob, Aunt Lynn, and my cousins chopped,
chewed, and pulverized the red apple.
Freighting
 Loading Objects
 4. Uncle Bob, Aunt Lynn, and my cousins
chopped, chewed, and utterly pulverized the
red, hard, juicy, candied apple and the mudbrown, crumbling cookies, scatter-shot with
chocolate chips.
Freighting
 Loading Introductory Ideas
 5. While opening the door, tiptoeing across the
threshold, and wondering if his life had any
meaning, Uncle Bob chewed the red apple.
 Bolting
 6. You can combine freight trains with coordinate,
subordinate conjunctions, like, “although,” “but,”
“besides,” “because,” and “since,” or semi-colons (;)
Adios, Strunk and White by Hoffman
 Telescoping
 This is another flow technique that stresses close
observation by the writer. Unlike freighting, a
sentence envisioned as vertical stacks of material
piled upon freight cars, the Telescoping sentence
keeps extending, moving closer and closer upon
ideas in the previous clause
 Three Parts to Telescoping: Zooming, Panning,
and Closure
Telescoping
 Zooming
 The comma replacing the period works like a
telephoto lens, signaling an upcoming zoom, a new
clause generated by the material in the initial
sentence. For example,
 William Faulkner chewed a red apple, the apple’s
skin marked with dark imperfections.
Telescoping
 Panning
 You can use a third comma, and fourth, and so on as
long as you focus on the detail from the previous
clause. Caution: think about balance and conciseness
v detail
 William Faulkner chewed the red apple, the apple’s
skin marked with dark imperfections, the
imperfections representing that nothing in life is
perfect.
Telescoping
 Closure: Variations to end a single-Telescoped
clause
 1. Re-order
 The red apple, the apple’s skin marked with
imperfections, the imperfections representing that
nothing is perfect, tempted William Faulkner.
Telescoping
 2. Use a Restrictive Clause (which or that)
 William Faulkner chewed the red apple, the apple’s
skin marked with dark imperfections, the
imperfections representing that nothing in life is
perfect, which was a sentiment Aunt Lynn
expressed earlier that day.
Telescoping
 End with a Coordinate Conjunction and an
Independent Clause
 William Faulkner chewed the red apple, the apple’s
skin marked with dark imperfections, the
imperfections representing that nothing in life is
perfect, yet Aunt Lynn said she found a perfect
frozen yogurt.
Propositions and Arguments
Recognizing Arguments
Premise-indicators:
 Since
as indicated by
 Because
the reason is that
 For
for the reason that
 As
may be inferred from
 Follows from
may be derived from
 As shown by
may be deduced from
 Inasmuch as
in view of the fact that
 *These are more suggestions, than hard and fast rules
Recognizing Arguments
Conclusion-indicators:
 Therefore
 Hence
 Thus
 So
 Accordingly
 In consequence
for these reasons
it follows that
we may infer
I conclude that
which shows that
which means that
Recognizing Arguments
 More Conclusion-indicators:
 Consequently
 Proves that
 As a result
infer that
 For this reason
conclusion that
which entails that
which implies that
which allows us to
which points to the
Propositions
 Propositions: the building blocks of every
argument. A proposition is something that may be
asserted or denied. Propositions make claims
about what is or is not true. We use the term
proposition to refer to what declarative sentences
are typically used to assert
 For example, “There is life on other planets.”
Alternative Proposition
 Alternative Proposition: a hypothetical
argument of which one of the two
components may be false, or both
components may be false
 For example, “Circuit Courts are useful, or
they are not useful.”
Compound Hypothetical Propositions
 Compound Hypothetical Propositions: an
argument with more than one proposition.
Hypothetical or disjunctive arguments are
alternative arguments which may or may not be
true
 “Either-or”=disjunctive/alternative proposition
 “If-then”=hypothetical/conditional proposition
 For example, “If God did not exist, it would be
necessary to invent him” (Voltaire 1770)
Argument
 Argument: any group of propositions of
which one is claimed to follow from the
others, which are regarded as providing
support or grounds for the truth of that one.
No single proposition, however, is an
argument by itself. A hypothetical
proposition is, also, not an argument
Unstated Propositions
 An unstated proposition is where one part of
the argument is not provided for us, and we
must, then, infer it.
 Example of Unstated Proposition: “The
dreamer rejects the ordinary. Jay invited the
ordinary”—Anais Nin, Cities of the Interior,
1959
Counter-Argument
Counter-Argument
 “If you know the enemy and know
yourself you need not fear the result of
a hundred battles. If you know
yourself but not the enemy for every
victory gained you will also suffer a
defeat. If you know neither the enemy
nor yourself you will succumb in every
battle.”
War
--
Sun Tzu, The Art of
Counter-Argument
 DEFINITION:
 In a counter-argument (also called a
rebuttal), you examine your opponent’s
argument, and, if possible, disprove it. If the
counter-argument is valid, find a way to
incorporate it into your argument
 PURPOSE:
 The purpose of a counter-argument is to
address a reader’s objections to your
argument
Counter-Argument
 According to Aristotle, your counter-
argument can either appear before your
argument or after your argument, and before
your conclusion
 I. Introduction
I. Introduction
 II. Argument
II. Rebuttal
 III. Rebuttal
III. Argument
 IV. Conclusion
IV. Conclusion
The Counter-Argument Paragraph
 I. Introduce Opponent’s Argument
 II. Quote your Opponent
 III. Review your Opponent’s Analysis or
Reasoning
 IV. Counter-Argument

For example,
Introduce your Counter-claim to that Argument
 Quote or Cite a Source
 Analyze how the Quote Supports your Argument

 VII. Conclude the Paragraph with your
Argument
Counter-Argument Strategies
 Employ any ONE of these strategies:
 1. Critique assumptions behind a writer’s premise
by exposing unfair ASSUMPTIONS or UNSTATED
PREMISES as false
 2. Assess the truthfulness of the PREMISES
themselves
 3. Examine the strength or relevance of the
evidence used to support the argument
Counter-Argument Strategies
 4. Interrogate the LOGIC of the argument and
expose any LOGICAL FALLACIES
 5. Stun your readers by proposing a superior
ALTERNATIVE ARGUMENT of your own using
the same set of evidence
 6. Supply additional EVIDENCE that supports an
alternative
 7. Are there any CONTRADICTIONS?
Counter-Argument Strategies
 8. Anticipate the Objections within your essay
 9. Refute: Argue against your opponent
 10. Accommodate: Incorporate your opponent’s
argument into your own
 11. Quarantine: Concede your opponent’s
argument is valid, but that it is irrelevant to the
core of your argument
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Persuasive Appeals
Aristotle’s Three Argumentative Appeals:
 1. Ethos (Greek for “character”)

an appeal to the character of the speaker or a moral
or ethical appeal
 2. Pathos (Greek for “suffering”
or “experience”)

an appeal to emotions, like anger, hate, love,
patriotism, hope, and revenge
 3. Logos (Greek for “embodied
thought”)

an appeal to reason, facts, statistics, and logic
Ethos
 Quintilian argues that a speaker must
be noble and truthful in order attain
“perfect eloquence”
 An example of ETHOS is how I start my
classes by telling you about my B.A. in
English and M.A. in Rhetoric and
Composition, as well as my emphases in
Rhetoric, Composition, Post-colonial and
British Literature, and my fourteen years of
experience in education
Textual Example of Ethos
 There are many forms of ETHOS, in one the
speaker establishes their own character:
 “I
would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an
unjust law is no law at all’” (from King’s
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”).
 In this example, Dr. King uses a complex
appeal that (1) shows he is educated
[ETHOS], (2) expresses his moral belief
[ETHOS], and (3) provides support from a
credible source [LOGOS]
Textual Example of Ethos
 In another example of ETHOS, Dr. King appeals to
the character of his audience in “Letter from
Birmingham Jail”:
 “But since I feel that you are men of
genuine good will and that your criticisms
are sincerely set forth, I want to try to
answer your statement in what I hope will
be patient and reasonable terms” (King).
Ethos Exercise
 Read Plato’s “Crito” and locate and
then analyze any uses of ETHOS
Pathos
 Aristotle regards PATHOS as, perhaps, the most
convincing appeal, but, certainly, the most
manipulative
 An example of PATHOS is when you tell me at the
end of the semester that I should give you a
passing grade in this class—even though your work
has been below average—because your girlfriend
dumped you, you got jumped, and your house got
robbed.
Example of Pathos

“The more I read, the more
I was led to abhor and
detest my enslavers. I
could regard them in no
other light than a band of
successful robbers, who
had left their homes, and
gone to Africa, and stolen
us from our homes, and in
a strange land reduced us
to slavery,” Frederick
Douglass wrote in
“Learning to Read and
Write.”
Pathos Exercise
 Read “Learning to Read and Write” by
Frederick Douglass and find additional
examples of PATHOS.
Logos
 Aristotle, an empiricist, thought LOGOS was
the most effective appeal
 An example of LOGOS is when I gave you
statistical information on what percentages
of people learn and receive information in
what ways (ala 65% Visual, 30% Auditory,
and 5% Kinesthetic)
Textual Example of Logos
 In Vicki Hearne’s “What’s Wrong with
Animal Rights?” she cites Aristotle on the
subject of ‘happiness.’
 “In his Ethics, Aristotle wrote, ‘If happiness
is activity in accordance with excellence, it is
reasonable that it should be in accordance
with the highest excellence.’”
Logos Exercise
 Re-read Peter Singer’s “The Singer
Solution for World Poverty” and
analyze any uses of LOGOS.
Logical Fallacies
“I want
everybody to
hear loud
and clear that
I’m going to be
the president
of everybody,”
George Bush,
2001.
Josh Brolin playing George W. Bush
Logical Fallacies
 Logical Fallacies, or errors in logical
reasoning, are used intentionally and
unintentionally
 In either case, they are effective,
unless they are detected by the
audience
Fallacies of Logos
 1. Appeal to Ignorance—Using a
lack of evidence as proof
“Aliens
exist because no one has
proved they do not.”
Appeal to Ignorance
 In “Pirates of the
Caribbean,” Royal
Navy Guard Mullory
commits an appeal to
ignorance by arguing
that since he has not
seen the Black Pearl, it
does not exist
Fallacies of Logos
 2. False Dilemma/”Either/Or”—
Forcing an audience to pick
between two bad options by
presenting them as the only
possibilities
False Dilemma
 “Would
you
rather get a
bullet to the
head or five to
the chest and
bleed to
death?”
 “Are those my
only two
options?”
Moneyball
Fallacies of Logos
 3. Slippery Slope—A fallacy of causality
where one argues for a certain conclusion
using a series of unlikely events
 “If
you steal candy, you will steal toys, then
bikes, then cars, and sooner or later you will
wind up on death row.”
 Or, the DirectTV “Roadside Ditch” ad: "Don't
End Up in a Roadside Ditch"
Slippery Slope
 “When your cable
company puts you on
hold, you get angry. When
you get angry, you blow
off steam. When you blow
off steam, accidents
happen. When accidents
happen, you get an eye
patch…You wake up in a
roadside ditch.”—
DIRECTV Ad
Fallacies of Logos
 4. Sweeping Generalization—when
something true in one circumstance
is true in all circumstances
Sweeping Generalization
 “You know why Rifkin
was a serial killer?
Because he was
adopted. Just like Son
of Sam was adopted.
So apparently,
adoption leads to
serial killing.” –
Kramer (Seinfeld)
Sweeping Generalization
 “The government of
the—the society of ours
has changed
dramatically. For
example, in the old days
women used to stay at
home” (p. 10) from
President George W.
Bush’s “Remarks at
‘Focus on Women’s
Issues’ Event”
Fallacies of Pathos
 1. Ad Populum—A Latin phrase meaning
“to the people.” It refers to propaganda
and arguments which replace logic with
devices calculated to incite anger, hate, or
patriotism
 An
example of this type of language are the
speeches and writing of Adolph Hitler, like
Mein Kampf
Ad Populum
 In Hitler’s “The Jewish
Question,” he puts forth,
“if the international
fiance-Jewry…should
succeed in plunging the
nations into a world war
yet again, then the
outcome will not be the
victory of Jewry, but
rather the annihilation of
the Jewish race in
Europe.”
Syllogisms
 A syllogism, which proceeds from the general to
the specific, has three parts:
 A Major Premise
 A Minor Premise
 And a Conclusion
 For example,
 All people are mortal. (MAJOR PREMISE)
 Socrates is a person. (MINOR PREMISE)
 Therefore, Socrates is mortal. (CONCLUSION)
Induction and Deduction
 Arguments have two types: Deductive and
Inductive
 Both provide grounds for truth of its conclusion,
but they differ in how the premise supports the
Induction and Deduction
 Only a deductive argument involves the claim that
its premises provide conclusive grounds for its
conclusion. When the claim is warranted, the
reasoning in a deductive argument is correct, then
it is called a “valid argument” (the others are
“invalid”)
 Validity is defined as “a deductive argument is
valid when its premises, if true, do provide
conclusive grounds for the truth of its conclusion”
Deduction
 Deductive arguments move from the general to




the particular, while inductive arguments move
from the particular to the general.
Example of Deduction:
All humans are mortal
Socrates is human
Therefore Socrates is mortal
Induction
 An Inductive argument is one whose conclusion





is claimed to follow from its premises only with a
probability, this probability being a matter of
degree and dependent upon what else may be true
Example of Induction:
All cows are mammals and have lungs
All whales are mammals and have lungs
All humans are mammals and have lungs
Therefore it is probable that all mammals have
lungs
Induction and Deduction Exercise
Analyze these passages and identify the conclusion
and whether it is a deductive or inductive
argument.
 “He who obeys us is, as we maintain, thrice wrong;
first, because in disobeying us he is disobeying his
parents; secondly, because we are the authors of
his education; thirdly, because he has made an
agreement with us that he will duly obey our
commands.”—Plato, the Crito
Induction and Deduction Exercise
 “As we approach the limits of growth in the
quantity of education, further societal gains need
to come from improving its performance. The
central reason that the nation is “at risk” today is
not because we are not supplying enough
education but because our students are not
absorbing enough of it.”—Chester Finn, “Towards
Excellence in Education,” 1995
Induction and Deduction Exercise
 “Does the past exist? No. Does the future exist? No.
Then only the present exists. Yes. But within the
present there is no lapse of time? Quite so. Then time
does not exist? Oh, I wish you wouldn’t be so
tiresome.”—Bertrand Russell, Human Knowledge
 “As force is always on the side of the governed, the
governors have nothing to support them but opinion.
It is therefore on opinion only that government is
founded.”—David Hume
Classical and Modern Rhetoric
Aristotelian Argument
 1.
Introduction: “paving the way, as it were,
for what is to follow”
Dispel
Objections: dispel objections,
deny the alleged fact, appeal to no
injustice, and no harm
Aristotelian Argument
 2.
Narration: “some survey of the actions that
 3.
Argument: “to attempt demonstrative proofs”
form the subject-matter of the speech”
 Proof
 Reply
to Opponent: “break down the opponent’s
case, whether by objection or by counter-syllogism”
 Interrogation
Aristotelian Argument
 4.
Epilogue
 A.
“Make the audience well-disposed towards
yourself and ill-disposed towards your opponent”
 B. “Magnify or minimize the leading facts”
 C. “Excite the required state of emotion in your
hearers”
 D. “Refresh their memories”
Ciceronian Argument
 1. Goodwill
 Secure





the goodwill of your audience
2. State your Case
3. Define the Dispute
4. Your Allegations
5. Disprove Opponents
6. Peroration
 Expand and reinforce
Modern Arguments
 Currently, the 2 most influential
perspectives on argumentation are
those of:
 1. Carl Rogers
 2. Stephen Toulmin
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
Carl Rogers
 In the 20th century, Carl Rogers, an
Aristotelian, was an influential figure
in argumentation because he favored
. Rogers’ style clearly
influences University of Kentucky’s
Lincoln Mullen’s argument in “How
to Persuade with Ethos, Pathos, or
Logos” (2011) that you cannot win an
argument by arguing. “Even if you
win, you may lose. No one likes to be
wrong.”
Five Parts of a Rogerian Argument
 1. Objective Statement of the Issue
 2. Summarize Opposition’s Case
 3. Statement of Your Position
 4. If a Compromise of the position is possible,
attempt it; if not, show how your position is also
beneficial to one’s opponent; outline common
ground or mutual concerns
 5. Outline your Proposed Solution
Stephen Toulmin (1922-2009)
“Data of some kind must be produced, if there is to be an argument there at all.”--
Toulmin’s Five Parts of an Argument
 1. Claim
 An
argument intended to persuade
 2. Data
 Plural of the Latin word datum, “something
given”
 Support; factual information, especially
information organized for analysis or used to
reason or make decisions
Toulmin’s Five Parts of an Argument
 3. Warrant
 How
does the data support the claim?
 4. Modal Qualifiers
 The use of words like “sometimes,” “most,”
“many,” and “some” to qualify arguments
 5. Rebuttal
 Offer a counter-argument
Rhetorical Devices
Masters of Oratory and Rhetoric: DEMOSTHENES, SHAKESPEARE, and KING
Rhetorical Devices of Comparison
Metaphors
Sample Metaphor:
Life is a waterfall
Master of Metaphors:
William Shakespeare
 “Shall I compare thee to a
summer’s day?
 Thou art more lovely and more
temperate”
 In these opening lines of
“Sonnet 18,” Shakespeare begins
an extended metaphor,
comparing his lover to the
tranquil summer season.
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”
 “Shall I compare thee to
a summer’s day? Thou
art more lovely and more
lovely and more
temperate: rough winds
do shake the darling
buds of May, and
summer’s lease hath all
too short a date:
sometimes too hot the
eye of heaven shines,
and often is his gold
complexion dimm’d; and
Master of Metaphors:
William Shakespeare
 “All the world’s a stage, and
all the men and women
merely players. They have
their exits and their
entrances.”
 In this famous monologue
from Act II, Scene VII of “As
you Like It,” Shakespeare
compares the world to a
stage and life to a
performance of the different
stages of life.
Sample Metaphor
 In his essay “Why We Crave Horror
Movies,” Stephen King explains, “for
myself, I like to see the most aggressive
of them [horror films]—Dawn of the
Dead, for instance—as lifting a trap
door in the civilized forebrain and
throwing a basket of raw meat to the
hungry alligators swimming around in
that subterranean river beneath.”
Allusions
 Allusions are indirect
references, “to a person,
event, statement, or theme
found in literature…history,
mythology, religion, or
popular culture…Because of
the connotations they carry,
allusions are used to enrich
meaning or broaden the
impact of the statement”
(“Allusion”).
Allusions
 Types of Allusions
 HISTORICAL
 RELIGIOUS OR




BIBLICAL
LITERARY
CULTURAL OR
CONTEMPORARY
MYTHOLOGICAL
POLITICAL
Master of Allusions: Steinbeck
 “So the angel swung his
sickle to the earth and
gathered the clusters from
the vine of the earth, and
threw them into the great
wine press of the wrath of
God” (The title The
Grapes of Wrath is a
biblical allusion to the
Book of Revelations 14:1920)
Master of Allusions: Steinbeck
 “Wherever they’s a fight
so hungry people can eat,
I’ll be there” (Steinbeck
472) is a biblical allusion
to Matthew 26:52: “then
said Jesus unto him, Put
up again thy sword into
his place: for all they that
take the sword shall
perish with the sword”
Master of Allusions: President Obama
 ‘“I Have a Dream.” [Dr.
King’s “I Have a Dream”]
Just words. “We hold these
truths to be self-evident
that all men are created
equal.” [Jefferson’s
“Declaration of
Independence] Just words.
“We have nothing to fear
but fear itself.” [FDR’s First
“Inaugural Address”] Just
words. Just speeches”
(Obama).
Rhetorical Devices of
Repetition
From the Eagles’ “Hotel
California,”
“She got the Mercedes
bends. She got
a lot of pretty, pretty
boys she calls
friends. How they dance in
the
courtyard, sweet
summer sweat.”
 Definition: the repetition of words or
phrases, which comes in many forms, like
anaphora, epizeuxis, and sibilance.
Repetition
From the Eagles’ “Hotel
California,”
“She got the Mercedes
bends. She got
[anaphora]
a lot of pretty, pretty
[epizeuxis] boys she
calls
friends. How they dance in
the
courtyard, sweet
summer sweat.”
[sibilance]
Masters of Repetition: Dr. King
 “This sweltering
summer of the Negro’s
legitimate discontent
will not pass until there
is an invigorating
autumn of freedom and
equality.”—Dr. King’s “I
Have a Dream” speech
 Example of Sibilance:
repetition of words
starting with “s”
Anaphora
Anaphora is a rhetorical
device where one and the
same word forms the
beginnings of successive
phrases, clauses, or lines
 For example, “The more I read, the
more I was led to abhor and detest my
enslavers” (Frederick Douglass’
“Learning to Read and Write,” 147)
Anaphora
 “It was heard in every sound, and seen
in every thing. It was ever present to
torment me with a sense of my
wretched condition” (Douglass).
 See the repetition of the opening
phrase in successive phrases
Antistrophe (Epistrophe)
Antistrophe is the
repetition of the
same word of phrase
and the end of
successive clauses.
 For example, “I would be the first to advocate
obeying just laws. One has not only a legal
but a moral responsibility to obey just laws”
(Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from
Birmingham Jail” 225)
Antistrophe
 “I saw nothing without seeing it, I
heard nothing without hearing it, and
felt nothing without feeling
it”(Douglass).
 See the antistrophe, or the repetition
of the same ending for successive
phrases
Alliteration (a form of Repetition)
 “Let us go forth and
lead the land we
love”—JFK’s
“Inaugural Address”
 “We’ve come to our
nation’s capital to cash
a check”—Dr. King’s “I
Have a Dream”
 Alliteration: the
repetition of the same
sound, vowel, or
consonant at the
beginning of words in
a sentence.
Climax (or Amplification)
 A rhetorical climax is
achieved thru the
building up of
impressive ideas,
words, phrases, or
clauses arranged to
produce emphasis or to
enhance importance
Masters of Repetition: JFK
 “Ask not what your
country can do for you—
ask what you can do for
your country.”—U.S.
President John F. Kennedy’s
“Inaugural Address”
 Example of Antimetabole:
a repetition of words in
reverse order
Epizeuxis (Palilogia)
 “Words, words,
words,” from William
Shakespeare’s Hamlet
is an example of
epizeuxis, or the
repetition of a single
word for emphasis
Conduplicatio
 Conduplicatio is the
repetition of a single word
throughout a paragraph
 “There is no question that this
nation cannot stand still,
because we are in a deadly
competition, a
competition not only with
the men of the
Kremlin…We’re ahead in this
competition,” from Richard
Nixon’s “Opening Statement,
First Debate with John F.
Kennedy”
Leitmotif
Categories of Belief
 1. Interpretation
 Analysis of meaning of
significance
 2. Evaluation
 Judgment of value or quality
(based on standards)
 3. Conclusion
 Decision or opinion formed
after considering relevant
evidence
 4. Prediction
 Statement about what will
happen
Stages of Knowing
 Stage 1: Garden of Eden
 Knowledge is clear
 Authorities are trusted
 Absolute
 No questioning
 Stage 2: Anything Goes
 Belief (all equal)
 No one really knows
 Relativism
 Stage 3: Thinking Critically
 Consider each perspective
 Moved by reasons
 Socrates’ “the unexamined
life”
Thinking Critically about Evidence
 1. Authorities

Are the authorities credible?
 2. Written References



Credentials
Disagreements
Types of evidence
 3. Factual Evidence


Source of evidence
Validity of interpretation and
analysis
 4. Personal Experience



Author John Chaffee

Circumstances
Distortion/Mistakes
Have others had similar or
different experiences?
Other explanations
Ethics
 Ethics
Derives from the Greek
ethos, for “moral
purpose” or “character”
 Moral
 Derives from the Latin
moralis, which means
“custom”

Ethics
 Moral Values
 Ethical Egoism
 Right action promotes
speakers’ interests (the
opposite is wrong)
 Divine Command Theory
 Right and wrong is
determined by God
 Hedonist
 People should do what gives
them pleasure
 Authoritarian
 Authorities are always right
References
 Chaffee, John. Thinking Critically.
 Elements of Argument.
 Hoffman. Adios Strunk and White.
 Style: Toward Clarity and Grace.
 The Rhetorical Tradition. Bizzel.