Key Terms
Weak
Nobody dies of tuberculosis anymore. Stronger: Not many people die each year in America from tuberculosis.
Strong
City council members should not be allowed to receive cash incentives from local business leaders.
Direction
Specific to general. Structure: Observations lead to a probable conclusion.
Weakness
The conclusion is probable, not guaranteed. Other explanations may exist.
Definition
Using emotion, shared values, and personal connection to engage the audience.
Strengths
Clear, credible, hard to dismiss when done right. Risk: Faulty logic - assuming causation from correlation, overgenerali
Used well
Opens the audience up; makes abstract issues feel real. Used poorly: Replaces logic entirely; manipulates rather than pe
KAIROS AND PATHOS
Emotional appeals work best when they are timely. People give more generously to disaster relief immediately after a dis
Note
Ethos is addressed primarily through fallacies in this module (see Section 4). Core principle: your credibility as a wri
Counterargument
The opposing viewpoint your argument must address.
Rebuttal
Arguing against a claim. Refutation: Disproving a claim.