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SAT Essay Logical Fallacies

Subjects : sat, english, writing-skills
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Common knowledge or beliefs readers accept as true






2. Appeal to the reader's emotions






3. Cause and Effect: 'What if' fallacy. Argues that everything would be different if one variable was different. Example: 'If the Nazis had won WWII - we'd all be speaking German!'






4. 'Against the man' attacking the person or group to which you are opposed rather than addressing the issue






5. Information that can be objectively proven as true






6. Information based on personal interpretation of facts






7. Reasoning by Proof: absence of evidence is not evidence; he didn't say that... so it must be false






8. Have all reasonable alternatives been considered/eliminated? Does this author attack the other views in a fair way?






9. Information that is an interpretation of numerical data






10. 'To the people' appeal to the prejudices of the audience - or claiming that (or a majority) supports your opinion






11. Generalization: Assumes that an individual must have a characteristic because the group to which he or she belongs supposedly has that characteristic






12. Generalization: drawing conclusions based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence






13. Two comparable issues or ideas are judged by different criteria






14. Appeal to reason






15. 'After this therefore because of this' implying that because on event follows another - the first caused the second






16. Obscuring or denying the complexity of an issue






17. Cause and Effect: A fallacy that assumes that because two variables are correlated (happen at the same time) that one must have caused the other






18. Reasoning by Debate: In an argument - this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning 'against the man.'






19. Cause and Effect: claim than an event with more than one cause has only one cause






20. Prejudging an individual based on ideas one has about the group the individual belongs to






21. Reasoning by Proof: the evidence offered does not really support the claim. Non Sequitur (It does not follow)






22. False transitive property - you assume that just because two things share a characteristic - all of their characteristics are shared: - 'penguins are black and white - old tv shows are black and white - therefore penguins are old tv shows'






23. Everybody knows fallacy. Asserts that some idea is common knowledge - so it must be true.






24. Statements that are intentionally vague so that the audience may supply its own interpretations






25. Reasoning by Debate: A fallacy that forces listeners to choose between two alternatives when more than two alternatives exist






26. Trying to prove one idea with another idea that is too similar to the first idea






27. When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument. i.e. People choose what laws they obey. The Law of Gravity is a law. I choose to disobey the law of gravity.






28. Does the evidence prove the point being argued? Is this authority an expert on this particular topic?






29. How similar or how different are the cases being compared? How many point of comparison is the arguer using?






30. Introducing an irrelevant point to divert readers' attention from the main issue being discussed






31. Information gained from personal experience representing a general pattern






32. Reasoning by Debate: When a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak. Setting up a straw man diverts attention from the real issues.






33. Is there a reasonable connection between the cause and the effect? Is that connection explained? Are there other possible causes that have not been considered?






34. The use by a speaker of coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has a different (and negative) meaning for a targeted subgroup of the audience.






35. Reasoning by Proof: A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a person or institution.






36. Claiming that one step in the wrong direction will lead to another - potentially disastrous consequence






37. Fallacy that asserts that given two positions - there exists a compromise between them which must be correct.






38. Appeal to the the pity - sympathy or 'misery' of the audience






39. Concealing the author's true intent - belief - or attitude towards an issue






40. Information the writer asserts as being the result of an event






41. Ambiguity or multiplicity of interpretations of a repeated word or phrase






42. Condemning an argument because of where it began - how it began - or who began it






43. 'To the authority' appeal based on the authority of a source






44. Reasoning by Proof: an argument that because someone worked hard at something - their conclusions must be right






45. Logical reasoning that establishes specific facts or contentions leading to a general conclusion






46. A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented






47. 'it does not follow' drawing a conclusion or making a transition that is not a logical result of the facts






48. Analogy or comparison that is not logically consistent






49. Appeal based on the credibility of the author






50. Citing an expert on one subject as expert on another