2024 – 1 Name the rhetorical device that tries to sidetrack someone by bringing up a related but irrelevant topic

1 Name the rhetorical device that tries to sidetrack someone by bringing up a related but irrelevant topic.
A) appeal to popularity
B) bandwagon
C) subjectivist fallacy
D) common practice
E) smokescreen

2  Name the rhetorical device that is based on the view called relativism, that what is true for one is not true for another.
A) peer pressure
B) ridicule
C) appeal to pity
D) smokescreen
E) subjectivist fallacy

3 Name the rhetorical device that encourages the acceptance of a claim on the grounds that it is already accepted by some substantial number of others.
A) two wrongs make a right
B) appeal to popularity
C) wishful thinking
D) common practice
E) apple polishing

4 Name the rhetorical device that tries to justify an action on the grounds that it is normal behavior, accepted by all or most people.
A) peer pressure
B) apple polishing
C) appeal to anger
D) subjectivist fallacy
E) common practice

5 Name the rhetorical device that argues for a course of action on the grounds that taking this course will win the approval of others and especially of one’s friends.
A) appeal to pity
B) bandwagon
C) two wrongs make a right
D) common practice
E) peer pressure

6 Name the rhetorical device that plays on our desire to be on the winning team.
A) subjectivist fallacy
B) wishful thinking
C) bandwagon
D) appeal to pity
E) common practice

7 Name the rhetorical device that supports a claim on the grounds that the alternative is too awful to deal with.
A) subjectivist fallacy
B) common practice
C) wishful thinking
D) two wrongs make a right
E) scare tactics

8 Name the rhetorical device that uses a threat instead of good reasons to get someone to accept a claim.
A) subjectivist fallacy
B) scare tactics
C) appeal to pity
D) appeal to anger
E) common practice

9 Name the rhetorical device that plays on your compassion to get you to accept a claim instead of relying on sound reasons.
A) appeal to anger
B) appeal to popularity
C) appeal to pity
D) wishful thinking
E) subjectivist fallacy

10 Name the rhetorical device that might also be called an appeal to vanity.
A) appeal to popularity
B) common practice
C) wishful thinking
D) two wrongs make a right
E) apple polishing

11 Name the rhetorical device that attempts to use your anger about something to get you to accept a claim, even though the anger is not presented as relevant to the truth of the claim.
A) appeal to anger
B) smokescreen
C) peer pressure
D) scare tactics
E) ridicule

12 Biker: I refuse to buy a Japanese motorcycle. I don’t believe in doing business with communist countries. Reporter: But Japan isn’t communist. Biker: Well to me they are.
A) No fallacy
B) subjectivism
C) group thinking fallacy
D) wishful thinking

13 Officer: Excuse me, sir. Do you know how fast you were going? Driver: I never get over the sight of you mounted policemen. How do you leap down off the horse’s back so fast? And you must have them well trained, not to run away when you dismount.
A) No fallacy
B) argument by force
C) two wrongs make a right
D) apple polishing

14 Dear Editors: When Al Zacharkiw wrote in to criticize city workers, he didn’t mention his occupation. Maybe he’s a millionaire without a care in the world, that he has the time to criticize people working for him—if he’s even a taxpayer.
A) No fallacy
B) guilt trip
C) argument from outrage
D) argument by force

15 Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: My client stands before you accused of three bank robberies. But the prosecution has not told you about three little children in this story, who will have a hard time getting food on their table if their daddy goes to prison.
A) No fallacy
B) argument from pity
C) argument from popularity
D) rationalizing

16 My opponent would like to see TV networks label their programming, on the grounds that violent shows make children who watch them violent. But everyone knows a couple of shows can’t change your personality.
A) No fallacy
B) two wrongs make a right
C) group think fallacy
D) argument from popularity

17 There must be life on other planets. Imagine how lonely we’ll find the universe if we discover that we’re the only ones here.
A) No fallacy
B) argument from force
C) wishful thinking
D) subjectivism

18 Judge Cunningham keeps striking down our state gun-control laws. She had better say good-bye to any hopes for a Supreme Court appointment, as long as we have a Democrat in the White House.
A) No fallacy
B) apple polishing
C) guilt trip
D) argument by force

19 I’m a disabled Vietnam veteran. Why can I only get a six-month license to sell pretzels from my pushcart? You have to be a foreigner with a Green Card to make a living in this country.
A) No fallacy
B) arguments from both outrage and pity
C) rationalizing
D) two wrongs make a right

20 The United States is under no obligation to pay its debts to the United Nations. Here we are, the biggest contributor to the UN budget, and we only get one vote out of 185.
A) No fallacy
B) common practice
C) two wrongs make a right
D) guilt trip

 

21 How can Muslims be opposed to alcoholic beverages? People have been drinking them since before the beginning of history.
A) No fallacy
B) argument from tradition
C) group think fallacy
D) subjectivism

22 Why do you take a bus to work when most people drive?
A) No fallacy
B) rationalizing
C) argument from popularity
D) common practice

23 Give that woman a dollar. I see her on this corner every day crying. And she seems to be ill.
A) No fallacy
B) guilt trip
C) apple polishing
D) argument by force

24 Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes my proposal. You know that I trust and honor your judgment. Even if you do not approve my request, I am happy just to have had the chance to present this proposal to such qualified experts. Thank you.
A) No fallacy
B) apple polishing
C) common practice
D) argument from outrage

25 Letter to the editor: Your magazine expresses sympathy for Annie Larson, a putative “fashion victim” because “animal rights terrorists” splashed paint on her mink coat. But when I think of those dozens of animals maimed and anally electrocuted to satisfy someone’s vanity, I know who the real victims are, and who’s the terrorist.
A) No fallacy
B) subjectivism
C) two wrongs make a right
D) wishful thinking

26 I don’t want to vote for this sleazebag, but my father would turn over in his grave if I ever voted Republican.
A) No fallacy
B) argument from pity
C) argument from popularity
D)  guilt trip

27 Pynchon is where it’s at. All the Alpha Kappas read him.
A) No fallacy
B) subjectivism
C) group think fallacy
D) apple polishing

28 She’ll be glad I spent the night out drinking. I’m giving her some personal space.
A) No fallacy
B) rationalizing
C) argument from popularity
D) two wrongs make a right

29 There must be an afterlife. Wherever you find human beings you find their minds naturally returning to this thought.
A) No fallacy
B) common practice
C) argument from popularity
D) group think fallacy