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Answer Key
1. C
2. A
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1. The _____ fallacy is best illustrated by the phrase “Because I said so.”
A) red herring
B) ad populum
C) appeal to authority
D) straw-person
2. The Greek word _____ was used by early scholars of public speaking to refer to
reasoning.
A) logos
B) ethos
C) pathos
D) mythos
3. A true _____ includes a claim, some evidence, and reasoning linking the two.
A) premise
B) argument
C) negotiation
D) conversation
4. _____ is defined as the ability to make an inference or a judgment based on the evidence.
A) Persuasion
B) Negotiation
C) Argumentation
D) Reasoning
5. An argument is better seen as a _____ than a fight.
A) conversation
B) competition
C) negotiation
D) contest
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6. The attorneys’ opening and closing statements in a courtroom trial are examples of
A) arguments.
B) evidence.
C) warrants.
D) premises.
7. Which is an example of an inductive argument?
A) Marcus is a pro hockey player; therefore, he has strong legs.
B) All bachelors are unmarried. Jose is a bachelor. Therefore, Jose is unmarried.
C) My dog loves carrots. My sister’s dog loves carrots. My friend’s dog loves carrots.
Therefore, most dogs love carrots.
D) Sigrid is a mother; therefore, she worries.
8. Everyday arguments are enthymematic because they depend on
A) major and minor premises.
B) unstated premises.
C) claims and evidence.
D) warrants.
9. Which is an example of a deductive argument?
A) Every pig I’ve ever seen has had a curly tail, so all pigs have curly tails.
B) Pigs are mammals. Babe is a pig. Therefore, Babe is a mammal.
C) Animal scientists confirm that not all pigs have curly tails.
D) That animal has a curly tail; therefore, it must be a pig.
10. _____ concern(s) the study of how people argue on an everyday basis by leaving some
things unstated.
A) Formal logic
B) Informal logic
C) Argumentation
D) Fallacies
11. _____ is an analytical study of reasoning processes and is frequently limited to the
rigorous examination of propositions and their meanings.
A) Formal logic
B) Informal logic
C) Argumentation
D) Logic
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12. Every student accepted into this college must have a high school diploma. Terrance has
been accepted into this college; therefore, he must have a high school diploma. This is an
example of
A) an enthymeme.
B) a syllogism.
C) a claim.
D) a premise.
13. Accountants are smart. Orlando is an accountant. Therefore, Orlando is smart. This is
called
A) an enthymeme.
B) a syllogism.
C) a claim.
D) a premise.
14. Errol’s hamster, Buck, has a beating heart; therefore, Buck is alive. This type of
argument is called
A) an enthymeme.
B) a syllogism.
C) a claim.
D) a premise.
15. Which type of claim asserts that something has happened, is happening, or will happen
or asserts that something is true?
A) definition
B) fact
C) value
D) policy
16. “Rain is forecast for tomorrow” is a claim of
A) definition.
B) fact.
C) value.
D) policy.
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17. “Congress should pass legislation to curb carbon emissions from livestock farms” is a
claim of
A) definition.
B) fact.
C) value.
D) policy.
18. For Stephen Toulmin, the _____ is the unstated or missing part and, at the same time, the
most important part of an argument.
A) claim
B) evidence
C) premise
D) warrant
19. Another word for warrant is
A) evidence.
B) premise.
C) reasoning.
D) argument.
20. An explicit statement about your central claim is called your
A) premise.
B) thesis.
C) warrant.
D) argument.
21. According to the Medical News Today website, polio is a highly infectious viral
infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. This is a specific type of
fact claim called a claim of
A) expertise.
B) definition.
C) testimony.
D) evidence.
22. How is the Toulmin model different from the traditional model of argument?
A) It is horizontal.
B) It has more components.
C) It is more logically sound.
D) It has premises.
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23. Identify the claim of policy that can be inferred from this claim of value: “The death
penalty is an inhumane way to punish people who have been convicted of crimes.”
A) The death penalty is ineffective.
B) The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment.
C) The death penalty should be abolished.
D) The death penalty is inefficient.
24. A fallacy is defined as
A) a fallacious statement made by mistake.
B) an error in reasoning.
C) a deliberate attempt to deceive using faulty reasoning.
D) a form of humor or deception that invalidates an argument.
25. Which fallacy diverts an audience away from an issue to a person?
A) ad baculum
B) ad misericordiam
C) ad populum
D) ad hominem
26. Identify the fallacy that this statement exemplifies: “Members of the jury, you can’t vote
to send this woman to prison. She has two young children who need their mother.”
A) ad baculum
B) ad misericordiam
C) ad populum
D) ad hominem
27. Identify the fallacy in this statement: “If we lose this contract, the company will have to
close, and we’ll all starve.”
A) slippery slope
B) straw person
C) non sequitur
D) either-or
28. Serena says to her boyfriend, “Barry, you ate my leftover chicken wings again.” Barry
responds, “Serena, you looked lovely at dinner last night.” Which of the following fallacies is
Barry engaging in?
A) straw person
B) ad hominem
C) red herring
D) either-or
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29. Identify the fallacy in this statement: “This town is more than six hundred years old;
therefore, we have no mayor.”
A) red herring
B) non sequitur
C) either-or
D) straw person
30. Identify the fallacy in this statement: “You must pass this chemistry class, or you will
never graduate from college.”
A) red herring
B) non sequitur
C) slippery slope
D) either-or
31. Identify the fallacy in this statement: Ben, age sixteen, says to his father, “Why won’t
you let us play on the train tracks? You never want us to have any fun.”
A) red herring
B) ad populum
C) straw person
D) slippery slope
32. Ingrid wants to wear her mother’s wedding dress for Halloween. Ingrid’s mother says she
may not wear it and offers no explanation, other than to say, “I am your mother, and I don’t have
to explain myself.” What fallacy does this illustrate?
A) non sequitur
B) red herring
C) appeal to authority
D) ad misericordiam
33. A magazine features several pages of photos of celebrities wearing the same style of
shoe. Which type of fallacy does this imply?
A) either-or
B) red herring
C) straw person
D) bandwagon
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34. At one time most people believed the earth to be flat. What fallacy did this illustrate?
A) ad populum
B) bandwagon
C) red herring
D) non sequitur
35. The manager of a grocery store tells her employees, “I expect everyone to vote for me as
Manager of the Year. If you don’t plan to do that, turn in your name tag, and consider this your
last day.” What fallacy does this illustrate?
A) ad misericordiam
B) ad baculum
C) ad populum
D) ad hominem
36. Petra’s mother says to her, “If you flunk out of college, you’ll never get a job, and you’ll
end up living on the street.” This is an example of the _____ fallacy.
A) red herring
B) straw-person
C) non sequitur
D) slippery slope
37. Kaitlin says to her landlord, “I know we haven’t paid rent for three months, but if you
evict us, where will my kitten live?” Which fallacy does this illustrate?
A) ad baculum
B) ad misericordiam
C) red herring
D) straw person
38. Identify the fallacy in this statement: “We should deny Santos’s request to join the chess
team. He has tattoos!”
A) ad hominem
B) slippery slope
C) bandwagon
D) straw person
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39. The organizational patterns most commonly used with persuasive speeches of fact are
temporal (chronological) and
A) topical.
B) problem-solution.
C) cause-effect.
D) refutation.
40. Persuasive arguments of _____ almost always imply a policy argument.
A) fact
B) definition
C) value
D) need
41. In a persuasive speech that is advancing a value claim regarding free speech, the
paradigm would be
A) the law.
B) the U.S. Constitution.
C) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
D) Monroe’s motivated sequence.
42. _____ arguments focus on issues of uncertainty, so they tend to be studied the most
when considering persuasive speaking.
A) Fact
B) Value
C) Policy
D) Emotional
43. _____ can be used to think about how best to compose the need step of the motivated
sequence.
A) Common sense
B) Maslow’s hierarchy
C) Paradigms
D) Visualization
44. Alan Monroe says the magic of persuasion happens in the _____ step of the motivated
sequence.
A) need
B) satisfaction
C) visualization
D) action
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45. The _____ step of the motivated sequence helps the audience imagine the outcome of the
proposed solution.
A) attention
B) need
C) satisfaction
D) visualization
46. The _____ step of the motivated sequence introduces your central policy claim.
A) attention
B) need
C) satisfaction
D) action
47. The problem that requires a solution is introduced in the _____ step of the motivated
sequence.
A) attention
B) need
C) visualization
D) action
48. In the _____ step of the motivated sequence, you directly and explicitly ask the audience
to do something to effect change.
A) need
B) satisfaction
C) visualization
D) action
49. The _____ organizational pattern was specifically designed for making policy
arguments.
A) motivated sequence
B) temporal
C) topical
D) cause and effect