Chapter 20: Methods of Persuasion
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, what makes one person more
persuasive than another are all of the following EXCEPT
a. ethos.
b. pathos.
c. logos.
d. mythos.
2. Ethos is
a. the ability to convince the audience of your competence, good character, and
charisma.
b. the ability to use logical proof to demonstrate the reasonableness of arguments.
c. the ability to develop empathy and passion in others.
d. the number of people you have persuaded.
3. Pathos is
a. the ability to convince the audience of your competence, good character, and
charisma.
b. the ability to use logical proof to demonstrate the reasonableness of arguments.
c. the ability to develop empathy and passion in others.
d. the number of people you have persuaded.
4. Logos is
a. the ability to convince the audience of your competence, good character, and
charisma.
b. the ability to use logical proof to demonstrate the reasonableness of arguments.
c. the ability to develop empathy and passion in others.
d. the number of people you have persuaded.
5. The focus of your attention should go to the members of the audience who are
a. on your side.
b. against you.
c. undecided.
d. uninterested.
6. ______ credibility refers to how receivers perceive you before you speak.
a. Terminal
b. Initial
c. Derived
d. Complex
7. ______ credibility refers to how they perceive you while you are speaking.
a. Terminal
b. Initial
c. Derived
d. Complex
8. ______ credibility refers to how the audience perceives you after you have finished
your speech.
a. Terminal
b. Initial
c. Derived
d. Complex
9. A ______ is a statement that direct observation can prove true or false.
a. fact
b. judgment
c. deduction
d. reason
10. We can often summarize a group of observations with
a. facts.
b. statistics.
c. reasons.
d. judgments.
11. ______ are numbers summarizing a group of observations.
a. Claims
b. Statistics
c. Data
d. Facts
12. Statistics are helpful in all of the following EXCEPT
a. tricking people into seeing your side.
b. showing contrasts and comparisons in observed data.
c. emphasizing distinctive patterns and significant differences.
d. magnifying distinctive patterns and significant differences.
13. Both real and hypothetical ______ and illustrations are used to support facts a
speaker wants audience members to accept.
a. illustrations
b. examples
c. narratives
d. facts
14. ______ serve as extended examples to add more drama to messages.
a. Illustrations
b. Statistics
c. Reasons
d. Facts
15. ______ should be fair, unbiased, appropriate, and from a recognized expert.
a. Testimony
b. Example
c. Narrative
d. Fact
16. The ______ is a conclusion we draw based on a fact.
a. deduction
b. judgment
c. reason
d. inference
17. The ______ is a logical and persuasive relationship that explains how you get to
your claim from the data you offer.
a. warrant
b. reason
c. rebuttal
d. claim
18. The ______ represents potential counterarguments, at times proffered during the
initial argument.
a. warrant
b. reason
c. rebuttal
d. claim
19. When you use ______ reasoning, you move from the general to the specific.
a. inductive
b. deductive
c. logical
d. casual
20. Which of the following is NOT a part of a syllogism?
a. An introduction
b. A major premise
c. A minor premise
d. A conclusion
21. Which of the following is NOT a need according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
a. Safety
b. Love and belonging
c. Money
d. Esteem
22. The fourth tier of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs focuses on our
a. safety needs.
b. esteem needs.
c. need for love.
d. need for self-actualization.
23. Persuasion is traditionally a ______ process.
a. step-by-step process
b. one-step process
c. two-step process
d. continuous flux
24. One way to convince audience members to accept or act on your proposition is to
demonstrate for them that a current situation has created an inconsistency in their lives
and that you can help them restore their lives to a ______ state.
a. balanced
b. fair
c. new
d. old
25. Which of the following are reasoning fallacies?
a. Hasty generalization
b. Blue herring
c. Appeal to common sense
d. Name-calling
26. When you put a ______ in your speech, you lead your audience to consider an
irrelevant issue instead of the subject actually under discussion.
a. post hoc ergo propter hoc
b. slippery slope
c. red herring
d. hasty generalization
27. When you ignore another’s position by using an inequivalent, distorted,
exaggerated, or misrepresented argument to substitute for it, you are depending on a
a. grass man.
b. straw man.
c. weed man.
d. hay man.
28. Which of the following is a slippery slope fallacy?
a. Being too quick to draw an inference
b. Asserting that one action will set in motion a chain of events
c. Lead your audience to consider an irrelevant issue instead of the subject actually
under discussion
d. Requiring your audience to choose between two options
29. When you ask your audience to reject an idea because of a flaw in a person
associated with that idea, you are using a(n):
a. name-calling
b. a glittering generality
c. bandwagon appeal
d. argument ad hominem
Short Answer
30. ______ is the ability to use logical proof to demonstrate the reasonableness of
argument(s).
31. ______ credibility refers to how the audience perceives you after your speech.
32. A ______ is a statement that direct observation can prove true or false.
33. Deductive reasons take the form of______, which are patterns to structure
arguments.
34. When reasoning from ______ we compare like things and conclude that because
they are comparable in a number of ways, they also are comparable in another, new
respect.
35. A ______ fallacy is a flawed reason.
36. You find yourself on a ______ when asserting that one action will set in motion a
chain of events.
True/False
37. Pathos is the ability to develop empathy and passion in others.
38. Examples and illustrations can be real or hypothetical.
39. Your claim is a debatable conclusion or assertion; it is the proposition or thesis you
hope to prove.
40. Reasoning that unites two or more events to prove that one or more of them caused
the other is referred to as logical reasoning.
41. Persuasion is traditionally a step-by-step process.
42. You make a hasty generalization when you are too quick to draw an inference and
thus jump to a conclusion based on too little evidence.
43. The appeal to popular opinion is also known as the false dilemma.
44. A speaker who makes receivers feel overly fearful in order to accomplish his or her
goals often ends up escalating the legitimate fears of receivers.
Essay
45. Describe and exemplify inductive reasoning.
46. Discuss where you should you put your best point in a persuasive speech and why.
Ans: Area to explain: Put your strongest point up front to win audience members to your
47. Discuss and exemplify a “false dilemma.”
48. What is an appeals to misplaced authority?
Ans: Area to explain: An appeal to misplaced authority asks us to endorse an idea
49. Why should you avoid using fallacies?
Ans: Area to explain: Examples of dishonesty, they undermine reason and rational