Language Analysis - Devices You Don't See Too Often, Which Can Get You Marks

Argumentum ad logicam: arguing that because an argument contains a logical fallacy the argument in its entirety must therefore be discarded. Example: The opposing argument contains an appeal to emotion (pathos), the author criticises the opponent’s use of pathos as though it constitutes the bulk of the argument, positioning the reader to feel indignant about being manipulated by the opposition, and to feel that they can disregard the opponent’s argument in its entirety since it is evidently based on fallacious logic. Ad hominen attack: an attack made against an opponent. For example, by insinuating that the opponent is untrustworthy this positions the reader to think that the opponent’s argument must also be untrustworthy. Argumentum ad populum: Making an argument based on the notion that it ‘must be true’, because the majority of people believe so (‘so many people can’t be wrong’). Coming Full Circle: When something returns to where it began. Used to establish the cyclical nature of something. Example: (2011 Exam) Helen Day’s history lesson suggests that symbolism of the tattoo has come full circle: It started off as a means of branding “unconsenting [the] backs of prisoners and slaves”, it then became a satirical symbol of rebellion against oppression (“Convicts were known to mock the King by having the words, ‘Property of Mother England’ etched into the flesh on their backs.”), and it later became a symbol of feminist rebellion against chauvinism, but the tattoo has “been commodified and now performs, more or less, as it originally did; it is fashion’s proprietary mark.” In this way Helen Day suggests that we have failed to learn from the past, and therefore have allowed history to repeat itself, by allowing ourselves to become slaves to fashion. Dog whistle: using coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but which can be understood by a specific subgroup. In American politics this is often used to complain about minorities without