Twenty Special Forms of Rhetoric

# Proof by Name Dropping

A: What do you think about objection X?

B: Well, BigNamei, BigNamej, and BigNamek agree with me. LittleNamei might agree with you, if only they were that silly.

# Proof by Absentee Belittlement

A: What do you think about objection X?

B: Person C, who is not here to defend themselves, thinks that. They are silly. You are silly.

# Proof by Humility

A: What do you think about objection X?

B: You state that so forcefully. I could be wrong. You seem so sure of yourself. That is silly.

# Proof by Humiliation

A: What do you think about objection X?

B: Have you read Book Z, or Book Y, even Book W?

A: Well, no.

B: That explains why you asked such a question. Sit down silly person. —Twenty Special Forms of Rhetoric (Speculative Grammarian)

That is silly.

One thought on “Twenty Special Forms of Rhetoric

  1. How wonderful! It’s funny: your site was my first stop after registering for this year’s MLA, and I think 98% of MLA post-panel Q&A interactions could be categorized as one of those twenty special forms. Great find, Dennis.

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