Methods of Reasoning

What reasoning were you supposed to use in the text? Were you supposed to follow a process (what happened first, second, third; a, b, c)? Were you following Aristotelian logic, deductive or inductive reasoning? Whichever method you were following, make sure it was followed properly. Check carefully throughout the whole text. Here’s a list of common reasoning errors to look for:

• Non sequiturs: something that has nothing to do with what’s being discussed (This is a dog. The dog is brown. The sky is blue. The dog likes to play ball.)
• Hasty Generalization: when an incorrect conclusion which is reached through a limited number of premises. (That’s a dog. The dog is brown. All dogs are brown.)
• Circular argument: when an argument is just restated rather than proved. (That’s a dog. It’s a brown dog. We know it’s a brown dog because it’s a dog.)
• Ad hominem: when the writer attacks the person rather than the facts (That other author obviously knows nothing about dogs.)
• Ad populum: when the writer appeals to the reader’s emotions rather than using facts. (Even if the dog isn’t brown, it should be considered brown because brown is an honest, noble color for a dog and we all love brown dogs.)
• Red Herring: when a writer makes the reader pay attention to something other than the facts. (Seals like to play with balls, too.)