A Trope Recognition Exercise

Click on the appropriate name for the trope illustrated in the example. If a portion of the sentence is in italics, identify the device in the italicized section. To return to this page from the answer screen, hit the <BACK> on your browser. Be sure you can explain what in the example permits you to identify the fallacy.

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.." Abraham Lincoln, Gettsyburg Address

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.." Abraham Lincoln, Gettsyburg Address

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.." Abraham Lincoln, Gettsyburg Address

" . . . that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth ." Abraham Lincoln, Gettsyburg Address

" And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?" I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there. I would move on by Greece and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon. And I would watch them around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and aesthetic life of man. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even go by the way that the man for whom I am named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church of Wittenberg. But I wouldn't stop there. I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating President by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but "fear itself. " But I wouldn't stop there. Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, "If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy." Martin Luther King, Speech at Memphis

The zipper was undoubtedly the most significant invention for the advance of Western civilization.

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. " John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address

" In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism." Spiro Agnew, San Diego California

" "The gloves didn't fit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." Johnny Cochran, Closing Arguments from the O.J. Simpson Trial

"Once again, the heart of America is heavy . The spirit of America weeps for a tragedy that denies the very meaning of our land." Lyndon Baines Johnson

"Can anyone look at our reduced standing in the world today and say, 'Let's have four more years of this?'" Ronald Reagan, 1980 Republican National Convention Acceptance Address

What's Wrong with Kansas? Title of a book criticizing Americans for their conservatism

"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night , good luck , a merry Christmas , and God bless all of you , all of you on the good earth ." Frank Borman, Astronaut, from the moon, 1968

Said, in anticipation of a very difficult task: "Piece of cake!"

There is no way, if I may be the one to say so, that he is going to be able to overcome that problem.