Public Speaking Midterm Quizzes

A fallacy of composition is an error of reasoning based on a temporal relationship.

A post hoc fallacy is when someone argues that something is caused by something because it happens after it: The economy got better after So-and-So [Reagan/Clinton] got elected president. (We know that economic cycles rarely have anything to do with who is president.) A fallacy of composition assumes that what's true of the part is true of the whole.

According to the textbook, views on the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life-forms would fall under the category of (choose one) a.) Attitudes b.) Beliefs c.) Values

Beliefs

In this course adaptation to the audience is regarded as an illustration of relativism.

False: Adaptation is premised on the potential for people with different views and values to find degrees of agreement.

An audience-centered approach to public speaking means that the speaker will pander to the audience, i.e., tell them exactly what they want to hear.

False: An audience-centered approach thinks from the position of the audience in order to figure out how to construct an argument that will resonate with them. This is very different from pandering.

An exigence is a timeless requirement of ceremonial occasions.

False: An exigence is an imperfection marked by an urgency. It is an interruption of the social norm, and requires specific immediate local attention.

An exigence is an enduring quality in a community's system of values or beliefs.

False: An exigence is an interruption of the norm, some imperfection that mars the calm front of the status quo.

In Bitzer's theory constraints inhibit the invention of the speaker.

False: As Dr. Arthos said so clearly in the lecture, constraints serve as resources of invention. This is counter-intuitive for everyday usage, but in rhetoric constraints guide the speaker in the discovery of proofs and fire the creative imagination of the speaker to find appropriate persuasive arguments.

According to the textbook, "counterpublics" speak with decorum to ward off threats to the public from outside agitators.

False: Counterpublics exhibit "indecorousness" and are hostile to the norms of a society.

The concept of circulation in the textbook describes how the meanings you create in your speech will only have a direct effect on your audience at that particular moment.

False: Despite the local and particular focus of your words, public speech 'escapes' into the public sphere and has a kind of echo or afterlife or stain. The idea of circulation in the public sphere model means common ideas that are already floating around in public sphere will have an effect on how a speaker's message is understood in the moment, and that the speaker's message in turn will contribute to that common fund of ideas long after she has spoken. Communication is creating the public sphere itself all the time.

Eloquence and sophistry mean more or less the same thing.

False: Eloquence is truth embodied in speech, and sophistry is seductive speech that deceives.

The textbook identifies ethos, pathos and logos as the fallacies that public speakers use as appeals to an audience.

False: Ethos, pathos and logos are broad kinds of appeals in public oral communication. Ethos is defined as the character and credibility of the speaker, pathos as powerful emotions that can be evoked, and logos as reasoning. Fallacies are faulty patterns of reasoning, so they are distortions of logos.

Eye-witness testimony is a highly reliable form of trial evidence.

False: It is often the most convincing to juries, but studies show (e.g., Zak Stambor, APA 37:4 (2006): 26) that it is notoriously unreliable, because memory deceives, and people's values and perspectives affect how they see things.

In the textbook, both the speech communication model and the public sphere model describe how the speaker's intention is implanted in the audience, who then carry out this intention.

False: It is really important that you understand that transmission is not the model of public oral communication in this course. Both the situation and the audience have crucial agency in forming the meanings that develop in these two models. The speaker's intention is only a part of the process, and the speaker's intention can be modified by the audience and the situation. This theme runs through the entire course.

The Greek word "pisteis" means fallacy.

False: Pisteis are literally "persuadables", i.e., speech tools that speakers use to move an audience towards the speaker's conclusion. A pistis could be a fallacy, but it could just as well be a solid proof or reliable warrant. It does not mean fallacy.

Stasis is the technique of expressing multiple perspectives in order to honor the diversity of your audience.

False: Stasis is getting to the knot of the issue, the place where audiences really disagree.

It is sufficient to test an analogy by asking what are its relevant similarities.

False: Testing an analogy requires asking what are its relevant similarities, relevant dissimilarities, and then weighing these similarities and dissimilarities against each other to judge the merit of the analogy.

The inherent issues of a claim are going to be the same for every audience.

False: The inherence of issues will vary depending on the audience you're speaking to, their values and interests, and the history of the issue. The inherency lies in the needs of your audience at that time and place.

The technique for addressing a composite audience is to remove all ambiguity and think of your audience as a universal audience.

False: The lecture mentioned several strategies for speaking to a composite audiences, at least one of which exploits ambiguity.

According to Bitzer, we do not require speech to correct the imperfection of a rhetorical situation

False: The need for speech is precisely what distinguishes a rhetorical situation from just any situation. Some situations demand other types of actions (e.g., shooting an assassin.)

We learn from the textbook that contingency is the normal rule that guides public opinion on an issue.

False: The textbook defines a "contingency" on the first page of the chapter as "some unexpected obstacle, perplexity, or problem."

"God is omniscient because he knows all things" demonstrates the fallacy of the non sequitur.

False: This argument is an example of circular reasoning. It restates the premise rather than telling us something new from the premise. A non sequitur is a claim that doesn't follow from the premise.

In this course "topic" and "claim" are roughly equivalent terms.

False: Topic is only a general subject of discussion (e.g., climate change). A claim is an expression of a particular view about a topic. ("I make the following claim about this topic.")

Topoi are typically evidentiary data or factual documentation.

False: Topoi are things like maxims, pearls of wisdom, community beliefs and opinions (not empirically provable facts).

In our approach to public oral communication, since all perspectives are valid, standards and norms have to be set aside.

False: We respect difference, but we look for common 'places' to build toward agreement.

We understand discourse in this course primarily as a method of delivering a message to an audience.

False: We're interested in understanding how discourse is constitutive of the audience, culture, and ourselves. The statement above would apply to a transmission theory of communication.

Your formal speeches in class will focus mainly on scripted, memorized speech techniques.

False: You will deliver extemp, or extemporaneous, speeches, not memorized, which means your performances will be well prepared, well organized and formal, but using only a few keywords on index cards as reminders. You will have practiced your speech multiple times, but improvise the particular language you use on the spot. This will make your speech more natural and real, and you'll be able to make real human contact with your audience because you're communicating directly with them in the moment.

Which is NOT one of Hofstede's five dimensions of culture? a.) high power vs. low power b.) Individualist vs. collectivist c.) Competitive vs. nurturing d.) High-uncertainty avoidance vs. low-uncertainty avoidance e.) Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation f.) Monotype vs. chronotype

Monotype vs. chronotype

In Maslow's hierarchy, which one of these needs is the most basic? (choose one) a.) The need for safety b.) Social need c.) The need for self-esteem

The need for safety

Plagiarizing (significant non-attribution of sources and quotations, memorizing someone else's work and presenting it as your own, etc.) is a very serious offence in public address as in every field, and is punished severely, subject to both university and course rules (see syllabus).

True

We infer from a sign the existence of what it stands for.

True: A sign is something that stands for something else, and an argument from sign is an inference from the latter to the former.

Whereas a topic is a word or phrase, a claim is a complete propositional sentence.

True: A topic is only a theme. A claim is a speech-act that commits a speaker to a specific view about something.

A warrant can effectively be fashioned out of ethos or style, as well as logical inference, to make the leap from starting points to conclusion.

True: A warrant does not need to be just a logical inference. See lecture.

According to the textbook, in a rhetorical situation speech focuses on logic rather than motives.

True: A whole section of the chapter is devoted to the primacy of the appeal to the audience's structure of motives to resolve a rhetorical situation in accordance with their needs and desires

Rightness of fit is a characteristic rhetorical principle that expresses a flexible standard that depends on judgment rather than some fixed external measure.

True: Aristotle said that the art of rhetoric is useful "where there are no rules or systems to guide us." In the unpredictable, messy hurly-burly of everyday life where there are too many shifting variables for any pre-determined formula, we often have to improvise, employ 'rules-of-thumb', make a "best guess", size things up. Appropriateness in these circumstances is the closest thing to a workable standard.

According to the chapter, our practical judgments are usually determined by the habits and conventions of our everyday lives.

True: Conventions are very powerful in directing our judgments. Public oral communication comes into play in those unusual situations where our habits and conventions are at a loss to determine things.

A circular argument is when the conclusion simply restates the premise in different language.

True: Here is an example: "Freedom of speech is for the common good because the expression of opinions is ultimately in the best interest of all" (TB).

In public oral communication, a claim is a statement someone makes to somebody about something; i.e., it comes from a specific speaking voice in a specific context and is spoken to a specific audience.

True: In classical logic, a proposition stands by itself. The author is irrelevant, and the audience is presumed to be a universal audience. Rhetoric is born out of concrete situations responding to specific needs and particular audiences.

The reciprocity of invention and convention means that relatively stable traditions are modified by innovation, while innovation is disciplined by habit and tradition.

True: Invention is the creative innovation you bring to a speech situation. Conventions are the cultural constraints and genre expectations of your audience.

The textbook encourages you to adapt your message to the specific audience you are speaking to.

True: Public speaking is not about speaking to an abstract universal audience, but to specific audiences with specific and diverse needs that you have to learn and be sensitive to as a speaker. Public oral communication is pragmatic, focused on the specific, concrete task at hand, and the needs of the audience you are speaking to and with.

According to Professor Arthos, the strength of an example as support for an argument is its vividness, and its weakness is that it is such a limited sample.

True: Speech uses examples to make an issue come alive for an audience with truthfully rendered detail, textured description, or potent imagery. It is deceptive to pretend that it's a statistically reliable sample.

The textbook understands speaking as a type of communication interaction that creates meaning through symbols

True: The relationship between symbols and meaning is a complex one that we will study throughout the course, but it's important to realize up front that your speech actually creates meaning through your particular use of symbols. You borrow meaning from those cultural available symbols, but you also modify their meanings through your usage.

In Bitzer's theory, it is the audience, not the speaker, who has the agency to fix the imperfection of a rhetorical situation.

True: The speaker is only the midwife, so to speak. It is the audience who is capable of remedying the imperfection marked by urgency of a rhetorical situation.

Part of the skill of composing a good speech on a complicated topic is to organize your main ideas so that they cover the inherent issues of your claim both fully and efficiently.

True: The textbook gives good advice on the criteria for composing and organizing main points in the body of your speech. They should essential, simple, discrete, balanced coherent, and complete.

According to the textbook, the "transmission theory" of communication was modeled on the technology of the telephone, using the idea that communication information is carried along a channel to a receiver.

True: The transmission theory of communication depicts listeners as passive recipients of messages, and the mode of communication is irrelevant to the meaning.

According to the textbook, the purpose of the rhetorical situation is not the purpose of the speaker, but the purpose for the event.

True: This is a direct quote. Again, the speaker is only a midwife to serve the needs of the situation. The event has the agency: It dictates what the range of audience responses should be, the kind of speech that is given, etc.

According to your textbook, the "thesis statement" is the principal claim of your speech (what I am called "the" claim), and the "main ideas" are the inherent ideas that spring from your claim and organize the sections of your speech.

True: To quote the textbook: "The thesis statement is the principal claim of your speech, the statement you want listeners to accept. When you ask questions about your thesis statement, you identify the issues that you must address in order to establish the thesis."

Transmission suggests there is no interpretation necessary for understanding a message, since it's just packets of information, and that the message is unaffected by the context of time or place of the sender or the receiver, since it's pure information.

True: Transmission is pure information transfer - straight no chaser.

In public oral communication, constraints are not bad; they are the resources of rhetorical invention.

True: We probably normally think of constraints as a bad thing, as a limitation rather than an opportunity. In rhetoric, constraints provide the boundaries for you to work within (just as artists sometimes do the best work and will often become highly creative when they have limited materials to work with.) So you know you have only five minutes to present a complex argument; that gives you a good gauge of what kind of efficiency you'll have to employ in boiling down your source materials.

The inherent issues or main ideas you need to cover under your speech claim are those that have to be addressed for your audience to be persuaded.

True: When you make a claim, your audience needs certain issues to be addressed; that is the very definition of inherency. If you don't address these issues, your audience will be probably go away unsatisfied and unconvinced. You should cut out any issues that do not adhere to this rule.

According to the textbook, choosing professional achievement over family life falls under the category of (choose one) a.) Attitudes b.) Beliefs c.) Values

Values