Subscribe

8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 14 of 14

Analogy, Contrast & Fallacies

Analogy and juxtaposition, bandwagon appeals and circular reasoning.

What your child practices

Your child explains how analogy and juxtaposition work and spots bandwagon appeals and circular reasoning in arguments and ads.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 8.9(G) · analogy, juxtaposition, bandwagon appeals and circular reasoning

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An analogy explains something by comparing it to something alike in important ways. Juxtaposition places two things side by side to show contrast.
  2. A bandwagon appeal says do it because everyone else is.
  3. Circular reasoning uses the claim itself as its own reason.

Example: “This book is the best because it’s better than all the others.” What is this? “Best” and “better than all others” say the same thing. The reason just repeats the claim. Answer: circular reasoning

Analogy, Contrast & Fallacies in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 14 of 14 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Roots: ast, qui, path, mand, duc.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    “The heart is a pump that pushes blood through pipes.” What is being compared?

    • the heart and a pump
    • the heart and the lungs
    • blood and water only
    • pipes and veins only

  2. Question 2

    “Ninety percent of teens use this app, so it must be safe.” What is the flaw?

    • Popularity doesn't prove safety.
    • It uses an analogy.
    • It uses juxtaposition.
    • It has no claim.

  3. Question 3

    What is juxtaposition?

    • repeating a word
    • comparing two similar things
    • placing two very different things side by side to show contrast
    • asking a question

  4. Question 4

    Why do writers use analogies?

    • to make a hard idea easier to understand
    • to attack an opponent
    • to repeat the claim
    • to prove a claim with data

  5. Question 5

    What is an analogy?

    • a list of facts
    • a fallacy about popularity
    • a question with no answer
    • a comparison that explains one thing by showing how it is like another

  6. Question 6

    Which response best answers a bandwagon appeal?

    • “Then I'll do it too.”
    • “Lots of people doing it doesn't show it's a good idea; what's the evidence?”
    • “Everyone agrees, so it's true.”
    • “That's an analogy.”

More 8th grade