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  2. Red herring - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring

    The character's name is a loose Italian translation of "red herring" (aringa rosa; rosa actually meaning ' pink ', and very close to rossa, ' red '). [ 9 ] A red herring is found in the first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet , where the murderer writes at the crime scene the word Rache ('revenge' in German), leading the police—and ...

  3. Plot device - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_device

    The function of a red herring is to divert the audience's attention away from something significant. Red herrings are very common plot devices in mystery, horror, and crime stories. The typical example is in whodunits, in which facts are presented so that the audience is tricked into thinking that an innocent character is the murderer.

  4. Propaganda techniques - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques

    Red herring Presenting data or issues that, while compelling, are irrelevant to the argument at hand, and then claiming that it validates the argument. [citation needed] In 1807, William Cobbett wrote how he used red herrings to lay a false trail, while training hunting dogs—an apocryphal story that was probably the origin of the idiom ...

  5. MacGuffin - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin

    The use of a MacGuffin as a plot device predates the name MacGuffin. The Holy Grail of Arthurian legend has been cited as an early example of a MacGuffin. The Holy Grail is the desired object that is essential to initiate and advance the plot, but the final disposition of the Grail is never revealed, suggesting that the object is not of significance in itself. [8]

  6. Chekhov's gun - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov's_gun

    A common misconception is that the reveal itself is a Chekhov's gun plot element. There are however exceptions in the James Bond films; in Licence to Kill for example, Bond gets an instant camera with a built-in laser gun that takes X-ray pictures, but is immediately used for comedic effect and makes no further appearance in the film.

  7. Appeal to emotion - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion

    The power of emotions to influence judgment, including political attitudes, has been recognized since classical antiquity. Aristotle, in his treatise Rhetoric, described emotional arousal as critical to persuasion, "The orator persuades by means of his hearers, when they are roused to emotion by his speech; for the judgments we deliver are not the same when we are influenced by joy or sorrow ...

  8. Plot twist - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_twist

    A red herring is a false clue intended to lead investigators toward an incorrect solution. [17] This device usually appears in detective novels and mystery fiction . The red herring is a type of misdirection , a device intended to distract the protagonist , and by extension the reader, away from the correct answer or from the site of pertinent ...

  9. Fallacy - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy

    Examples of this include the speaker or writer: [48] Diverting the argument to unrelated issues with a red herring (Ignoratio elenchi) Insulting someone's character (argumentum ad hominem) Assuming the conclusion of an argument, a kind of circular reasoning, also called "begging the question" (petitio principii) Making jumps in logic (non sequitur)