fallacies

Question 1

pathos appeal

Answer 1

• emotional appeal
• relies on feelings / instincts / opinions
• essence = passion

Question 2

ethos appeal

Answer 2

• ethical appeal

- writers character is basis for appeal

Question 3

logos appeal

Answer 3

• logical appeal

- writer presents a series of reasonable observations and a conclusion to establish reliable claim or position

Question 4

how to counter argue

Answer 4

• know opponents argument / strongest points

- writer anticipates objections and opposing arguments

Question 5

establishing credibility

Answer 5

• reasonably define issue
• avoid misrepresenting opponents point of view
• authoritative sources / well-reasoned/supported argument is effective
• qualify / limit your argument

Question 6

define fallacies

Answer 6

errors in reasoning / logic

Question 7

define / give example of propaganda

Answer 7

• systematic spreading of information, especially in a biased or misleading way in order to promote a political cause or pov
• EX: political speeches, commercials, art, tv, movies, newspaper, magazine articles, and everyday conversations

Question 8

pathos fallacy

Answer 8

-like a sob story, uses emotion to distract the audience from the facts and to manipulate the audience into drawing unjustified conclusions
EX: the thousands of baby seals killed in the Exxon Valdez oil spill have shown us oil isn’t a reliable energy source

Question 9

oversimplification

Answer 9

provides easy answers to complicated questions, often by appealing to emotions rather than logic

Question 10

red herrings

Answer 10

misleading / unrelated evidence to support a conclusion

Question 11

scare tactics

Answer 11

try to frighten people into agreeing with the arguer by threatening them or predicting unrealistically dire consequences

Question 12

ad populum

Answer 12

• AKA bandwagon appeals
• encourage an audience to agree with the writer because everyone else is doing it so
• “to the crowd”

Question 13

glittering generalities

Answer 13

emotionally-appealing words that are meant to evoke action

Question 14

false authority

Answer 14

asks audiences to agree with the assertion of a writer based simply on his / her character or the authority of another person / institution who may not be fully qualified to offer that assertion

Question 15

using authority instead of evidence

Answer 15

• AKA testimonials

- occurs when someone offers personal authority as proof

Question 16

failing to accept the burden of proof

Answer 16

• AKA assertion
• the assertion of a claim without presenting a reasoned argument to support it
• propagandist rarely argues
• just makes bold statements

Question 17

guilt by association

Answer 17

• AKA transfer

- calls a person’s character into question by examining the character of that person’s associates

Question 18

ad hominem

Answer 18

• AKA name calling

- arguments that attack a person’s character rather than that person’s reasoning

Question 19

lying

Answer 19

major tool of the propagandist

Question 20

plain folks

Answer 20

approach that politicians use to make a candidate seem like a everyday guy or gal in order to make the candidate seem more trustworthy / credible

Question 21

hasty generalization

Answer 21

draw general and premature conclusions from scanty evidence

Question 22

faulty causality

Answer 22

• arguments confuse chronology with causation

- one event can occur after another without being caused by it

Question 23

stacked evidence

Answer 23

• AKA card stacking
• AKA slanting
• represents only one side of the issue, thus distorting the issue

Question 24

circular reasoning

Answer 24

• AKA begging the question

- occurs when a writer simply restates the claim in a different way

Question 25

repetition

Answer 25

technique that is used to drum the message into the target audience’s subconscious by repeating key words or phrases over and over until resistance to the message weakens, and the target audience eventually accepts it

Question 26

pinpointing the enemy

Answer 26

when a person or a propagandist often tries to find an enemy - real or imagined - to attack

Question 27

rhetorical questions

Answer 27

when a person or propagandist peppers his/her speeches with questions which he intends to answering himself not wanting listeners to answer them because they do not want the audience to think for themselves