Media Literacy,
Persuasive Techniques,
and Rhetorical Fallacies
MEDIA
the means of communication that reach or
influence people widely
•Radio
•Television
•Newspapers
•Magazines
•Internet
LITERACY
Being educated or having skill in a specific field
BIAS
Prejudices or favoritism someone has that makes
him/her think or feel a certain way
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO
HAVE MEDIA LITERACY?
We get the majority of our information for
worldly affairs from the media. It is important
to be able to pick out truth from persuasion.
We rarely get a chance to have first hand
experiences with many of the things that
happen in the world, so we’re at the mercy of
the media to inform us.
WHAT SORTS OF NEWS STORIES MIGHT
CONTAIN BIAS THAT YOU’D NEED TO BE
AWARE OF?
•War
•Foreign Affairs
•Local
Shootings
•Local Stories about Schools
•Pretty much ANY kind of news story
PERSUASION
Playing on an audiences’ emotions
To get them to…
•accept a certain belief or opinion
•to adopt a certain behavior
and/or
•to perform a certain action
Basically making them feel like they should
agree with you by messing with their emotions!
THREE TYPES OF
PERSUASIVE APPEAL
•Ethos
(creditability) – builds on the speaker’s
creditability or authority to persuade the audience.
We tend to believe or listen to people we respect
and trust.
•Pathos
(emotions) – plays on the audiences’
emotions to persuade them by using language that
evokes an emotion or sensory details that add
emotion.
•Logos
(logical) – shows the logic to support a claim
to persuade the audience members.
TYPES OF PERSUASION
•Name Calling
•Glittering Generalities
•Transfer
•Testimonial
•Plain Folks
•Fear
•Rewards
•Anecdotes
•Statistics
•Logical Fallacies
NAME CALLING –
NEGATIVE
links a person, or idea, to a negative symbol.
Examples: racist, commie, liar
GLITTERING
GENERALITIES –
POSITIVE
•the
opposite of name calling
•use of virtue words
•links a person to an idea or positive symbol.
Examples: democracy, patriotism, family
TRANSFER
When the authority or prestige of something
well respected, such as church or nation, is
linked to something the speaker/advertiser
wants us to accept or agree with.
Example: a political activist closes her speech with
a prayer
An athlete appears in an ad for a product.
TESTIMONIAL
Anyone including celebrities or no-name
people promoting or endorsing a product, a
policy, or a political candidate.
Examples: an athlete appears on the Wheaties box
and says they’re the best for breakfast; an actor
speaks at a political rally; someone says they tried
a product and loved it
PLAIN FOLKS
attempt to convince the audience that a
prominent person and his ideas are “of
the people.”
Examples: a prominent politician eats at
McDonald’s; an actress is photographed shopping
for groceries
FEAR
plays on deep-seated fears; warns the audience
that disaster will result if they do not follow
a particular course of action.
Example: an insurance company pamphlet includes
pictures of houses destroyed floods, followed up by
details about home-owners’ insurance.
REWARDS
Giving away prizes and toys, gimmicks, kids’
clubs, rebates
Example: Kids’ cereal having prizes in the box.
Infomercial saying, “Call within the next 10 minutes
and we’ll double your order!”
ANECDOTES
Telling your own story or the story of a friend
that relates to what’s being discussed or sold
to persuade listeners to agree with your stand
point.
Example:Telling about a car crash you lost a loved
one in because he or she wasn’t wearing a
seatbelt.
STATISTICS
Using statistics that are favorable to their stand
point to sway the audience in their favor.
Example: If you agree with abortion, you might say
73% of Americans agree with a woman’s choice.
When in reality it is only women and men under
19 who they polled, so the group chosen is biased.
RHETORICAL FALLACIES
A type of persuasive technique in which there is a
flaw or mistake in reasoning or the argument
TYPES OF RHETORICAL FALLACIES
•False Causality
•Ad Hominem
•Red Herring
•Overgeneralization
•Bandwagon
FALSE CAUSALITY
(BAD LOGIC)
•Because
one thing follows another, it has caused the other;
The cause identified is only part of the entire cause
•It
can be just a logical mistake, however, it is propaganda if
logic is manipulated deliberately to promote a cause.
A LOT OF TEENAGERS, PARENTS, AND POLITICAL
FIGURES DO THIS!
OKAY, WE ALL DO THIS WHEN WE WANT TO GET
SOMEONE TO AGREE WITH US OR GET OUR WAY!
EXAMPLES OF FALSE
CAUSALITY
1.
The only reason that Katy missed school was
because she is hanging out with the wrong crowd.
2.
Senator X wants to regulate the power industry. All
Communist governments regulate their power
industries.Therefore, Senator X is a Communist.
AD HOMINEM
•Persuading
an audience by using a personal
attack to disprove an argument.
•Types: name calling; irrelevant character issue;
guilt by association; false analogy.
•Basically, bring
irrelevant information into an
argument that might persuade the audience to go
your way rather than your opponents.
EXAMPLES OF
AD HOMINEM
1.
Candidate Jane's proposal about zoning is ridiculous. She
was caught cheating on her taxes in 2003.
• Although she might have cheated on her taxes, this has
NOTHING to do with the proposal on zoning.
2. A father may tell his son not to start smoking because he
will regret it when he is older, and the son may point out
that his father is or was a smoker.
• This does not alter the fact that his son may regret smoking
when he is older, and the fact his father was a smoker
means he can talk from a position of experience.
RED HERRING
•distracts
the audience from the issue in question
through the introduction of some irrelevant topic
EXAMPLES OF
RED HERRING
1.
I think that we should make the academic requirements
stricter for students. I recommend that you support this
because we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our
salaries affected.
• These two issues have NOTHING to do with one
another, but if the audience hears their salaries might be
affected, they may agree with what you have to say.
2.
I shouldn’t be punished for staying out past my curfew
tonight because I did the dishes earlier today.
•Again, these two arguments have NOTHING to do with one
another.
OVERGENERALIZATION
•When
a conclusion is drawn based on very little
experience or evidence
EXAMPLES OF
OVERGENERALIZATION
1.
In both the murder mysteries I have read, the District
Attorney has been the culprit, therefore, all writers like to
make the lawyer the bad guy.
• Reading only two books, does not give the person a wide
enough range to make this statement.
2.
I dated a lacrosse player who lied to me, therefore, I
would never date another lacrosse player because he’d lie
too.
•Again, there is not enough evidence to prove this is true. The
logic assumes because one was this way, they’re all this way.
BANDWAGON EFFECT
•The
main argument is that everyone is doing it,
so you should too or so it’s the right thing to do.
•Oftentimes
it gives no real reason to do what is
being asked other than everyone else is doing it.
•This
is similar to the idea of peer pressure…
because you have it or do it, I should too.
EXAMPLES OF
BANDWAGON EFFECT
1.
Over 3 million citizens of the metro Atlanta area want an
expansion to the MARTA track to help our environment.
• While that may be true, it might not be something you
care to have your tax money spent on.
2.
78% of high school students want or have an iPhone.
•Again, that’s nice, but that doesn’t mean ALL high school
students want or have an iPhone.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Look at the following examples and tell which kind of fallacy
is being used and how you know.
1.
Affirmative action proponents accuse me of
opposing equal opportunity in the work force. I
think my positions on military expenditures,
education and public health speak for themselves.
2.
Despite the women's movement in the ‘70s,
women still do not receive equal pay for equal
work. Obviously, all such attempts to change the
status quo are doomed to failure.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Look at the following examples and tell which kind of fallacy
is being used and how you know.
3. Since Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley have all added a
multicultural component to their graduations
requirements, Notre Dame should get with the
program.
4.
Traditional historians appeal to the public's feeling of
nationalism just as the Nazis did.
5.
We must have a ghost in the house. When the dog
ran under the table the vase just seemed to jump off
the shelf all by itself.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Answers
1.
Affirmative action proponents accuse me of
opposing equal opportunity in the work force. I
think my positions on military expenditures,
education and public health speak for themselves.
Red Herring – The speaker tries to change the
subject or distract the audience from the real issue.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Answers
2.
Despite the women's movement in the ‘70s,
women still do not receive equal pay for equal
work. Obviously, all such attempts to change the
status quo are doomed to failure.
Overgeneralization – Because the past few attempts
have resulted in failure, does not mean they all will.
The evidence is too narrow to make a statement like
this.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Answers
3.
Since Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley have all
added a multicultural component to their
graduations requirements, Notre Dame should
get with the program.
Bandwagon – This has the “everyone’s doing it”
attitude attached to it’s argument, but gives no real
reason why it would be beneficial.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Answers
4.
Traditional historians appeal to the public's feeling
of nationalism just as the Nazis did.
Ad Hominem – This argument is trying to equate the
traditional historians to the Nazis based on one
similarity, which is not enough to call them
something like this.
Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy
is being Used???
Answers
5.
We must have a ghost in the house. When the
dog ran under the table the vase just seemed to
jump off the shelf all by itself.
The argument is not looking at all causes of the
problem, so the reasoning doesn’t add up.
Using Persuasive Techniques
(Not a good idea, but you should still know what they are)
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Should people participate in organ donation?
Should people of legal age vote in government elections?
Should we recycle?
Should we have the death penalty?
Should we be required to wear seat belts in cars?
Should people give blood?
Should people gamble?
Should we avoid junk food?
Choose a topic and use at least one of the persuasive
techniques to convince your audience of your opinion.
Underline each time you use the technique you’ve chosen.
Prepare a 30 second speech to persuade your audience. (About
a paragraph long)