Name_________________________
Fallacies Exercise (AP English)
Instructions: Using your textbook, identify the type of fallacy (error in reasoning) committed in each
of the following examples.
1) According to Peyton Manning, Tinactin is “tough actin,” so it must be.
_______________________________
2) Since several teachers support education reform, this is obviously the best course of action
for America’s public schools.
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3) Gay adoption would be destructive because it would ruin the moral fabric of our society.
______________________________
4) Politician: To challenge my voting record and call me a flip-flopper is wrong. The state
unemployment rate has dropped 5% since I have been in office.
_______________________________
5) Republicans do not support Obamacare because they fail to understand the plight of the
poor. _______________________________
6) Some Americans feel that Medicaid and food stamp recipients should be drug tested.
Others disagree. As a result, the best solution is to randomly test half of these people.
____________________________
7) The governor will not support unions because he is a Republican.
______________________________________
8) Since Harrison and Thomas’ study showed that dark-skinned blacks with greater job
qualifications have more difficulty finding employment than light-skinned blacks, we can
conclude that more dark-skinned blacks are unemployed throughout America.
________________________________
9) Even after the Civil Rights movement drove our nation to publically embrace racial equality
and equal opportunity, black families still make significantly less on average than white
families. Therefore, we can conclude that the civil rights movement has not benefited the
economic circumstances of African Americans.
_________________________________
10) Either you support the 2nd amendment, or you favor putting deadly weapons exclusively in
the hands of criminals.
____________________________________
11) If we restrict our government’s ability to tap phone conversations, we run the risk of
terrorist cells destroying our country from within.
______________________________________
12) The state’s economic woes must be the governor’s fault because the crisis grew steadily
worse during her first few months in office
______________________________________________.
13) President Obama’s immigration reform plan would lead to catastrophe. He is too liberal too
work toward the middle of the aisle. ______________________
14) Employees are like nails. Just like nails need to be clipped, so do employees who have
served their purpose.
_____________________________________________
15) You should ask your doctor for this prescription because it has been clinically proven that it
inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and enhances the dopamine levels of the body’s
neurotransmitters.
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Answer Bank:
Hasty Generalization
Straw Man
Sweeping Generalization
Fallacy of the Middle Ground
Appeal to Fear
Fallacy of Division
Confusing Cause & Effect/Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
Begging the Question/Circular Reasoning
Ad Hominem/attack on the person
Appeal to False Authority
Either/or fallacy
Shifting the Issue/Red Herring
False Analogy
Ad populum/bandwagon
Technical Jargon