Name: Mrs. Bobier
Class: 2/3
Logical Appeals/Fallacies
Introduction Paragraph
Article Title:
The Avengers Stink
Author:
By Anonymous
Author’s claim:
The superhero team called “The Avengers” is not a good or helpful superhero
team.
Thesis: My debatable
claim (is this argument
persuasive or not? +
preview of two reasons
why (body paragraphs)
I think this argument is not persuasive because by using pathos there were a lot
of emotions and opinions and not as many facts and statistics and uses the
logical fallacy of Ad populum instead of giving facts to why they are a bad
superhero team.
Body Paragraph One: Logical Appeals
Which logical appeal
shows up the most
in this article?
(circle one) Pathos
Example #1 (cited
quote) and why it
is a logical appeal
The author said, “If you’re not scared you should be. Do you want such a self-involved
man deciding your future and that of you family?” which is pathos because it makes
you feel angry and makes you think about what kind of future you want for your family.
Example #2 (cited
quote) and why it
is a logical appeal
The author also said, “If all of this was not enough just think of the pain and damage
that they cause wherever they are around, both as a team and individually. This
country cannot afford to have such vandals ‘protecting’ it.” This statement is appealing
to the emotions (pathos) because it uses a strongly negative connotative word,
‘vandal’, which is trying to make the reader feel angry and distrusting.
Why did the author
choose to use this
appeal?
The author chose to use pathos because he doesn’t have a lot of facts of why they are
bad but he has a lot of feelings towards them and about them.
Impact on
argument’s
persuasion) and
why
Using pathos weakened the argument because there are not facts, figures and
statistics to prove the author’s claim. Instead, there are a lot of negative connotative
words and feelings.
Body Paragraph Two: Logical Fallacies
Fallacy Used:
(circle one)
Circular Reasoning
Hasty Generalization
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
Straw Man
Red Herring
Ad Hominem Ad Populum
Slippery Slope
Example (cited quote):
The author said, “Then we of course come to Hawkeye. Who you say? Exactly.
Nobody likes him, nobody knows who he is. Why then, if everyone else agrees he
stinks, should you allow him to ‘protect’ you?”
Why this is illogical:
This is illogical because just because he states that no one likes him has no effect
on if he is a good superhero. He could be completely disliked and still a very
effective superhero.
Why did the author
The author chose to use ad populum because he wants us to feel pressured into
choose to use this
fallacy?
thinking they are not good because no one likes them.
Impact on argument’s
persuasion
(strengthened or
weakened) and why
Choosing to use ad populum weakened the argument because it doesn’t argue
the point but rather says that everyone else believes it so we should as well. This
shows that they don’t have facts to support it, just what the majority thinks.
Conclusion Paragraph
Paraphrased Thesis:
Restate two reasons +
my debatable claim
regarding argument’s
level of persuasion
Choosing to use pathos weakened the argument and choosing to use ad
populum didn’t support the argument, ultimately making this argument not
persuasive.
Overall, was the
argument effective and
why?
Overall, this argument was ineffective because it was based on feelings and not
on facts and statistics.
Is it a valid logical
argument?
This argument is illogical because it uses more fallacies than appealing to the
reader and has more opinions rather than facts and statistics.
Why do we need to look
for logical appeals and
fallacies?
It is important to analyze arguments and find logical appeals and fallacies
because it helps to determine if the argument is logical and effective and allows
the reader to build a better rebuttal to refute the author’s claim.
Concluding sentence
about logical appeals
and fallacies
In conclusion, because the article is based on many opinions and feelings and
uses many fallacious ideas, it is ineffective and illogical.