Lesson 47
ENGLISH 11
Today’s Agenda
 Fallacies
101 Activity 3.13
 Test – Lesson 48
 OBJECTIVES
 Identify
fallacious logic, appeals, and
rhetoric in sample texts.
Logical Fallacies
Fallacy:
a mistaken belief or a false or
misleading statement based on
unsound evidence
Activity 3.13
“Fallacies 101”
MAKE
FLASHCARDS!
A conclusion that is based on insufficient or
biased evidence; in other words, rushing to a
conclusion before all the relevant facts are
available.
Hasty
Generalization
Post
Hoc

Means: after this

One thing that happens prior to another caused the
other

Ex 1: I had been doing pretty poorly this season. Then my girlfriend gave me
these neon laces for my spikes and I won my next three races. Those laces must
be good luck...if I keep on wearing them I can't help but win!
A Banana In Your Ear
Ad Populum
 An
emotional appeal that speaks to positive (such
as patriotism, religion, democracy) or negative
(such as terrorism or fascism) feelings rather than
the real issue at hand.
 Example:
If you were a true American, you would
support the rights of people to choose whatever
vehicle they want.
Appeal
to
Pity

Attempt to use compassion or pity to replace a logical
argument

Ex: Luke didn't want to eat his sheep's brains with
chopped liver and brussel sprouts, but his father told
him to think about the poor, starving children in a third
world country who weren't fortunate enough to have
any food at all.
Scare
tactics
Appeal to fear in place of logic
Ad
hominem
Attacks against a person rather than the ideas the
person presents; prominent in political ads

Harold, Call me!
Red Herring

A diversionary tactic that avoids the key issues, often by
avoiding opposing arguments rather than addressing them.

Example: The level of mercury in seafood may be unsafe, but
what will fishers do to support their families?
Slippery
slope
Exaggerated representation of a position
 Don't
Wake Up in
a Roadside Ditch!
Put it into practice
 Go
back to the selections in Unit Three.
 Find
examples of these fallacies in any of the following
selections:
 Page
192 “Facebook Photos Sting…”
 Page
197 “Abolish High School Football”
 Page
202 “Facing Consequences at Eden Prairie High”
 Page
214 “Why I Hate Cell Phones”
 Be
prepared to share your examples with the class.
Test yourself: What type of
fallacy is this?
 At
times like this, Americans need to remember that this
country was founded by dissidents- by people who were
misfits in their own society because they believed that it
was wrong to punish thieves with hanging or torture.
These are values worth asserting around the world.
Americans concerned with our values should assert
these values internationally.
Test yourself: What type of fallacy is this?
 We
Americans like need that takes place far from
home, so we can feel simultaneously selfcongratulatory and safe from the possibility that hard
times could be lurking around the corner.
Flashcards
Bias
Slanters
Fallacies
Inside/Outside Circle
REVIEW!