ELA Praxis (5039) - Methods of Persuasion & Fallacies

Either/Or Fallacy (false dilemma)

A fallacy in which the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices. ex. You can either be a doctor or be poor.

Slippery Slope Fallacy

A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented ex. "But you have to let me go to the party! If I don't go to the party, I'll be a loser with no friends. Next thing you know, I'll end up alone and jobless, living in your basement when I'm 30!"

Ad Hominem Fallacy

A fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute ex. A parent who says that the teacher doesn't know how to teach because she graduated from a community college.

Red Herring Fallacy

A fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the subject under discussion ex. "Yes, I bought an RV without your permission, but look at the trip I've already planned! We'll have so much fun!"

Appeal to Pity (Ad Misericordiam)

An argument that appeals to another's sympathy. Arguments that distract by making the audience feel sorry for the speaker or someone on behalf of whom the speaker is arguing. ex. The dog commercials

Bandwagon Appeal (ad populum fallacy)

Appeals to a person's need to belong. Occurs when evidence boils down to "everybody's doing it, so it must be a good thing to do"

Appeal to Fear

Attempt to frighten one into an action or into accepting a belief (Ex: if you don't do X, then Y will happen) Makes people feel as if their safety, security, or health is in danger

Testimonial

Attempts to persuade the reader by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea.

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy

Based on the assumption that whatever has not been proven false must be true

Faulty Analogies Fallacy

Inaccurate or inconsequential comparisons between objects or concepts ex. Joan and Mary both drive pickup trucks. Since Joan is a teacher, Mary must also be a teacher.

Sweeping Generalization

Makes an oversimplified statement about a group based on limited information (stereotyping) ex. "Men are statistically more aggressive than women. Therefore, I, a male, must be more aggressive than you, a female."

Straw Man Fallacy

Someone distorts or caricatures an opponent's arguments or views, and then attacks the weakened version rather than the real argument. For example, if someone says "I think that we should give better study guides to students", a person using a strawman might reply by saying "I think that your idea is bad, because we shouldn't just give out easy A's to everyone".

Snob Appeal

Suggesting that association with a person or product can make you special

Rhetoric

The art of using language effectively and persuasively

post hoc ergo propter hoc (post hoc) fallacy

This is a conclusion that assumes that if 'A' occurred after 'B' then 'B' must have caused 'A.' The idea that one event causes another because they are related in time. "Every time that rooster crows, the sun comes up. That rooster must be very powerful and important!"

Expert Opinion

Using quotes and statements from a person considered to be an expert on the topic The use of expert evidence causes the audience to have more faith and belief in what the expert is saying,

Glittering Generalities

propaganda technique using short phrases or words to promote positive feelings or emotions but don't have a definite meaning