Logical fallacies are frequently used in arguments and have an
intuitive appeal that makes them effective for politicians to use. Using
your understanding of fallacies, you will listen to and take notes of a
political speech and discuss how fallacies were used in the speech. Your paper should be 1500 words minimum.
Prompt
Politicians use logical fallacies to persuade listeners during their
speeches. For this assignment, watch a public speech by a politician
(any politician will do) and take notes about any logical fallacies that
they use during their speech. Write a paper that identifies five
fallacies in their argument. Your paper should address the following:
Quote and correctly identify the type of fallacy used
Discuss why the argument is a fallacy and how it seeks to persuade listeners.
Reframe the fallacies using different terms to show why the argument does not make sense.
Discuss how and if the argument could be restated to avoid the fallacy. Once rephrased, is the argument still sound?
Related Lessons
Appeal to Popularity Fallacy: Definition & Examples
Equivocation Fallacy: Definition & Examples
Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy: Definition & Examples
False Dilemma Fallacy: Definition & Examples
How to Recognize Statements that Strengthen or Weaken Arguments
Categorical Arguments: Definition, Syllogisms & Examples
Formatting & Sources
Please write your paper in APA format. You may refer to the course
material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least 3
sources and cite them using APA format. Please include a mix of both
primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly
peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources,
please also cite them in APA (including the lesson title and
instructor’s name).
Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews,
advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press
releases published by the company in question.
Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals,
such as Computing Edge. You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar,
and IEEE.org to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may
also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the
domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed
in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
