Logical Fallacies I
“Everyone is switching to this app, so you should too.”
What is Bandwagon?
“Teenagers are all irresponsible.”
What is Stereotyping?
“I met one rude person from Florida—so people from Florida are rude.”
What is Hasty Generalization?
“Imagine a child going to bed hungry every night—your help can change that.”
What is pathos?
“I’m right because I said I’m right.”
What is Circular Reasoning?
“If we let students redo assignments, soon no one will even try the first time.”
Slippery Slope?
“If you cared about me, you’d agree with my plan.”
What is an Appeal to Emotion?
“He got an A on his essay because he wore his lucky hoodie.”
What is False Cause & Effect?
“Studies show that reading 20 minutes a day improves test scores by 30%.”
What is logos?
Final Jeopardy Question:
Clue:
A speaker says:
“Only a heartless person would disagree with me. And everyone in this room supports my idea—so you should, too.”
Identify both the rhetorical appeal and the logical fallacy being used.
What are Pathos and the Bandwagon fallacy?
(Also acceptable: Ad Hominem for “heartless person,” but the primary intended answers are Pathos + Bandwagon.)
“Don’t listen to him about nutrition—he failed math last year!”
What is Ad Hominem?
“Either you pass the test or your whole future is ruined.”
What is a False Dilemma?
“If you don’t buy this new phone, you’ll end up out of touch with everyone!”
What is a Scare Tactic?
“Trust me—I’ve never lied to you before.”
What is ethos?
“Why worry about homework policies when the football team needs better jerseys?”
What is a Red Herring?
“If you don’t lock your door tonight, you’re definitely getting robbed.”
What is a Scare Tactic?
Daily Double
Bid up to your current score
“Do you want your loved ones to be safe? Then support this law.”
What is pathos?
“You think we should have less homework? So you want students to learn nothing at all!”
What is a Straw Man?
“Driving a car is like riding a horse—just jump in and go!”
What is a Weak Analogy?
“She has red shoes, so she must be great at basketball.”
What is a Non Sequitur?
“As a veteran teacher, I can tell you this method works.”
What is ethos?