Eh 124 Spring 2011: Week Seven Class Three

Today – we lie to each other!

As a teacher, I encounter stupid lies all of the time…

Examples:

I’ve been told that a grandmother died… died two times.

I’ve been told that I did not give assignments that I had a clear record of giving…

But my favorite:

I’ve been told that I’ve promised people grades.

Now, these are outright deceptions, and usually they can be dealt with easily enough.

However, when we argue, we will sometimes either use or encounter “fallacies.” A fallacy is not necessarily a lie. It may just be an example of poor logic. But it can also be tool for deceiving an audience.

They are very, very effective. So we need to know how to both recognize and, from time to time, use such devices.

Your assignment for today was to read and annotate chapter 8.

Quiz

Identity and explain four kinds of fallacies

1:

2:

3:

4:

We encounter fallacies in arguments all the time, and today we are going to use a few in a class argument.

Here’s today argument: Currently, there is a debate in Texas about whether or not students should be allowed to bring guns to school.

Your job, as was the case last time, is to create a Toulmin-style argument that follows this structure (also, see handout):

Claim

Subclaim (pathos/Claim of definition)

Evidence

Explicit Warrant (Fallacy/manufactured evidence)

Sub claim (ethos/ claim of value)

Evidence

Explicit Warrant (Fallacy/either-or)

Subclaim (logos/ claim of policy)

Evidence

Explicit Warrant (Fallacy/creating false needs)

Conclusion

There will be a timekeeper, a recorder, and a “taskmaster” for each group.

Debate

Class Conversation

Let’s turn to our notebooks and the arguments that are meaningful to us. Can you associate your evidence with any fallacies? Is so, which ones?

Next major essay: [Handout]

Our Major Essays:

• Why We Flirt
• Wallflower at the Revolution
• American Value Systems

You will be selecting one of these for the basis of your persuasive argument.