Persuasion and Logical Fallacies

Logical Fallacies

How often do you win debates with your friends, teachers, or family members? Is it ever acceptable to trick your way into winning an argument? Have you ever felt that an argument or claim was faulty, but you could not say exactly why? If so, you may have encountered a logical fallacy, which sometimes involves confusion between fact and opinion. Facts can be tested and proven true. Opinions are arguable.

A logical fallacy is a faulty argument, or an argument that uses poor reasoning. Using faulty reasoning, or logical fallacies, will undermine the logic of your argument and ultimately hurt your credibility with your readers. Fallacies trick your reader or audience and are used to make a weak argument appear strong or valid by using illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points. Fallacies are easily identified in arguments because they lack real evidence to support the claim. There are literally hundreds of tactics to bolster a weak argument. You see them all the time in political speeches, advertisements, reviews, etc.

Take a moment to explore some of the most common faulty arguments that you should avoid in your persuasive writing. In this interactivity, use the timeline icon or the NEXT button to view descriptions and examples of each logical fallacy in greater detail. Notice how the logical fallacies are grouped according to the type of persuasive appeal that is used in propaganda.

View a printable version of the interactivity.

 

The chart below displays the many fallacies used by writers such as speech writers, essayists, and newspaper editorialists who want to persuade an audience to a specific purpose. Fallacies are used to convince people every day to buy a particular product, vote for a particular candidate, join a particular cause, or believe a particular viewpoint.

When you classify the logical fallacies into three categories, you will see how logical fallacies are successful because they rely on the basic principles of persuasion:

• Who says something?
• What evidence is used?
• What is the conclusion?

Fallacies Involving the Speaker	Fallacies Involving the Evidence	Fallacies Involving the Conclusion
Ad Hominem Appeals to False Authority	Generalization Begging the Question Faulty Analogy Red Herring Dogmatism Straw Man Slippery Slope	Appeal to Pity Either/Or Choice Non Sequitur Scare Tactic Sentimental Appeals Faulty Causality Equivocation Moral Equivalence

Logical Fallacies Review

Now that you have explored logical fallacies, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Read each example of a logical fallacy, and then drag and drop the correct term to the blank. Click on the player button to get started.

 

Grammar: Sentence Patterns

In addition to the use of logical fallacies, good persuasive techniques involve the use of meaningful sentence structure. View this presentation for a brief overview of eight sentence patterns that can add variety to your sentence structure. Click on the player button to begin.

View a printable version of the interactivity.

 

 

Grammar Review

Now that you have explored various types of sentence patterns, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Read each statement, and then select the appropriate answer. Click on the player button to get started.