Fallacy examples

The biggest fallacy that I think of when political activists say something like,"If we don't rid ourselves of the patriot act, the government will trample our rights of privacy." The patriot act allows access to people's homes with wire taps and searchs without a warrant. Now in reality this is rare, and is only applicable to "drastic cases" of possible terrorist activities. Though I don't think our constitutional rights will crumble. I think that this fallacy has a point in stating that where does someone draw the line when it comes to what the government can do. Though fallacy in general is usually mostly false, it sparks in us a skepticism that is healthy and should be explored in every situation, by an intelligent person.

Fallacy Examples

Focusing on the fallacies discussed in chapter 19 of the textbook, please think of an example when you have seen/heard people use any of those fallacies. Tell us about it:

What did they say? Which fallacy did they use? Was it effective or not? Did anyone notice the fallacy and call them on it or not? In what situations are you likely to use the same fallacy?

ethos, pathos, logos

In passage 1, my first impression was that the passage was conveyig a sense of logos, due to the statistics that Rich used. After reading the passage again, I also feel that it could be pathos. The audience could feel sorry for women and their inability to read. In the second passage, Bernstein is definitely showing ethos. He has the credibility to back up his words.

Ethos, pathos, logos

Please look at the 3 passages and think of the rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. Each quote might have more than one appeal used in it. Please try to tell us what appeals are used and which is the dominant one in each passage. You can discuss all the passages in your response or just one or two of them.

Passage 1:
"...it is well for us to remember that, in an age of increasing literacy, 60 percent of world's illiterate are women. Between 1960 and 1970, the number of illiterate men in the world rose by 8 million, while the number of illiterate women rose by 40 million. And the number of illiterate women is increasing."
-- from Adrienne Rich, "What does a woman need to know?"

Passage 2:
"The Asian culture, as it happens, is something I know a bit about, having spent five years at Harvard striving for a Ph.D. in a joint program called History and East Asian Languages and, after that, living either as a student (for one year) or a journalist (six years) in China and Southeast Asia. At least I know enough to know there is no such thing as the 'Asian culture'."
-- from Richard Bernstein, The Dictatorship of Virtue

Passage 3:
"And what, exactly, do I mean by 'guys'? I don't know. I haven't thought much about it. One of the major characteristics about guyhood is that guys don't spend a lot of time pondering our innermost feelings..."
-- from Dave Barry, "Guys vs. Men"

Audiences & Appeals

Chapter 4 begins with an example of a spoof ad on p. 66. Look at more spoof ads on the Adbusters Postcards page, focusing on the ones dealing with Calvin Klein products (Obsession for Men, Obsession for Women, and Reality). You can see a bigger image of each spoof by clicking on the thumbnail. What argument is each one making? What is the purpose of the ads? Who are their intended and real audiences? Can we have different messages conveyed by the same image to different audiences? How does the pathos appeal play out in each spoof?

Note: Adbusters is an organization that attempts to expose the influence of corporations and consumerism on popular culture by making spoofs of various corporate ads. You can read more about them here.

Please use the comments link to respond to any or all of the questions above.

the letter f

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who doesn't like a good f

Veronica Gonzalez

Hi, my name is Veronica. I'm a freshman in the college of liberal arts undecided. I live in manor, tx a small town east of 290. I'm not much of a writer in fact writing is not one of my good qualities so this class may not be for me lol.

Hi I'm Charise!

::If you like Pina Coladas... and long walks in the rain... lalalala!!!:: Actually I don't like rain and I'm 1 year away from being able to drink alcohol... in public. I'm from Friendswood (Houston area) and I'm a first year biochem major. Hopefully this class will be more perky than my other ones. If you wanna get to know me, my xanga screen name is Charise_So_Sexy. Peace!

Karen

Hi,
My name is Karen Brooks. I'm from San Angelo, Texas. San Angelo is in west Texas. I am a freshman and currently undeclared, but I intend on transfering to the College of Communicatins and majoring in Advertising, I like to write, but this class will hopefully fine tune my writing skills.

Rahul Batra

Hi, my name is Rahul Batra. I am from Tampa, FL. I was born in India, moved to USA with my family 2 yrs back. I am sophomore at UT Austin and my major is electrical engineering. I like to play tennis, racquetball and soccer. My favourite movie is Matrix and I also like listening to Eminem and Linkin Park. I am very much outgoing person and like to be with my friends.

Hi, my name is Jessica

My name is Jessica Gallardo and I am a freshman and a Theatre and Dance major here at UT. I'm from Chappaqua, NY. It's a small suburb outside of Manhattan. So far I'm really enjoying my freshman year. Although I miss the hussle and bussle of the city, I've found life in Austin to be surprisingly exciting for it's size . I'm learning to love Mexican food, I've always been a fan of bbq, and I'm surely not going to complain about the seventy degree weather in January.

Colin

I'm Colin Bozarth, from Dallas. I went to Greenhill High School and I'm a freshman at UT. I'm in the engineering school, supposedly majoring in electrical engineering. I played lacrosse and ran cross country in high school, also I have been playing music my entire life, as both my parents are musicians. I live in University Towers, just west of 24th and Rio Grande.

Kofi Annan James

I was born on May 9,1986, Friday in Houston. At birth I was giiven the name Kofi which means born on a Friday. I grow up in a large family with many brothers and sisters so there was never a dull moment. I was raised by both of my parents evern though they were separated durning most of my childhood. As I was growing I was embraced my the Jamacian culture because my dad was from Westmoreland a parish in that country.

Mika Conwill

Hey!..
My name is Mika Conwill and I'm a freshman majoring in Japanese; weird?! (for the time being.. I don't really know what I want to do.) I was actually born in an airforce base in Japan but I've lived in the ATX area for most of my life. I graduated from Lake Travis HS (about 30 minutes away from UT) and.. my major "hobby" is music. I just love it in general.
writing this bio was a little bit akward for me..!

My Existance

My name is Karan Kapadia and I'm a senior and an Economics major. I lived most of my life in India and came to UT as a freshman. I'm still not in this class but i hope to get in as I need it if i want to graduate in May. I work in a molecular biology lab at MBB on campus, as well as intern downtown at Steward Research Group.

baldemar

Hi im Celina...and im majoring in mathematics. I have an obsession with film, whether it be directing, watching or producing. I currently live in Kinsolving..yes the all girls dormitory. It's nice and the food is close, which is always good. I'm a freshman in college, so everything here is pretty much new to me. oh and im on the wait list for this class

Intro to Michael

Hi, my name is Michael Harrison. I was born in Del Rio, Texas and raised right here in Austin. I love to play football, lift weights, and play computer games. My major is undeclared, but I really enjoy history. I also love listening to and singing Frank Sinatra and country music. I look foward to being in a small class and hopefully getting to know all of you.

Michelle Avi

Hi! My name is Michelle Avi and I am from Chicago. I have danced since I was three. I was on Poms in high school. My major at UT is pre-nursing. I am involved in a sorority. I love watching movies and hanging out with my friends. I don't really know what else to say, but i am looking forward to meet everyone.

Kevin Jack

What's up everyone. My name is Kevin Jack and I'm from Houston,TX. I'm a scorpio who likes long walks on the beach, romantic picnics debating Aristotle, and candlelit evenings under the moon... J/k Acutally I'm just your average guy who likes to have a good time. Nice to meet you all and hopefully we all have a great spring semester.

Rubina

Hey guys, my name is Rubina. I am a junior and my major is Bio/pre-med. I am also interested in minoring in business. I am not that good of a writer but I am here to learn all I can with you guys. I love to work in a group and get a good feedback on whatever I am working on.

Eric

I'm Eric Bonham, from San Antonio, Texas. I attended East Central High School. I enjoy playing basketball, music, and hanging out with friends. I am currently in the business school and plan on majoring in marketing.

Maradona Truong

Hello. My name is Maradona Truong and this is my first year here at Texas. I came from a very diverse high school (Klein Forest) in Houston, Texas with a population around 3,200 students. My name came from a famous Argentinian soccer player, but my ethnicity is Vietnamese. I am a Biology major, and also focusing on Pre-Optometry. My goal is to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in three years.

van

I'm a senior trying to get into pharmacy school and I procrastinated to take english until my senior year of college for some reason. I hope to improve my writing and reading comprehension skills in this class because my verbal scores on standardized tests are terrible. I'm twenty one years old and I grew up in a small town called Lake Jackson.

Mendy Black

Hello yall! Im from San Angelo, Texas. My favorite color is blue. I enjoy reading books. I am a Junior. I love playing golf. I do not enjoy writting papers :( I also dont enjoy writting about myself, however I am very friendly and love talking to people. I work at Extend-A-Care for Kids at BrykerWoods Elementry. I am majoring in Biology within the UTeach program. I love hunting and anything that is out doors. Thats all I can think of.... the end! p.s. i am the worst speller in the world... so... just laugh with me about it...

About me (James Yang)

What's up guys, I'm one of the James's in the room (Yang)... Umm, as far as what I want you to know... so far... I'm from Plano, TX (near Dallas), my parents were born and raised in Taiwan while I was born here in Texas. I'm a sophomore here at the University studying EE, and I'm living it big time at the Villas on Guadalupe (i.e. I'm throwing a lot of money away). Since we're just testing this thing out, that's all I'll say for now, but I'd rather meet people in person... so adios and hope to meet you soon

Site Details

Welcome to the RHE 306 course website!

The menu section offers information about policies, assignments and other types of details. Please check the coursework page frequently to keep current with homework, so you can come to class prepared to participate.

The categories section includes all the entries you and I will generate in the course of the semester, since part of the website is a blog that we will use for discussions and group work. You will be contributing entries which will show up both on the front page and within the category you select for each of them. You will also be able to create new categories which will automatically become part of the list.

The quick links sections offers handy links to a few useful UT resources that I expect you will be needing often. The links open in a new window, so you don't loose your place in our course site.

The archives section includes all blog entries in reverse chronological order, indexed by month. You can also browse the complete list of entries. I expect this section to become most useful towards the end of the semester.

Finally, the participate section of the navigation includes one link to the administrative screen for the blog, which opens in a new window. This is the link you need to follow to contribute new blog entries or edit the ones you have already written. Everyone will be given usernames and passwords on the first class day to start participating.

Please look around and get comfortable with the course website,
M. Hristova