Rhetorical Devices and Fallacies

Rhetorical Devices Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are modes of persuasion used to convince audiences.

Ethos - an appeal based on someone’s credibility. Sometimes we believe something simply because someone we trust tells us it is true or act upon something because that person says we should.

Pathos – an appeal to the audience’s emotions. Sometimes we come to believe something or to act upon something just because of a gut feeling or an appeal to our emotions. For example, we may act out of fear, greed, love and compassion.

Logos – an appeal to the audience’s sense of logic. Sometimes it just seems logical to believe or do something because the speaker or writer offers facts, quotations and/or statistics from reliable experts.

The Rhetorical Triangle

Fallacies Often when creating or hearing an argument, we can identify a logical fallacy. This is a faulty argument that obscures the truth.

Begging the Question -(circular logic) Happens when the writer presents an arguable point as a fact that supports the argument. This error leads to an argument that goes around and around.

Non Sequitur Argument The conclusion doesn’t logically follow the argument.

Post Hoc One event following another in time does not mean the first caused the latter.

Faulty Analogies Using a comparison with ideas that are not really that similar may lead to a faulty conclusion.

Hasty Generalization An argument based on insufficient evidence.

Red Herring Changing the subject to something with little relevance to the original topic.

Equivocation Using multiple meanings of a word to skew the argument.

Ignoring the Question Shifting the focus of an argument.

Opposing a Straw Man Opposing only the author’s weakest point, or oversimplifying the argument.

Either/Or Arguments Reducing a complex issue to simple terms.

Slippery Slopes Arguing that taking one step will lead to negative consequences eventually.

Bandwagon A fallacy based on the assumption that the opinion of the majority is always valid: everyone believes it, so you should too. This persuades us by inviting us to “jump on the bandwagon” and be part of the “in” crowd.

False Authority A speaker seeks to persuade, not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for the famous or a highly respected professional.

Ad Hominem Attacking the character of the opponent/other side of the issue. It often involves using biases to persuade.

Tu Quoque - “you too” A type of Ad Hominem fallacy Avoiding the argument by making similar charges against the opponent.