Media Literacy, Persuasive Techniques, and Rhetorical Fallacies

media the means of communication that reach or influence people widely Radio Magazines Television Internet Newspapers Literacy Being educated or having skill in a specific field Bias Prejudices or favoritism someone has that makes him/her think or feel a certain way

Why is it important to have media literacy? We get the majority of our information for worldly affairs from the media. It is important to be able to pick out truth from persuasion. We rarely get a chance to have first hand experiences with many of the things that happen in the world, so we’re at the mercy of the media to inform us.

Local Stories about Schools Pretty much ANY kind of news story What sorts of news stories might contain bias that you’d need to be aware of? War Foreign Affairs Local Shootings Local Stories about Schools Pretty much ANY kind of news story

Persuasion Playing on an audiences’ emotions To get them to… accept a certain belief or opinion to adopt a certain behavior and/or to perform a certain action Basically making them feel like they should agree with you by messing with their emotions!

Three Types of Persuasive Appeal Ethos (creditability) – builds on the speaker’s creditability or authority to persuade the audience. We tend to believe or listen to people we respect and trust. Pathos (emotions) – plays on the audiences’ emotions to persuade them by using language that evokes an emotion or sensory details that add emotion. Logos (logical) – shows the logic to support a claim to persuade the audience members.

Types of Persuasion Name Calling Glittering Generalities Transfer Testimonial Plain Folks Fear Rewards Anecdotes Statistics Logical Fallacies

Name calling – Negative links a person, or idea, to a negative symbol. Examples: racist, commie, liar

Glittering - generalities – Positive the opposite of name calling use of virtue words links a person to an idea or positive symbol. Examples: democracy, patriotism, family

Transfer When the authority or prestige of something well respected, such as church or nation, is linked to something the speaker/advertiser wants us to accept or agree with. Example: a political activist closes her speech with a prayer An athlete appears in an ad for a product.

Testimonial Anyone including celebrities or no-name people promoting or endorsing a product, a policy, or a political candidate. Examples: an athlete appears on the Wheaties box and says they’re the best for breakfast; an actor speaks at a political rally; someone says they tried a product and loved it

Plain folks attempt to convince the audience that a prominent person and his ideas are “of the people.” Examples: a prominent politician eats at McDonald’s; an actress is photographed shopping for groceries

fear plays on deep-seated fears; warns the audience that disaster will result if they do not follow a particular course of action. Example: an insurance company pamphlet includes pictures of houses destroyed floods, followed up by details about home-owners’ insurance.

Rewards Giving away prizes and toys, gimmicks, kids’ clubs, rebates Example: Kids’ cereal having prizes in the box. Infomercial saying, “Call within the next 10 minutes and we’ll double your order!”

Anecdotes Telling your own story or the story of a friend that relates to what’s being discussed or sold to persuade listeners to agree with your stand point. Example: Telling about a car crash you lost a loved one in because he or she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Statistics Using statistics that are favorable to their stand point to sway the audience in their favor. Example: If you agree with abortion, you might say 73% of Americans agree with a woman’s choice. When in reality it is only women and men under 19 who they polled, so the group chosen is biased.

Rhetorical fallacies Types of rhetorical Fallacies False Causality A type of persuasive technique in which there is a flaw or mistake in reasoning or the argument Types of rhetorical Fallacies False Causality Ad Hominem Red Herring Overgeneralization Bandwagon

False Causality (Bad logic) Because one thing follows another, it has caused the other; The cause identified is only part of the entire cause It can be just a logical mistake, however, it is propaganda if logic is manipulated deliberately to promote a cause. A LOT OF TEENAGERS, PARENTS, AND POLITICAL FIGURES DO THIS! OKAY, WE ALL DO THIS WHEN WE WANT TO GET SOMEONE TO AGREE WITH US OR GET OUR WAY!

Examples of False Causality The only reason that Katy missed school was because she is hanging out with the wrong crowd. Senator X wants to regulate the power industry. All Communist governments regulate their power industries. Therefore, Senator X is a Communist.

Ad Hominem Persuading an audience by using a personal attack to disprove an argument. Types: name calling; irrelevant character issue; guilt by association; false analogy. Basically, bring irrelevant information into an argument that might persuade the audience to go your way rather than your opponents.

Examples of Ad Hominem Candidate Jane's proposal about zoning is ridiculous. She was caught cheating on her taxes in 2003. Although she might have cheated on her taxes, this has NOTHING to do with the proposal on zoning. A father may tell his son not to start smoking because he will regret it when he is older, and the son may point out that his father is or was a smoker. This does not alter the fact that his son may regret smoking when he is older, and the fact his father was a smoker means he can talk from a position of experience.

Red Herring distracts the audience from the issue in question through the introduction of some irrelevant topic

Examples of red herring I think that we should make the academic requirements stricter for students. I recommend that you support this because we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our salaries affected. These two issues have NOTHING to do with one another, but if the audience hears their salaries might be affected, they may agree with what you have to say. I shouldn’t be punished for staying out past my curfew tonight because I did the dishes earlier today. Again, these two arguments have NOTHING to do with one another.

Overgeneralization When a conclusion is drawn based on very little experience or evidence

Examples of Overgeneralization In both the murder mysteries I have read, the District Attorney has been the culprit, therefore, all writers like to make the lawyer the bad guy. Reading only two books, does not give the person a wide enough range to make this statement. I dated a lacrosse player who lied to me, therefore, I would never date another lacrosse player because he’d lie too. Again, there is not enough evidence to prove this is true. The logic assumes because one was this way, they’re all this way.

Bandwagon Effect The main argument is that everyone is doing it, so you should too or so it’s the right thing to do. Oftentimes it gives no real reason to do what is being asked other than everyone else is doing it. This is similar to the idea of peer pressure… because you have it or do it, I should too.

Examples of Bandwagon effect Over 3 million citizens of the metro Atlanta area want an expansion to the MARTA track to help our environment. While that may be true, it might not be something you care to have your tax money spent on. 78% of high school students want or have an iPhone. Again, that’s nice, but that doesn’t mean ALL high school students want or have an iPhone.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Look at the following examples and tell which kind of fallacy is being used and how you know. Affirmative action proponents accuse me of opposing equal opportunity in the work force. I think my positions on military expenditures, education and public health speak for themselves. Despite the women's movement in the ‘70s, women still do not receive equal pay for equal work. Obviously, all such attempts to change the status quo are doomed to failure.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Look at the following examples and tell which kind of fallacy is being used and how you know. Since Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley have all added a multicultural component to their graduations requirements, Notre Dame should get with the program. Traditional historians appeal to the public's feeling of nationalism just as the Nazis did. We must have a ghost in the house. When the dog ran under the table the vase just seemed to jump off the shelf all by itself.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Answers Affirmative action proponents accuse me of opposing equal opportunity in the work force. I think my positions on military expenditures, education and public health speak for themselves. Red Herring – The speaker tries to change the subject or distract the audience from the real issue.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Answers Despite the women's movement in the ‘70s, women still do not receive equal pay for equal work. Obviously, all such attempts to change the status quo are doomed to failure. Overgeneralization – Because the past few attempts have resulted in failure, does not mean they all will. The evidence is too narrow to make a statement like this.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Answers Since Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley have all added a multicultural component to their graduations requirements, Notre Dame should get with the program. Bandwagon – This has the “everyone’s doing it” attitude attached to it’s argument, but gives no real reason why it would be beneficial.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Answers Traditional historians appeal to the public's feeling of nationalism just as the Nazis did. Ad Hominem – This argument is trying to equate the traditional historians to the Nazis based on one similarity, which is not enough to call them something like this.

Which Kind of Rhetorical Fallacy is being Used??? Answers We must have a ghost in the house. When the dog ran under the table the vase just seemed to jump off the shelf all by itself. The argument is not looking at all causes of the problem, so the reasoning doesn’t add up.

Using Persuasive Techniques (Not a good idea, but you should still know what they are) Should people participate in organ donation? Should people of legal age vote in government elections? Should we recycle? Should we have the death penalty? Should we be required to wear seat belts in cars? Should people give blood? Should people gamble? Should we avoid junk food? Choose a topic and use at least one of the persuasive techniques to convince your audience of your opinion. Underline each time you use the technique you’ve chosen. Prepare a 30 second speech to persuade your audience. (About a paragraph long)