Fallacy Appeal to Ridicule (Appeal to Mockery/ The Horse Laugh) Anna Houchens Tiffany Tolsma

Appeal to Ridicule A fallacy in which ridicule or mockery is substituted for evidence in an argument. "Fallacy: Appeal to Ridicule." Fallacy: Appeal to Ridicule. The Nizkor, Web. 20 Feb. 2013"

Universal example q1Y5_zCJs “Obama Mocks Socialist Accusations." Youtube.com. N.p., 29 Oct Web. 21 Feb "The Horse Laugh." Fresh Hoil Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb

In the speech Obama mocks the statements made against him about being a socialist by creating a joke about when he was younger. This shows that he clearly doesn’t want to be called a socialist and he undermines the statement by ridiculing it. The horse laugh picture is closely related to this fallacy because when ridiculing a subject you usually want to laugh at it or mock it, therefore the horse laugh represents the humor of the subject being mocked.

Act I “ She hates me, uncle, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” - Abigail Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible, Act I." The Language of Literature. American Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, Print. This quote is an example of this fallacy due to the fact that Abby is ridiculing Elizabeth in order for her uncle to believe her. Abby belittles Elizabeth’s opinion by making him believe that Elizabeth is a bitter woman which in fact is not why Abby was fired, making this statement a fallacy.

Act II “But- surely you know what a jabberer she is. Did you tell them that?” - Proctor Miller, Arthur N. "The Crucible, Act II." The Language of Literature. American Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, Print In this scene Proctor is questioning Mary Warren’s statement that Sarah Good had confessed. He then makes Sarah’s confession seem untruthful by stating that she is a jabberer. When he says this about her it makes others not want to believe her statement, making this quote a fallacy.

Act III “ Your not a Boston judge yet, Hathorne. You’ll not call me daft!” - Giles Miller, Arthur N. "The Crucible, Act III." The Language of Literature. American Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, Print. In this quote Giles is angry with Hathorne because his wife has been accused and arrested. He then wants Hathorne’s authority to be irrelevant and wants others to not believe what he has to say, in order for that to happen he belittles Hathornes position by claiming that he isn’t a Boston judge which implies that he isn’t a “real” judge.