1. Persuasion
This power point is created for 10th grade English Language Arts students. The slides will cover the various techniques used in persuasive advertising, providing examples for further understanding. At the end of the presentation, students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of logical fallacies through peer and group discussions. Students will also be able to recognize the type of fallacy present in an advertisement. Lastly, students will be able to construct a logical fallacy based upon the red herring fallacy independently.

2. What is Persuasion?
It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, action or attitude
Often it is illogical and manipulative
Thirsty?

3. How can it be done effectively?
The purpose…
The purpose of persuasion is to convince someone of your point of view.
How can it be done effectively?

4. Logical Fallacy Logical = something that is reasonable,
(it makes sense)
Fallacy = something that is faulty, (a mistake)
Logical + Fallacy = A Mistake in Reasoning

5. Logical self defense
The purpose of learning these things is to prevent yourself from being manipulated…
Do you believe
everything you read,
hear and see? ►

6. A Bandwagon Fallacy If it’s popular, it must be correct!
The name comes from the phrase, "jump on the bandwagon“, a bandwagon being a wagon big enough to hold a band of musicians. In past political campaigns, candidates would ride a bandwagon through town, and people would show support for the candidate by climbing aboard the wagon.
It has come to mean joining a cause because of its popularity.

7. Red Herring Fallacy Logical perhaps…but unrelated
The name comes from the sport of fox hunting in which a dried, smoked herring, which is red in color, is dragged across the trail of the fox to throw the hounds off the scent.
The argument given uses distraction to avoid the issue
Example:
Person 1: Candidate so and so has helped the economy since he has been in office.
Person 2: What! No he hasn’t!
Person 1: Yes, the stock market has risen, the jobless rate is down, and more homes are being bought than ever before.
Person 2: Yeah but look at what has happened with gun laws. They are less strict than ever before.

8. Emotional Appeal Manipulation through emotions and feelings.
For example, the ad can make viewers feel happy, sad, nostalgic, fearful, angry etc…
Buying something will make you feel better.

9. Ad Hominem “Against the Man”
Attacking the person, not the argument.
Senator Smith insists the crime rate has fallen since he has been in office, but we can’t forget, this is coming from a person who spent nearly a year in prison when he was 22.

10. Using Ad Hominem, One Might Argue…
“You should buy a Macintosh. They are so much better than PCs. Besides, Bill Gates is nerd.

11. Either/or declarations (False Dilemma)
Minimizing the argument to an either/or statement.
Example: Either the school board votes in favor of school uniforms, or the students continue to be disruptive and disrespectful.

12. False cause and effect (Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc)
Concluding that a certain outcome is the result of a certain event.
Means “After this therefore because of this.”
Confuses causation and correlation or implies it must be one of the two.
Examples:
Since Carl started wearing a school uniform, his grades have improved.

13. Begging the Question/Circular Reasoning
Proposition assumes conclusion is true.
I think he is unattractive because he is ugly.

14. Special Pleading
Attempting to obtain special treatment because of special circumstances.
I should be able to wear a hat at school because my head gets especially cold.

15. Appeal to Ignorance
Assume statement is true because it cannot be disproven.
You can’t disprove the existence of Santa Claus

16. Appeal to flattery Flattering someone to gain their support.
You’re are so attractive and intelligent. Will you vote for me?

17. Straw Man
Creating an exaggerated/incorrect version of original argument then attacking that version of the argument.
Jill: "We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy." Bill: "Why, we just went through those closets last year. Why do we have to clean them out everyday?" Jill: "I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want too keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous."

18. Hasty Generalization
Assumes if true for a few people/situations, then true for most or all.
Trust me, the student body agrees with me. I’ve pretty much asked everyone.

19. Cherry Picking Suppressing evidence, incomplete evidence.
These two studies clearly demonstrate guns are a problem and generally lead to bad things. How could you disagree, it’s all right here!

20. Appeal to Authority
Referring to an alleged expert to get point across.
Dr. Smith is one of the smartest men in the world. He agrees with us.

21. Sunk Cost
Tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment has been made.
Money, effort or time
Giving up now is not the best choice. Think of all the time we’ll have wasted.

22. Overwhelming Exception
Generally a true statement that is qualified with exceptions that negate the statement’s effectiveness.
Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"

23. Wrong Direction Reversing cause and effect.
Using crutches is dangerous. Most people on them have had accidents.
Children that watch a lot of TV are the most violent. Clearly, TV makes children more violent.
This could easily be the other way round; that is, violent children like watching more TV than less violent ones.

24. Slippery Slope One change will lead to many.
“If we allow students to leave campus for lunch, pretty soon they will be allowed to do whatever they want.”
"We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be charging $40,000 a semester!"

25. Examination
Examine the following ad. Which type of fallacy do you think Coca-Cola is using? And why?
The students will be participating in another “Think, Pair, Share”. However, this time, they must decide for themselves what fallacy is being used. I chose the ad purposely because I believe that there is more than one possible fallacy being used. My hopes are that students will disagree with their responses and debate the issue further.

26. Which is it?
"Since scientists cannot prove that global warming will occur, it probably won't."

27. [Appeal to Ignorance]

28. Which it it
"If we pass laws against fully automatic weapons, then it won't be  long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban fully automatic weapons."

29. [Slippery Slope]

30. Which is it?
"We should not believe the governor when he claims he did nothing wrong.  After all, he's a liar."

31. Against the Man

32. Which is it
"Fred, who is Australian, stole my wallet. Clearly Australians are thieves."

33. [Hasty generalization}

34. Which is it
"Immigration to California from Mexico increased. Soon after, the welfare rolls increased. Therefore, the increased immigration caused the increase in welfare rolls." 

35. False cause and effect Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

36. I am a good worker because Frank says so. How can we trust Frank
I am a good worker because Frank says so.  How can we trust Frank?  Simple:  I will vouch for him.

37. Begging the question/Circular Reasoning

38. You either purposely knocked the glass over or you did not.  Which is it?

39. Either/Or

40. I know I forgot to deposit the check into the bank yesterday
I know I forgot to deposit the check into the bank yesterday.  But, nothing I do pleases you.

41. Red Herring

42. Those rules don't apply to me since I am older than you.

43. Special Pleading

44. You can’t believe what Jack says about the economy
You can’t believe what Jack says about the economy. He doesn’t even have a job!

45. Ad Hominem

46. The new UltraSkinny diet will make you feel great
The new UltraSkinny diet will make you feel great. No longer be troubled by your weight. Enjoy the admiring stares of the opposite sex. Revel in your new freedom from fat. You will know true happiness if you try our diet!

47. Appeal to Emotion