Transcript Chapter 13: Persuasion

The Effective Reader
(Updated Edition)
By D.J. Henry
Chapter 13: Advanced Argument:
Persuasive Techniques
PowerPoint Presentation
By Gretchen Starks-Martin
St. Cloud State University, MN
Biased Arguments
A fallacy is an error in logical thought.
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.
(Unbiased statement)
 Lashonda trusts the news story because it’s
printed in the newspaper. (biased argument)

What is Propaganda?
Propaganda is an act of persuasion that
systematically spreads biased information that is
designed to support or oppose a person, product,
cause, or organization.
Emotional appeal is the arousal of emotions to
give a biased meaning or power to an idea.


Spicy foods and stress cause stomach ulcers. (unbiased
statement)
Don’t buy your insurance from DealState; that outfit is
a bunch of crooks. (biased argument)
Irrelevant Arguments: Fallacies
Personal attack is the use of abusive remarks in
place of evidence for a point or argument. Also
known as an ad hominem attack, it attempts to
discredit the point by discrediting the person
making the point.
Example: Sam, a convicted felon, wants to ban
smoking in restaurants. His opponents attack his
criminal record, not his idea: “Now the
lawbreakers want to make the laws.”
Irrelevant Arguments: Fallacies
A Straw Man fallacy is a weak argument substituted for a
stronger one to make the argument easier to challenge.
It distorts, misrepresents, or falsifies an opponent’s
position. Attention is shifted away from a strong argument
to a weaker one.
Example: Governor Goodfeeling opposes drilling for oil in Alaska.
But the U.S. is too dependent on foreign oil supplies, and the economy
would benefit from having an American supply for oil. The Governor
wants to keep us dependent on foreign oil cartels.
The governor’s reasons for opposing drilling are not
mentioned. Instead, the writer changes the tactic to the
U.S. dependence on oil.
Irrelevant Arguments: Fallacies
Begging the question restates the point of an
argument as the support and conclusion. It
is also known as circular reasoning.
Example: “Spinach is an awful tasting food
because it tastes bad.” (BQ)
Example: “I never eat spinach because it has a
bitter taste, and I don’t like foods that taste bitter.”
(not BQ)
Irrelevant Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Name-calling uses negative labels for a
product, idea, or cause. The labels use
emotionally loaded words and use details
that cannot be verified.
Examples:


Cristina Singer has an air of raunchy diva in her newest album.
Even though her voice delivers a decent mix of pop, rock and soul,
her vampire-in-leather costume and wicked-witch makeup makes
her act scary to watch.
People who burn the flag are traitors.
Irrelevant Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Testimonials are irrelevant personal
opinions to support a product, idea, or
cause. Often a celebrity is used as a
spokesperson.
Example: Famous athlete Jerome High-Jumper says, “Drinking
milk every day makes me the athlete I am.”
Irrelevant Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Bandwagon uses or suggests the irrelevant
detail that “everyone is doing it.”
Therefore, you should do it too!
Example: “I should be able to stay out until 3 A.M. All
the other kids can. I’m the only one who isn’t allowed to
stay out late on prom night.”
Irrelevant Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Plain folks uses irrelevant details to build
trust based on commonly shared values. An
image is put forth to which everyday people
can more easily relate.
Examples:


A candidate running for office dressed in blue jeans and a plaid
shirt eating a hotdog.
A woman dressed in casual clothes cooking in a kitchen where the
TV ad is trying to get you to buy their product.
Inadequate Arguments: Fallacies
Either-or assumes that only two sides to an
issue exist. Also known as the black-andwhite fallacy, it offers a false dilemma
because more than two options are usually
available.
Example: “If you don’t give to the toy drive, you don’t
care about children.”
Inadequate Arguments: Fallacies
False comparison assumes that two things
are similar when they are not. This is also
known as a false analogy.
Example: “Animals deserve the same legal rights as
humans.”
Inadequate Arguments: Fallacies
False cause, or Post Hoc assumes that
because events occurred around the same
time, they have a cause-and-effect
relationship.
Example: “I won’t hit a home run unless I wear my
special baseball cap.”
Inadequate Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Card stacking omits factual details in order
to misrepresent a product, idea, or cause. It
intentionally gives only part of the truth.
Example: A commercial mentions that the product is
low in fat, but fails to say that it is loaded with sugar and
calories.
Inadequate Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Transfer creates an association between a
product, idea, or cause with a symbol or
image that has positive or negative values.
Examples:


“God Bless America” on a product
“Be like Alicia Silverstone and Woody Harrelson…go vegetarian.”
Inadequate Arguments:
Propaganda Techniques
Glittering generalities offer general positive
statements that cannot be verified. It is the
opposite of name-calling. Words like truth,
freedom, peace, and honor are used to
suggest positive things.
Example: “A vote for candidate Anthony Vacarro is a
vote for honesty and integrity!”
Examining Biased Arguments
Sometimes textbooks will choose to present
biased arguments for your examination.
Often these are excerpts from other sources
and are included for you to evaluate.
Watch for biased words in these passages.
Chapter Review
A fallacy is an error in logical thought.
Irrelevant details draw attention away from logical thought
by ignoring the issue.
Inadequate details oversimplify the issue and do not give a
person enough information to draw a proper conclusion.
Propaganda is an act of persuasion that systematically
spreads biased information that is designed to support or
oppose a person, product, cause, or organization.
Emotional appeal is the arousal of emotions to give
meaning or power to an idea.
Chapter Review
Begging the question is also known as circular reasoning.
Personal attack is also known as an ad hominem attack.
False cause is also known as post hoc.
False comparison is also known as false analogy.
Either-or is also known as the black-and-white fallacy.
Practice: Complete the
Following:
Chapter Review
Applications
Review Tests
Mastery Tests
Remember to complete your scorecard for
the Review Tests in this chapter.