Transcript Appeal to Fear 7

Appeal to Fear
Alexus Furlong & Quentin Staples
• Catalina. "Appeal to Fear Exercise."
COMM41:Catalina. 4 Nov. 2010. Web. 13
Apr. 2011.
• "Uncle Sam." The Civil War. 2003. Web.
13 Apr. 2011.
Appeal to Fear
• Appeal to fear: Target is persuaded to
agree by threats or force.
• A fallacy in which a person attempts to
create support for his or her idea by using
deception and propaganda in attempts to
increase fear and prejudice toward a
competitor.
• Roland, Jon. "Logical Fallacies." Index. 6
Jan. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.
Universal Example
• Weapons of Mass Destruction – a weapon that can kill
and bring significant harm to a large number of humans
and other life forms) and/or cause great damage to manmade structures (e.g. buildings), natural structures (e.g.
mountains), or the biosphere in general.
• Due to the impact of WMDs, the fear of a WMD attack
has shaped political policies and campaigns, fostered
social movements, and has been the central theme of
many films.
• A television commercial called Daisy, promoting
Democrat Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 presidential
candidacy , invoked the fear of a nuclear war and was an
element in Johnson's subsequent election. YouTube Lyndon Johnson - Daisy
• YouTube - Lyndon Johnson - Daisy."
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 10usc311,
18 Oct. 2006. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.
Examples from The Crucible
• “ Now look you. All of you. We danced. And
Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters.
And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you
breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the
other things, and I will come to you in the black
of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy
reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I
can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents
heads on the pillow next to me, and I have seen
some reddish work done at night, and I can
make you wish you had never seen the sun go
down!” – Abigail Act 1 pg.175
Explanation
• Abigail was trying to scare the girls into
lying about what really happened. She
said she would come to them at night and
harm them if they confess to conjuring
spirits. She knows that if she can threat
them they won’t say a word about what
happened. They would be too fearful of
what would happened to them if they
confessed.
• “…You will confess yourself or you will
hang! Do you know who I am? I say you
will hang if you do not open with me!” Danforth Act 3 pg. 225
Explanation
• Danforth was trying to make Mary Warren
confess to what they did. The only way he
could think of making her confess was to
make her fearful of her life. In most cases
a person would tell the truth if they know
they would get harmed if they lied. Of
course she confessed because if not she
would have hanged. Most people say they
will harm you if you don’t confess but they
just say that to get you to speak up.
• “ Mary, God damns all liars!” – John Proctor Act
3 pg.225
• Explanation: John wanted Mary to tell the truth
to the court. He wanted her to confess that the
girls were all lying about seeing spirits. When
she became hesitant to speak he told her that to
make her want to confess. She knew that if she
lied to the court she would be committing a sin
and may not go to heaven.
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