Transcript Rhetorical Appeals, Fallacies, and Propaganda Techniques

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Rhetorical Appeals, Fallacies, and
Propaganda Techniques
Visual Rhetoric
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Rhetoric
 You
see and use rhetoric every day, whether you
know it or not.
 Rhetorical
strategies are what persuade others to
think a certain way, or act on an idea.
 Understanding
rhetoric will make you a better
consumer of products and ideas.
 You
will be better able to evaluate the argument(s)
around you.
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Visual Rhetoric
What’s visual rhetoric?
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Visual
 Color
 Arrangement
 Font
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Rhetoric
Persuades
the viewer to think or act
in a particular way
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Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
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Rhetoric, continued
 Your
communication toolkit. The ability to find the
best means of persuasion in any situation. Three
rhetorical strategies:
 Ethos:
Appeals to the ethics of the audience or
to the authority of the speaker
 Pathos: Appeals to the emotions of an audience
 Logos: Appeals to logic
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Ethos
 Appeals
to ethics;
 Appeals
to authority;
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Ethos, example
 This
is an example
of a
commercial using
ethos.
 Dentists
are
experts
about teeth.
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https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=8ULR68LTmbw&index=2
&list=PLZYAuFOuS8p9KA9wYiTOc_DV2wWrbHgN
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Pathos
 Appeals
to emotion;
 Examples:
When a TV commercial shows pictures of cute kids or
puppies/kittens, it is using Pathos.
 Pictures of wounded soldiers on a battlefield
 A US flag with the sound of “God Bless America”
playing
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Pathos, example
 This
is an example of a commercial using pathos.
Animals inspire strong emotions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t6bLugtJkQ
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Logos
 Appeals
to logic. A way of persuading an audience
by using reason.
 Examples:
The scientific method
 Using statistics
 Using forensic evidence
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Logos, example

Example of a commercial
using logos – in this case, reason and by giving facts about
what their soup has compared to others.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplMjgh_QlM
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Fallacies
When good arguments go bad.
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Begging the Question

Begging the question is a fallacious form of arguing in which
one assumes what one claims to be proving.
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Example:
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Since wealthy doctors control health-care services, Americans
can only expect the costs of medical treatment to escalate.

The writer has provided no evidence that doctors control
health-care services. Further, the use of the word wealthy
implies that doctor’s incomes directly determine treatment
costs. Both of these ideas muddy the logic of the argument.
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Either-Or
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This fallacy suggests there are only 2 choices in a complex
situation.
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Example:
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Either we bail out our banks or our economy will enter a
depression.
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Oversimplification

When it is assumed that there is a single simple cause of an
outcome when in reality it may have been caused by a
number of causes.
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Example: All teenage crimes can be linked to hormones.
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Old Spice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
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Post Hoc Fallacy

Assumes events which follow each other have a cause-andeffect relationship.
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Example:
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The stock market goes up every time Dallas wins the Super Bowl.
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Sesame Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ1a0ymGCKA (start at 57
seconds)
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Slippery Slope
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Maintains that one thing will inevitably causes another thing.
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Example:
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If the government passes tougher gun laws, soon no one will be
allowed to own a gun.
DIRECTV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIv3m2gMgUU
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Propaganda Techniques
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Bandwagon
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Tries to persuade everyone to join in and do the same thing.
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Mean Girls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPwrmfRVwoA
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Card Stacking
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Telling only one side of the story as though there is no
opposing view.
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Political Ad Yes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBHw_Ly124
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Political Ad No:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHitVAH-xC4
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Exigency
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Creating the impression that your action is required
immediately or your opportunity will be lost forever.
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Glittering Generalities
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Using positive or idealistic words based on a detail to create
an association in the viewer’s mind between the
person/object and something that is good, valued, and
desired.
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McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it”
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Plain Folks
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Using a person who represents the “typical” target of the ad
to communicate to the audience that because we are alike
you should use this product too.
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I’m a PC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=556Wip2USRI
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Prestige Identification
 Showing
a well-known person with the object, person, or
cause in order to increase the audience’s impression of
the importance or prestige of the object, person, or cause.
 Michael
Jordan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc
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Snob Appeal
 Associating
the product,
person, or cause with
successful, wealthy,
admired people to give the
audience the idea that if
they buy or support the
same things they will also
be part of the “in crowd”
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Testimonial

An important person or famous figure endorses a product.
Selena Gomez Pantene Commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-I0GZtPFII
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Transfer
 Good
feelings, looks, or ideas transferred to the
person for whom the product is intended.
 I’m
Falling Sprite Commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1latJ7K8zc
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Group Activity
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Directions
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Analyze the advertisement given to your group
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Complete SOAPStone on poster
and
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Identify which propaganda techniques are used