AP LANGUAGE Im so tired now that Im

AP LANGUAGE I’m so tired now that I’m old

LETTERS OF REC I have to write so many! But that’s okay, you guys are great! If there’s something specific you’d like me to touch on in your letter, let me know and I’ll be sure to include it. If you need a letter earlier than stated in Naviance, also let me know and I’ll get on it. My plan is to have the early action requests done by the 15 th, which is next Monday. I will update you at that time about whose I have completed and submitted.

IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL… We should take some notes on logical fallacies. What are some examples of logical fallacies? Where do we see logical fallacies?

PRESENTING EVIDENCE Once a writer has established a claim and developed a thesis statement, the next step is to support it with evidence. What evidence to present, how much is necessary, and how to present it are all rhetorical choices guided by an understanding of an audience.

EVIDENCE ØRelevant evidence is evidence that specifically applies to the argument being made. ØAccurate information means taking care to quote sources correctly without misrepresenting what the sources are saying or taking the information out of context. ØA sufficient amount of evidence is necessary to support your thesis as well.

LOGICAL FALLACIES Logical fallacies are potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument. You can also think of logical fallacies as being the failure to make a logical connection between the claim and the evidence used to support the claim. Practically speaking, the logical breakdown in most weak arguments occurs in the use of

LOGICAL FALLACIES ØAre logical fallacies just mistakes people make? ØLogical fallacies may be accidental, but they can also be used deliberately to manipulate or deceive. ØRegardless, logical fallacies work against the clear, civil discourse that should be at the heart of argument. ØIt will be more important that you notice these fallacies and be able to describe what you see than it is to be able to label them by their technical name. The concepts are more important than the terms. ØBy checking fallacies in your own writing, you can revise to strengthen your argument.

FALLACIES OF RELEVANCE ØA red herring occurs when a speaker skips to a new and irrelevant topic in order to avoid the topic of discussion. ØOne common type of red herring is an ad hominem fallacy. ØAd hominem refers to the diversionary tactic of switching the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker. ØAnalogy is the most vulnerable type of evidence because it is always susceptible to the charge that two things are not comparable, resulting in a faulty analogy. ØWhenever an analogy is used, it’s important to gauge whether the

FALLACIES OF ACCURACY ØA straw man fallacy occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent’s viewpoint. ØEither/or fallacy, also called a false dilemma. In this fallacy, the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choice.

FALLACIES OF INSUFFICIENCY ØPerhaps the most common of fallacies occurs when evidence is insufficient. We call this a hasty generalization, meaning that there is not enough evidence to support a particular conclusion. ØWhen using personal experience as evidence, it is important to remember that while it might provide some ethos to speak on a topic and it may be an effective way to appeal to pathos, personal experience is rarely universal proof.

FALLACIES OF INSUFFICIENCY ØCircular reasoning involves repeating the claim as a way to provide evidence, resulting in no evidence at all. ØYou can’t give me a C; I’m an A student!

MORE FALLACIES Post hoc ergo propter hoc: Latin for “after which therefore because of which. ” It is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier. In other words, correlation does not imply causation. When using historical evidence, you should be especially aware of this fallacy. Consider the complexity of the situation and proceed with caution.

MORE FALLACIES Appeal to false authority: This occurs when someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue is cited as an authority. When choosing whom to cite as an expert, be sure to verify the person’s background and qualifications.

MORE FALLACIES Bandwagon appeal (or ad populum fallacy) occurs when evidence boils down to “everybody’s doing it, so it must be a good thing to do. ” Sometimes statistics can be used to prove that “everybody’s doing it” and thus give a bandwagon appeal the appearance of cold, hard fact.

GOT IT? 1. Fallacies of Relevance 2. Fallacies of Accuracy 3. Fallacies of Insufficiency