Rhetorical Fallacies

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.

The American Revolution gave rise to many important figures in history we still learn about to this day. One of these figures was Patrick Henry. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech at the third Virginia convention, in St. John’s Church in Richmond Virginia. In “Speech in the Virginia Convention” the author, Patrick Henry, uses a variety of persuasive techniques to induce and prompt his audience to see his arguments for why they should engage in a war with Britain and fight for their freedom.

Jane Addams’ speech explains her stance of George Washington's legacy as a soldier, statesman, and a Virginia planter. In this speech, Jane Addams references George Washington’s accomplishments in his past, including how things would be if he is to be present today. The most significant uses of rhetorical devices in this speech include hypophora, rhetorical questions, enumeratio, distinctio, and metaphors.

To some speakers and writers, propaganda is an evil instrument. The negative approaches make a part of the world think that propagandists hoodwink the population, use half-truths, lie, conceal and distort facts. Although there are many pessimistic perspectives, there are others who have a positive view and think especially of techniques, slogans, catchwords and other devices. They prefer effective language, the rhetoric way, to persuade the audience (Pan, 2012).

All three of these basic rhetorical concepts help make an effective speech but, only if they are used in the correct way.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the most well-known presidents in American history, was the third president of the United States, and was known as one of the Founding Fathers, for he is one of the principle authors of the famous Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson is an important factor of the development of the United States. This leading figured has influenced the prosperity of the America’s with his achievements and political decisions, regarding the United States

An easy example of repetition is “Psychosocial” which refers to how society is making people more greedy. As the rest of the song is about greed and despair the tone of the chorus changes throughout the song. The repetition is mainly used to emphasise the ends of all other lines it comes after, although it seems like a catchy chorus the meaning is how having rich and greedy people to look up to causes normal people to strive to reach the same financial status as their idols.  An example of a metaphor is the singer saying “Go drill your deserts, go dig your graves” likening oil barons drilling oil to them digging their own graves as they are consumed by the greed they portray in their business practices. This furthers his other point of

As for myself, I had to weigh the concept of media influence effecting my purchasing habits, as I spend the majority of my free time outdoors or engaged with a book. What I concluded, was repetitively humorous ads such as “Old Spice”, “Irish Spring” and “Dollar Shave Club” commercials, not only share unique similarities in content, they also primarily address the market for low cost, daily use items. Considering these realities and my own recollection of advertisements which motivated me to purchase a product, I would have to postulate the Dollar Shave Club commercials won the contest hands down. In fact, I have never procured any Old Spice or Irish Spring product or felt any desire too, I simply enjoyed the satire imbedded in the advertising, however, when it came to the Dollar Shave Club, I have been a member for the past 3

The first chapter introduced the reader to the art of rhetoric. He describes how rhetoric works through real life examples. He demonstrates ways that rhetoric persuades us like, argument from strength, and seduction. He tells the reader that the sole purpose of arguing is to persuade the audience. He showed that the chief purpose of arguing is to also achieve consensus, a shared faith in a choice.

Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?” This effectively puts the audience into a panic of a future under the British, luring them more into Henry’s ideas of war. The audience, already hyped from their boosted sense of independence since the beginning of the speech, is now completely vulnerable to Henry’s words.

The American Revolution, perhaps the most momentous war-related milestone in American history, would not have been possible without the strenuous efforts of the courageous men we call Patriots or otherwise known as the Founding Fathers of America, who gave their all in the fight for freedom against the British. Many names of great men come to mind when we think “founding fathers,” such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, or Samuel Adams. Yet there is still one great patriot and founding father who seems to stand out above the rest, and that man is Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson is widely known as being the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase that bought more than 20% of the U.S. However, what most

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Thomas Jefferson is arguably one of the most influential people to Virginia and the United States before and during the American Revolution. Jefferson had been a governor for Virginia during the American Revolution, he had wrote the Declaration of Independence along with four other notable American politicians, and served as a minister to France in 1785-1789. Without Jefferson the American Revolution most likely would have played out completely different and we could possibly be living a different life today.

A fallacy is defined as a kind of error in reasoning. They can be persuasive and be created both unintentionally and intentionally in order to deceive others from the truth. Fallacies often indicate a false belief or cause of a false belief (dowden, 2006). An argument or situation commits a fallacy when the reasons offered do not support the conclusion. This defeats the purpose of the argument since its point is to give reason to support the conclusion. Fallacies affect the outcome of our everyday decision making process. There are three types of logical fallacies discussed in this paper along with the importance of utilizing critical thinking skills.

The use of logical fallacies is directly connected to the “Idol of the Cave,” where the individual believe in false notion based off their background and relationships amongst one another. Indirectly stating how individuals’ personal understanding was influenced by others and criticizing, exemplifies how he had the ability to agree with the ideal of the “Idols of the Cave” through this understanding of how influential of

Virginian politician Patrick Henry, like many of the founding fathers, was concerned by England’s actions preceding the Revolutionary War and decided to voice this concern in arguably one of the most critical speeches in political history, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”. Henry used his political passion and voice to convince the powerful politicians at the Second Virginia Convention that England was violating its citizen’s rights, and if specific measures were not taken, like forming a militia, the colonies would face imminent danger. Henry’s speech was so successful because he crafted it specifically with his audience in mind. His knowledge of the distinguished men strengthened his speech because he knew what rhetorical technique would