Rhetorical Devices and Logical Fallacies

Rhetorical Devices and Logical Fallacies

Celebrities as Heroes

What will this lesson look like?

Success Criteria

Language Objective

Learning Intention

Students will be able to identify at least two rhetorical devices and two logical fallacies in a given celebrity speech or media appearance.

I will use academic language to discuss and critique rhetorical strategies and logical fallacies in celebrity speeches and media appearances.

To explore how celebrities are often portrayed as heroes through the use of persuasive techniques.

Do Now

• What makes a celebrity a hero in your eyes?
• Is it their talent, actions, or something else?

Define

Rhetoric is the art of speaking and writing persuasively. It refers to the way language is used to persuade an audience. Rhetorical devices are specific techniques that writers and speakers use to make their arguments more persuasive. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. repeated “I have a dream” eight times throughout one of his most famous speeches. The rhetorical device of repetition helped make the speech one of the most powerful and memorable in American history. Logical fallacies are errors in logic and reasoning in a writer’s or speaker’s argument. Like rhetorical devices, logical fallacies attempt to persuade the audience. However, unlike rhetorical devices, logical fallacies contain misleading and often false statements. *Watch Video

Vocabulary

rhetorical device

rhetoric

logical fallacy

a writing or speaking technique that helps to make arguments more persuasive

an error in logic and reasoning

the art of speaking and writing persuasively

Model

Identification and Application: In order to identify rhetorical devices and logical fallacies in a writer’s or speaker’s argument, note the following:Rhetorical devices:

• repetition
• The act of repeating words, phrases, or sentences to make an idea clearer
• rhetorical question
• Asking a question to emphasize a claim or point

Logical fallacies:

• ad hominem argument
• An argument or reaction directed against a person rather than the position he or she is maintaining. For example, You don’t understand this because you weren’t born here.
• non sequitur
• A conclusion or reply that doesn't follow logically from the previous statement. For example, My friend loves to read. She must hate movies.
• hasty generalization
• Drawing a conclusion without considering all the evidence. For example, Kevin’s grandfather does not know how to use a computer. Kevin thinks all older people must be computer illiterate.

Model

Model:In “Celebrities as Heroes,” two writers take opposing views on the issue of idolizing celebrities as heroes. Noting rhetorical devices or logical fallacies the writers use can help you decide whether or not an argument is persuasive and why.You can note the difference between rhetorical devices and logical fallacies in the text using the following questions as a guide:

• Is this word, phrase, or sentence repeated elsewhere in the text?
• Does the author use a question to make a point or claim?
• Is this statement illogical, misleading, or even false?
• Is this argument directed against a person instead of a position?
• What is the effect of rhetorical devices in the text? What is the effect of logical fallacies in the text?
• What is the difference between rhetorical devices and logical fallacies?

Let’s look at how one reader identifies rhetorical devices and logical fallacies in “Point: Celebrities Should Not Be Idolized as Heroes.”

Model

The writer repeats “hero” and “celebrity” many times to stress that they are not the same. I think the statement “they are all frivolous” is a hasty generalization. The author hasn’t met every celebrity in the world.

Model

Model:The reader notes the writer’s use of repetition as a rhetorical device to make the focus clear. As she continues reading, she also notices the author's use of logical fallacy. The claim that celebrities “may go to a thousand parties a month” is a clear exaggeration that can’t be true and, therefore, is not persuasive. The writer hasn’t met every celebrity in the world but decides that they are all “frivolous.” A generalization, which is a type of logical fallacy, is an example of flawed thinking. It is different from repetition, which is a rhetorical appeal that writers use to emphasize their ideas or focus their position. She continues reading “Point: Celebrities Should Not Be Idolized as Heroes” and identifies another logical fallacy.

Model

The writer’s statement about celebrities who play real heroes fits the argument. But the last sentence doesn’t seem persuasive because teenagers use social media for many reasons, not just to follow celebrities.

Model

The reader thinks the first part of the paragraph is persuasive based on the argument the writer is making. But she highlights the last statement as another ad hominem attack directed at teenagers who use social media. She suggests that it doesn’t connect logically with the writer’s position on celebrities as heroes.