Fallacies and Final Review

Fallacies and Final Review - Post #5

Austin Freeman
Period 4 - Honors English
Independent Reading Project - Quarter 2

As I continue to get farther into my non-fiction text, I am now in the final chapter and the Appendix. This blog post will talk about Fallacies

In Chapter 9 and the first Appendix of my book, it is discussing “fallacies” or errors that people make in Argumentation and communication. Fallacies are misleading types of arguments and are not well-constructed.  A fallacy uses wrong and incorrect reasoning in the creation of different arguments. Some fallacies and misleading methods that are very tempting to use and are so common among debaters and writers, that they even have some of their own names. Fallacies undermine an argument's logical validity or more generally an argument's logical soundness. Fallacies are either formal fallacies or informal fallacies. The first page in the Appendix talks about the ad hominem fallacy. This is where the reader is attacking the person of a source rather than authors qualifications, their techniques used in their Argumentation, or the actual argument that the author has made.(Weston 71). An example of this fallacy that was used was:

“àIt’s no surprise that Carl Sagan argues for life on Mars – after all, he was a well-known Atheist. I don’t believe that for a minute.

Although Sagan did take part in the public discussion about religion and science, there is no reason to think that his views about religion colored his scientific judgment about Martian Life. Look to the argument, not “the man.” (72)

This text from the book affects my activity (writing and argumentation) because it allows me to prepare myself to respond to types of counter-arguments and questions that people may have about the argument that I have constructed. By incorporating these rules and ideas in my writing, I can communicate effectively, know how to proper and successfully respond to any criticism of my arguments, and this helps me to improve my communication with other debaters and writers.

My Argument (In-Progress):

I appreciate the chance to talk to you today, I want to persuade you to think about how High School is more than friendships and social media. High School is an important part of your life, and you want to develop excellent learning opportunities to establish college and career readiness.

In High School, your study habits and actions really do matter and skills such as good time management, studying in new locations, and identifying how you learn all will enable you to be successful. You will use these skills all of the time in many different settings, such as college, your career, in social gatherings with other people, etc.

In High, School, you should develop skills such as planning and efficient time management. A lot of students develop planning skills and learn how to manage their time and activities, which allows them to be successful students. Specifically, if Cornell University, says that many students that come to college are unprepared because they do not develop proper study and management skills, then it is true that you should develop skills such as planning and effective time management to you can be successful,

Colleges such as the University of Washington, want to see continued intellectual growth and that you care about your education. Identifying how you learn, establish good study skills where you can concentrate on your academics and not being distracted, and learning to manage your time so that you can get all of your homework and academics done, are good skills to have and will help you with your intellectual growth. Therefore, establish good study skills, identifying how you learn, and completing your homework are things that will help you get into college and prepare you for life. 

High School is an important part of your life, and you want to develop good learning opportunities to establish college and career readiness, so make the most of your education.

Question:
What do you think are some common mistakes or fallacies that you make in your writing or communication skills? How can you correct these answers?

Sources used for My Argument:

"Freshman Students." Freshman Students Admissions| UW. University of Washington, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.

Selco, Helene. "Programs." Strategies for College Success: Critical Thinking and Effective Learning / Cornell Summer College Programs for High School Students. Cornell University, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.

MLA Citation:
Weston, Anthony. A Rulebook for Arguments. 4th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2009. Print.