One fallacy in the essay "The Wife-Beater" is "Everybody wears them (528)". This fallacy is the type of fallacy called hasty or sweeping generalization. This fallacy affects the validity of the argument over the negative connotation of the term of the shirt by jumping to the conclusion that everyone wears wife-beaters. She makes too broad of a statement, especially for the first sentence of an essay by using the word "everyone". By making this broad statement at the beginning of the essay and using no evidence, this fallacy diminishes the validity.
Another fallacy demonstrated in this essay is "More than 4 million women are victims of severe assaults by boyfriends and husbands each year (529)". This is the type of fallacy called red herring. This fallacy affects the validity of the argument by shifting the audience's attention off the topic that is trying to be argued. Although violence and assault are associated with the term "wife-beater", that is not the main argument the writer is attempting to focus on.
The quote "One woman stated that it even made guys look "manly". So manly equals violent? Not by me, and I hope not by anyone on any side of age 25 (529)" exhibits another type of fallacy. This type of fallacy is called personal attack, or argument ad hominem. This fallacy affects the validity of the argument by attacking the character and her motives, which then causes the audience to avert their attention to the character rather than focusing on the argument. The writer turns her audience's attention toward the opinion of a character, rather than concentrating on the negative connotation of the term "wife-beater".
Hey Haley,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your second fallacy. The author does take away the audiences focus from the topic that she is trying to argue which affects the validity of the argument. Women being victims was not her main argument she was trying to focus on. I also think that this fallacy could be classified as Misleading Statistics. The author doesn't reference where she got the statistic. When you read the quote, it catches your eye and pulls you in. That was the purpose of the statistic and that is why it was used. The author misleads us into thinking the statistic is true without being proved. I also really liked your third fallacy example, I even used it myself. Rather then focusing on the negative significance of the "Wife-Beater", the author slides the readers attention to her opinion. Fabulous job Haley see you tomorrow! (:
Haley,
ReplyDeleteYour first fallacy is very similar to one that I did. I think you did a really good job on it and I liked how you pointed out how very broad of a statement it is.
Your second fallacy is done really well too. You argued your point very effectively. Another idea for a fallacy using this quote is Non Sequitur (It Does Not Follow). This argument also works because is that it has no relevance to the previous statement or to the argument as a whole she is trying to make. Smith tries to play into the emotion of the reader and distract them. There is also no where in the text that proves that this statement is a fact. Therefor, this quote could be seen as a misleading statistic also. This is a really good quote for finding fallacies because of its irrelevance.
I again used the same quote you used in your third fallacy. I hadn't thought of this quote as a personal attack fallacy, but the way you backed it up made a lot of sense. It helped me understand how to use this type of fallacy correctly.
you did a really nice job!:)