Group Three: Sample Fallacies And Booby Traps
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Understanding Fallacies and Booby Traps in Argument and Perusasive Writing
- 1.You’re a vegetarian? You do realize that Hitler was a vegetarian, too?
- A.
Equivocation
- B.
Questionable Use of Statistics
- C.
Genetic Fallacy
- D.
Straw Man
- E.
Appeal to Authority
- 2.Most heroin users started out smoking pot. If you start smoking pot, you’ll end up a heroin user, too.
- A.
Appeal to Authority
- B.
False Cause
- C.
Genetic Fallacy
- D.
Undistributed Middle
- E.
Vagueness
- 3.Really exciting novels are very rare. And since rare books are expensive, I can’t afford to buy any really exciting novels.
- A.
Vagueness
- B.
Genetic Fallacy
- C.
Undistributed Middle
- D.
Suppressed Evidence
- E.
Equivocation
- 4.Middle-class families are paying more taxes than ever.
- A.
Vagueness
- B.
Red Herring
- C.
Equivocation
- D.
Questionable Use of Statistics
- E.
Straw Man
- 5.The war in Iraq has been a complete success. After all, Saddam Hussein is dead, and the Iraqis had their first free election in years.
- A.
Questionable Use of Statistics
- B.
Appeal to Authority
- C.
Suppressed Evidence
- D.
Vagueness
- E.
Straw Man
- 6.Jake, Kyle and Rolf are all members of the UNCP Young Republicans, and they are all planning to be Roman Catholic priests. Emma is also a member of the UNCP Young Republicans, so she is probably planning to be a Roman Catholic priest, too.
- A.
Appeal to Authority
- B.
Questionable Use of Statistics
- C.
Undistributed Middle
- D.
Straw Man
- E.
Genetic Fallacy
- 7.Many people criticize Thomas Jefferson for being an owner of slaves. But Jefferson was one of our greatest presidents, and his Declaration of Independence is one of the most eloquent pleas for freedom and democracy ever written. Clearly these criticisms are unwarranted.
- A.
Straw Man
- B.
Vagueness
- C.
Red Herring
- D.
Suppressed Evidence
- E.
False Cause
- 8.There are more laws on the books than ever before, and more crimes are being committed than ever before. Therefore, to reduce crime, we must eliminate the laws.
- A.
Vagueness
- B.
Questionable Use of Statistics
- C.
Genetic Fallacy
- D.
False Cause
- E.
Red Herring
- 9.We should pass a constitutional amendment making it illegal to burn the American flag. Anyone who thinks otherwise just hates America.
- A.
Appeal to Authority
- B.
Suppressed Evidence
- C.
Vagueness
- D.
Straw Man
- E.
Equivocation
- 10.Lewis Carroll, in Through the Looking Glass: “ ‘You couldn’t have [jam] if you did want it,’ the Queen said. ‘The rule is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday — but never jam today.’ ‘It must sometimes come to jam today,’ Alice objected. ‘No it can’t,’ said the Queen. ‘It’s jam every other day: today isn’t any other day, you know.’ ”
- A.
Genetic Fallacy
- B.
Appeal to Authority
- C.
Straw Man
- D.
Undistributed Middle
- E.
Equivocation
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