INTRODUCTION TO ANALYSIS

AIM: What is analysis?

AIM: WHAT IS ANALYSIS?
AGENDA
1. First Thoughts
2. Analysis
3. Fallacies Discussion
4. Homework:
Read Fallacies from St.
Martins handbook.
FIRST THOUGHTS:
What does it mean to
analyze something (in
your own words).
What arguments do
parents/friends use that
dont make sense? Why
not?
What do you think about these images?
http://www.tylervigen.com/

WHAT CAN YOU LEARN ABOUT
ARCADES AND COMP. SCI.
PH.D.S?
WHAT CAN YOU LEARN ABOUT CHEESE
CONSUMPTION AND PEOPLE WHO
DIED IN THEIR BEDS?
ANALYSIS
Analysis: To break something complex down to its component
parts to better examine those parts, thereby understanding both
those parts and the whole better.
WHAT IS THERE TO ANALYZE IN AN ARGUMENT?
You have already started analyzing essays:

Analyzing an argument is just like analyzing anything else: you
simply need to identify its component parts to see how it works
and whether it works effectively.
Every argument has its strengths and weaknesses, and
analysis is the task of identifying those strengths and
weaknesses.
INTRODUCTION TO MAKING MISTAKES
AIM: How do we recognize fallacies?
AIM: HOW DO WE RECOGNIZE FALLACIES?

Agenda
First Thoughts
Forcing faults
HW:
READ the Derek Bok
essay (starting on 161)
Take notes. Well discuss
tomorrow.
Seek out Aristotles
Triangle, any rhetorical
devices/strategies, and
any potential fallacies
First Thoughts:
Tell me the persuasive
techniques employed in
this image and any
potential fallacies:

Discuss with a Partner: What are the persuasive techniques employed in this image and any
potential fallacies:

http://neveryetmelted.com/2013/08/11/the-gun-control-
debate-simplified/
http://www.silive.com/opinion/columns/index.ssf/2013/04/gun-
control_debate_pervades_ou.html
ETHICAL FALLACIES: AD HOMINEM
Ad Hominem: To the man directly attacking a persons
character instead of the persons argument.
ETHICAL FALLACIES: GUILT BY ASSOCIATION
Guilt by Association: Attacking someones credibility by
connecting them with a person or activity the audience
considers bad, suspicious, or untrustworthy.
ETHICAL FALLACIES: APPEAL TO FALSE
AUTHORITY
Appeal to False Authority: When someone with authority in one
sphere testifies to the greatness of a product or idea in another
sphere about which the person probably knows very little.
EMOTIONAL FALLACIES: BANDWAGON APPEAL
Bandwagon Appeal suggests that a great movement is under
way and the reader will be a fool or a traitor not to join it. If
everyone is doing it, it must be the thing to do, right?
EMOTIONAL FALLACIES: FLATTERY
Flattery tries to persuade readers to do something by suggesting
that they are thoughtful, intelligent, or perceptive enough to
agree with the writer.

Example:
Youre an intelligent person. Of course you see why it makes
sense to vote for Senator Thompson!
EMOTIONAL FALLACIES: IN-CROWD APPEAL
In-Crowd Appeal is like flattery, but rather than simply telling the
audience that they are wonderful, they encourage the audience
to prove they are part of a desirable group of people by agreeing
to do, think, or buy something.
HOMEWORK
Read Fallacies from St. Martins
handbook.
Pages: 155-161
Be prepared to discuss more fallacies tomorrow
AIM: HOW DO WE RECOGNIZE FALLACIES CONTD?
AGENDA
1. First Thoughts
2. Analysis
3. Fallacies Discussion
4. Homework:
Respond to 5 questions in the
Some guidelines for
analyzing an argument
section after the Bok essay
(the green box at the end)
Of the 5, you must answer the
tenth bullet point (about f-f-f-
fallacies)
FIRST THOUGHTS:
Briefly respond to Boks
essay.
What did you think of the
Bok essay?
Did you agree with him?
Did you disagree with him?
Did you agree with his
purpose but not his
arguments?

EMOTIONAL FALLACIES: VEILED THREATS
Veiled Threats try to frighten readers into agreement by hinting
that they will suffer adverse consequences if they dont agree.


EMOTIONAL FALLACIES: FALSE ANALOGY
False Analogies make comparisons between two situations that
are not alike in most or important respects.

Example:
Employees and nails are the same. As it is necessary to hit nails
on the head in order to make them work, the same must be
done with employees.
LOGICAL FALLACIES: BEGGING THE QUESTION
Begging the Question is a kind of circular argument that treats a
debatable statement as if it had been proved true.

Example:
God must exist because the holy scriptures say it is so, and the
holy scriptures must be true because they come from God.
LOGICAL FALLACIES: POST HOC
Post Hoc: Derived from the Latin phrase post hoc, ergo propter
hoc, meaning after this, therefore caused by this, a post hoc
fallacy assumes that since A happened before B, A caused B.

Example:
I woke up this morning, and soon after, the sun came up. The
sun came up because I woke up!
LOGICAL FALLACIES: NON SEQUITUR
Non Sequitur: Latin for it does not follow, a non sequitur
attempts to tie together two or more logically unrelated ideas as
if they were related.

Example:
If we can send a spacecraft to Mars, then we can discover a
cure for cancer.
FINISHING OUR FALLACIES
Agenda:
1
st
Thoughts
Find Fallacies
Compare with Neighbor
Finish List of Fallacies
HW:
Choose a topic (in class)
Find an essay/article or
some piece of literature
on the issue
Annotate it
AIM:
First Thoughts:
1. Think of TWO debatable topics of
interest to you:
2. In the picture:
-Whats the Argument?
-Who are they arguing against?
-Why is it an issue?
-What do you think?
http://www.wbur.org/npr/137172486/gray-wolf-in-cross-hairs-again-after-delisting
LOGICAL FALLACIES: EITHER-OR
Either-Or asserts that a complex situation can have only two
possible outcomes, one of which is necessary or preferable.

Example:
Youre either with us or against us.
LOGICAL FALLACIES: HASTY GENERALIZATION
Hasty Generalization: bases a conclusion on too little evidence
or on bad or misunderstood evidence.

Example:
The Simpsons is such an overrated TV show. I saw the start of
one episode once and it wasnt that funny.
LOGICAL FALLACIES: OVERSIMPLIFICATION
Oversimplification of the relation between causes and effects is
another fallacy based on careless reasoning.

Example:
The shooting at Columbine High School would have been
avoided if we had just banned violent movies.
ETHICAL FALLACIES: STRAW MAN
Straw Man: When someone (often intentionally)
mischaracterizes another persons argument and then
disproves the mischaracterized argument.
Example:
A: Sunny days are good.
B: If all days were sunny, we'd never
have rain, and without rain, we'd have
famine and death.

In this case B has falsely framed A's
claim to imply that A believes only sunny
days are good and B has argued against
that assertion. A actually asserted that
sunny days are good and in fact said
nothing about rainy days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
LOGICAL FALLACIES: SLIPPERY SLOPE
The Slippery Slope is when someone argues against allowing A
to happen because it will lead to B happening, which will lead to
C happening, etc. This strategy can be abused to the point of
becoming a fallacy.

Example:
If we allow them to ban cigarettes, whats next? Alcohol? Soda?
Breathing?!?
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
COMPOSITION EXAMINATION
The Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Examination consists of a reading comprehension section worth 45%
of your total exam score and a free response section worth 55% of
your total exam score.

Section 1: Reading Comprehension: 4-5 reading passages, 48-60
questions, to be completed in one hour.

Section 2: Free Response
Analysis Essay
Argument Essay
Synthesis Essay
Students are given two hours to complete the three essays, plus an
additional 15 minutes to read the texts accompanying the Synthesis
Essay prompt.
THE ANALYSIS ESSAY
The student is presented with a passage and is asked to
analyze the language of the passage, including rhetorical
strategies and stylistic elements. The student has about forty
(40) minutes to complete the essay.
TYPES OF ANALYSIS QUESTIONS ASKED
The author's view of the subject
Rhetorical devices used by the author
Stylistic elements in the passage and their
effects
The author's tone
The author's purpose
How the author presents him- or herself in the
passage
The intended or probable effect of a passage
How the author develops his or her argument
HOW TO READ AN ANALYSIS PROMPT
1. Read the prompt carefully, underlining key terms in
the prompt. (1-3 minutes).
2. Read the passage, preferably twice (8-10 minutes).
Two strategies:
a. Read once closely, underlining important elements
and making marginal notes, then reread a second
time to make sure you understand the whole
passage.
b. Read once quickly to get the gist of the passage,
then reread more slowly, underlining important
elements and making marginal notes.