Guidelines for Informal Fallacy Portfolio

In this assignment, you will find one example of an Informal Fallacy in a print or electronic source, and will create 3 original examples of your own. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate that you understand how Informal Fallacies are used.

The Example found in a Print or Electronic source:

1. Find an example of an Informal Fallacy listed on the Midterm study guide in a print or electronic source, and print it out, photocopy it, or cut and paste it on a regular size piece of paper. Circle the part where the argument is found. (Written descriptions of audio or video are not acceptable.) Discover and identify the example on your own – Don’t use sources where they are already identified as fallacies (which is Plagiarism). Advertisements, editorials, and letters to the editor are good places to look, and Appeal to Popularity and Appeal to Unqualified Authority are the most common fallacies found in these sources, though Ad Hominem, Appeal to Emotion, and Straw Man are also common.

2. On a separate page, (A) identify the fallacy type and (B) write out the argument in premise conclusion form. (C) If the conclusion or any of the premises are unstated, indicate this by writing them inside parentheses.

3. Include a full citation of the source.

The Original Examples:

1. Select 3 additional Informal Fallacies from the list on the Midterm study guide and write original examples of each one: The content of each the arguments should as different from one another as possible and should not be similar to any of the fallacies in our textbook, on the internet, or that we discussed in class.

2. Identify the type of fallacy above each of your examples

3. Make sure that each of the premises in the 3 original examples is uncontroversially true.

Signing Statement:

When you have completed a draft of your portfolio, double check your grammar and spelling, the formatting of the paper, and each item on the checklist below. Then write or type the following signing statement and sign your name: “I have carefully read and followed the guidelines and thoroughly edited my paper for grammar, spelling, and formatting.”

Samples: Appeal to Unqualified Authority

1. Jane Doe, the Nobel prize winner in chemistry, claims that our economic policies will eventually bankrupt the country.

2. Therefore, our economic policies will eventually bankrupt the country.

Equivocation

1. All rare books are expensive.

2. All exciting novels are rare books.

3. Therefore, all exciting novels are expensive.

Grammar and Spelling: Make sure that your papers are clearly written – i.e., that the meaning is clear enough that any other student would be able to understand it. Papers will be downgraded for spelling, grammatical, and stylistic errors if there are more than 2 per page.

Sources: You should only use an outside source for the example you find, and not for the original examples. Cite the source using any standard citation method that includes all of the relevant information (including exact page numbers if it is a printed source and the exact date if it is a webpage).

Format: Typed, 12 point type, 1-1.5 inch margins, number and staple pages if more than one page.

Checklist

A. Diversity – Each of the 4 examples must be a different type of fallacy, and must be included on the list of fallacies in the Midterm study guide.

B. Clearly Labeled – Above each of the 4 examples, identify what type of fallacy it is.

C. Originality – In the 3 original examples, the content of each the arguments should as different from one another as possible and should not be similar to any of the fallacies in our textbook, on the internet, or that we discussed in class.

D. Number both Premises and the Conclusion – Each premise and conclusion in an argument should be numbered and on a separate line, and the conclusion should start with ‘Therefore …’

E. Print Copy and Citation – There must be a print copy of the example you found along with a full citation.