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Assignment B- The “Bad” Argument

(Uses a logical fallacy)

Due: 3/9

Hopefully you have spent a bit of time with the logical fallacies and

evaluating arguments. Now, instead of constructing a short essay that is logically

sound, I want you to write a short essay that is fundamentally flawed.

Please think of an issue that has multiple sides one might take. Choose a

position and then argue in favor of it using the three-part essay format. However,

there is one wrinkle: I want you to base your main argument on a logical fallacy. It

can be any formalized logical fallacy you choose. Recall that your text book has a

pretty good list. I also linked to a huge “master” list of fallacies in the course

announcement on 6/2.

Writing a purposefully “bad” argument may be harder than it sounds though.

Just as you need to understand logical fallacies to avoid them successfully, you

must have a strong grasp of them to employ them successfully. I want you to make

a good faith effort to deploy this “wrong” argument as effectively as possible. That

means I want you to try and manipulate your audience. The argument can be

concerning anything you want. You might even want to take a position that you

completely disagree with. Could be more fun that way.

In the body of your essay you need evidence. Of course, this evidence is in

support of an argument made in bad faith and it contains a logical fallacy, so the

evidence needs to be bad. “Bad” could mean a couple of things in this case. It

might be that the article you have chosen to support your argument contains logical

fallacies or demonstrable falsehoods. However, it might also mean that you are

deliberately using the information from your source in a misleading way to support

your flawed argument.

This essay is to be short. One page minimum. Take more space if you need.

Please include in your subtitle— as demonstrated below the title for this rubric— the

type of logical fallacy (or fallacies) you have chosen to employ. One source is

required and it should be properly formatted on a “Works Cited” page. The essay

should include in-text citations. Be sure the format is in MLA (double spaced,

pagination, etc.).