FALLACIESList compiled by A.C. Snider

1. Hasty Generalization2. Transfer fallacies:

Fallacy of composition: true of part is true of whole

Fallacy of division: true of whole is true of part

Fallacy of refutation: straw person

3. Irrelevant arguments - non-sequiturs does not follow.4. Circular reasoning: conclusion is restatement of claim. 5. Avoiding the issue

Evasion Attack the person Shifts in ground Seizing a trivial point - red

herring6. False dichotomy - bring lunch OR walk to school.7. Appeal to ignorance - failure to disprove is not proof. Atlantis.8. Appeal to the crowd - bandwagon effect

9. Appeal to emotions - no substitute for reasoning10. Appeal to authority - no substitute for reasoning11. Appeal to tradition - no substitute for reasoning12. Appeal to humor - no substitute for reasoning13. Ambiguity & equivocation - different use of words, change meaning.14. Technical jargon.15. Post hoc fallacy.16. Damning the origin17. Wishful thinking18. Lip service19. Personification 20. Cultural bias21. Pointing to another wrong22. Nothing but objections23. Demand for perfection.

POLITICAL FALLACY/EUFID THE FALLACY!

Compiled by A.C. Snider

Identify the fallacy (or fallacies) found in the following political arguments.1. BUSH claimed he would fight budget deficits both in 2000 and 2004. He never changed that position, and deserves credit for that.2. After Pahor was elected the Slovenian economy did poorly, and we should punish in the next election.3. We are changing so fast that we are losing our true Slovenian roots. Slovenia needs to retain its traditional ways of doing things.4. The recent attack on homosexuals in Slovenia is the fault of the police minister for not protecting them..5. Democrats are the more liberal party in America. Therefore, their candidate will be a liberal.6. Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson link up with WW1, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. Democrats lead the USA into wars!7. Because X have not solved Slovenia's problems, it is time for a change, time to vote for someone else.

8. If violence leads to more violence, Why did WW2 end? Violence does not lead to more violence.

9. America needs to move more cautiously. Uncle Sam is old and tired and needs a rest.

10. The EU is the world's foremost democracy. Other nations who want to be democratic need to copy the EU system.

11. Berlusconi vacations in Sardinia with young scantily dressed models, he cannot be trusted to govern Italy. 12. Merkel brought shame on Germany by alllowin herslelf to be photographed at the beach showing her bare butt13. Bush [the elder]: I'm not running against Dukakis, I'm running against the Liberal ideology. Liberalism means big government and high taxes. That's why you should elect Dan Quayle and I in 1988!14. Gordon Brown had a mental breakdown. If I told you how I found out you would all know my sources.15. Berlusconi is a rich media man, so he won't make decisions in the interests of the common person.16.If the Slovenian government wants to spend more on social programs, they will have to raise taxes.17. Putin met with space aliens in 2007, and it cannot be disproven.18. Since Obama is going to win, voting for McCain is throwing your vote away.19.George Bush [the elder] loves the flag more than his opponent Mike Dukakis. Only patriots should be president.20.If you are a laborer, vote for the UK Labour party!

FALLACY LIST

1. DEMAND FOR PERFECTION2. CONFUSING THE PART WITH THE WHOLE3. POST HOC FALLACY -- MISTAKING SEQUENCE

FOR CAUSE 4. PERSONIFICATION5. DAMNING THE ORIGIN6. FALSE DICHOTOMY.7. PERSONAL ATTACK8. CULTURAL BIGOTRY9. FALSE ANALOGY10. APPEAL TO EMOTION11. REDUCING AN IDEA TO ABSURDITY12. APPEAL TO AUTHORITY13. APPEAL TO TRADITION14. APPEAL TO POPULARITY15. ONE TERM, TWO MEANINGS16. CIRCULAR ARGUMENT17. APPEAL TO IGNORANCE18. POINTING TO ANOTHER WRONG

CONSTRUCT A FALLACIOUS ARGUMENT FOR EACH OF THESE. TRY AND MAKE THEM SOUND GOOD. EXTRA CREDIT FOR MAKING THE ARGUMENT SOUND GOOD.

FOUR STEP ARGUMENT REFUTATION PROCESS

1. THEY SAY2. WE DISAGREE3. BECAUSE4. SO THIS MEANS THAT….

SAMPLE ARGUMENTS TO REFUTE ON THIS MOTION:This house would not allow extremely violent and sexually explicit videogames to be played by children under the age of 16.

REFUTE USING 4 STEP METHOD

1. Violent videogames lead to violent behavior.

2. Sexually explicit videogames cause young people to experiment with sex.

3. Corporations just want to sell videogames, they do not care about harmful effects to children.

4. Children are too young to know which videogames are bad for them.

5. Time spent playing videogames takes time away from education.

6. Parents are currently able to supervise the videogames that children play.

7. Videogames cause children to become isolated from their friends.

BUILD SAMPLE ARGUMENTS

BUILD TWO ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF FACEBOOK BEING GOOD

BUILD TWO ARGUMENTS AGAINST FACEBOOK BEING GOOD

NOW…THINK OF WAYS TO REFUTE THESE ARGUMENTS

1. YOUNG PEOPLE WASTE TOO MUCH TIME ON FACEBOOK. 2. INAPPROPRIATE FACEBOOK POSTINGS HURT

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. MANY BOSSES CHECK OUT YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE, OR ASK YOU TO SHOW IT TO THEM.

3. FACEBOOK DEGRADES THE NOTION OF FRIENDSHIP-BECAUSE WE FRIEND ALMOST ANYONE.

4. FACEBOOK DEGRADES THE TRUE SENSE OF SOCIAL ACTIVISM. WE THINK WE ARE ACTIVE BY JUST JOINING A GROUP OR GROWING AN IMAGINARY GARDEN.

5. FACEBOOK ENABLES OTHERS TO BULLY AND HARASS OTHERS. ONE GIRL COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE OF HARASSMENT.

6. POSTING OF PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK CAN INVADE THE PRIVACY OF OTHERS. YOU GET EMBARRASSING PHOTO OF SOMEONE, YOU POST IT

7. FACEBOOK ENABLES PREDATORY DATING ACTIVITIES. PEOPLE TROLL FOR CONTACTS AND TRY TO HIT ON THEM.

Exercises for Argumentation and Refutation for Beginners

For Argumentation:

1. Divide the group into smaller groups of 4 persons each.

2. Pick a simple to difficult debate motions below and give them 5 minutes to prepare 2 big arguments. Each person will prepare 2 arguments for one debate motion, which means that there will be 4 debate motions being picked by you.

3. Ask the 1st person to speak for 5 minutes on the 2 arguments they have prepared.

4. The 3 other persons in the group will give feedback on the effectiveness of the arguments.

5. Everyone will do it once or twice, if time permits.

For Argumentation & Refutation:

1. Each debate will get a new debate motion.

2. 5 minutes for each to prepare their 2 arguments.

3. Divide the students into groups of 2 persons.

4. After the first person has delivered his/her 5 mins Speech, the other person will have 2 mins to rebut both the arguments made by the 1st Speaker.

5. Repeat the process once, or twice, thrice, if time permits.

Debate Motions:

1.  This House believes that the United States should end all efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestine.2.  This House would make military service a pre-requisite to run for the office of the President of the United States.3.  This House believes that companies should be able to discriminate on the basis of risk factors such as smoking, obesity and alcoholism in hiring and retention of staff.4.  This House believes that mothers who smoke/drink/do drugs during pregnancy forfeit their right to the child.5.  This House would legalize sex-change operations for minors.6.  This House would sanction countries that do not have sufficient forest cover.7.  This House believes that states should mandate at least one year of military training for its citizens.8.  This House believes that the US should end its military support for Israel.9.  This House would refuse to extradite suspected criminals to states where they face the death penalty.10.  This House would allow criminals who commit crimes in foreign countries to serve their sentences in their home country.11.  This House would let print journalism die.12.   This House believes that the state should subsidize print journalism.13.   This House would compel journalists to reveal their sources.14.   This House believes that social media undermines social activism rather than enhances it.15.   This House would ban the Happy Meal.16.   This House would allow terminally ill patients access to drugs that have yet to be approved by government regulators for public usage.17.   This House celebrates the rise of the Tea-Party movement in USA.18.  This House would make it illegal for minors to purchase or play violent video games. 19.  This house would not allow employers to make decisions on their employees on the basis of information derived from social networking sites.20.  This house would ban fortune-tellers and faith healers21.  This house would abolish all limits on immigration.22.  This house would ban Wikileaks.23.  This house believes that armies should overthrow corrupt governments.24.  This house would not pay ransoms to the Somali pirates. 25.  This house believes that the media has the right to support any political party they wish to.26.  This house believes that western liberal democracies have a moral duty to spread democracy across the world even by using force if necessary.27.  This house would remove all legal barriers to the genetic enhancement of humans.28.  This House believes that the war on drugs in Mexico will fail.

29.  This House believes that citizens who pay more taxes should have a greater say in how their county is governed.30.  This House believes that that access to the Internet is a right, not a privilege.

ROLES EXERCISE FOR BEGINNERS

Divide your group into two smaller groups. Then divide each of those groups into PROP and OPP.

Give each of them a motion:-        THS quotas for women in the European Parliament.-        THW allow polygamy in Europe.

Then have them work for 20-30 minutes on thinking of major arguments for each of three positions (go around to help and advise them):First speakerSecond speakerThird speaker

Then have them, as a group, report on the arguments they plan to use. Make comments and suggestions to make sure they understand the role of each of gthese three speskers. Tell them to take notes on these arguments because we may well debate these motions soon. (Actually, we will debate them today).

If you have extra time, have them suggest which of these arguments are the best and should be featured in the whip speeches.

PUBLIC SPEAKING EXERCISES

Give a one minute speech trying to use your best public speaking techniques. Have observers note your use of all the delivery techniques and then make comments about where improvements are needed. Give the speech again trying to implement those improvements.

Give a one minute speech trying to use your best public speaking techniques. Have observers note your use of all the delivery techniques and then make comments about where improvements are needed. Then, pick one area in need of improvement only and give the speech again focusing on this area. Do the same for all areas. After this process, give the speech twice more attempting to improve all areas at once. Wait one hour and then give that speech again, making sure you have not forgotten what you so recently learned.

Give a thirty second speech trying to be as dramatic as possible. Obviously, you will be going a bit too far, but being more dramataic than you ever would be in a debate helps you become less boring in a real debate.

ANSWER THESE POLITICAL ARGUMENTS

Share with them th four step reutation process. Make them use it when they speak:1. They say….2. We disagree…3. Because… (insert refutation)4. Therefore….

Go around and give each student an argument. Come back to the first student and have them speak for 30 seconds. Make comments. Give them another argument from the list. Go to the next student. The result should be a constant series of arguments and comments.

Many of these arguments are based on a fallacy. See if they can point it out. You have a fallacy list and an answer sheet.

1. President Bush should be congratulated for always speaking out against budget deficits.2. The USA economy is doing well so George Bush should be supported.3. Europe is changing so fast that we should slow down before we lose our traditional way

of life.4. USA presidents Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson link up with WW1,

WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. Democrats lead the USA into wars!5. Angela Merkel has not solved Germany’s problems. We need a new leader.6. North and South Korea should unify. It worked for Germany!7. America needs to move more cautiously. Uncle Sam is old and tired and needs a rest.8. The EU is the world’s best democracy, so others should copy the EU’s form of

government.9. Angela Merkel does not want to break mirrors because it will cause bad luck. We cannot

have such an illogical person as our leader.10. The conservative’s won Canada’s election. They want a softwood trade deal with the

USA, so it will be passed. 11. Merkel is an East German, and is thus unfit to govern all of Germany.12. Berlusconi met with space Aliens in 2003 and it cannot be disproved.13. Berlusconi has been seeing a psychiatrist for depression. If I told you how I knew you

would all know who told me.14. Berlusconi is a rich media tycoon, and thus cannot effectively represent the mass of the

people.15. If the International University Breman is going to reduce its budget deficit it will have to

raise tuition.16. Since the next prime minister of the UK will be either from Labour or the Conservatives,

voting for Liberal Democrats is like throwing your vote away.17. If UK voters want to protect labouring people, they need to vote for Labour.18. When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.19. If immigrant French Muslims are not happy in France they should go back to where they

came from.20. Pictures of Angela Merkel’s butt at the beach appeared in the UK press. We cannot have

a leader who embarrasses the nation in such a way.21. Merkel’s party supports controlling spending, so all of her party members do as well.22. Many people like to eat at McDonald’s, so it must be the best food.23. Experts from major banks say Prodi’s policies will be better for Italy. They must be right.24. If German politicians work together, Germany will be much better off.

ARGUMENT DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES

Give them a motion below.

Give them five minutes to development ONE argument.

Have them speak for 2 minutes developing just that argument using the technique from the lecture.

Give them feedback.

Tell them to develop a second argument for that motion and do it again.

TOPICS:

European Parliament should act to condemn the centralization of media outlets.

European Parliament should act to promote the legalization of marijuana for personal use in the European Union.

European Parliament should act to condemn all smoking in public places in the European Union.

European Parliament should act to condemn the expansion of nuclear power to generate electricity.

European Parliament should act to promote the expansion of wind power to generate electricity.

ARGUMENT EXERCISES

Here are some arguments to analyze and critique. You might want to look at them and cross off the ones you do not lke.

You can do these as a group.

Or…

You can assign them to individual people in your group and then go around the room, have them analyze the argument, make comments to them, assign them a new argument, and then move on to the next person.

SAMPLE ARGUMENTS TO CRITIQUE

Since 1990 crime in country X has been increasing rapidly. During the same period the number of violent movies shown has increased equally rapidly. Therefore, the increase in crime results from violent movies.

In the last few years we have improved the educational system and more people are getting better and better educations. In those same years, however, the per capita crime rate has been increasing. One of the evils of education, despite all its great benefits, is that education does produce a higher crime rate.

Crimes among immigrants have increased since they have been given better educational privileges. Therefore, the growth of crime among immigrants results from the growth of education among the immigrants.

She is all wet; it must be raining outside. In order to make sure that we have enough and better qualified

teachers, we must pass the new minimum wage law calling for much higher salaries for teachers.

Obviously our laws against serving alcohol do not carry severe enough penalties. Look at the great number of cases where alcoholic drinks are sold to young people.

There is a great deal of corruption in our police force. If we were to increase salaries for police, we would have less corruption among our police.

There wouldn't be so much reckless driving on our roads if our laws carried heavier penalties.

I have taken a course in argumentation. It must inevitably follow that I am now a more logical person.

b. Mister Y, the football star, says, "Smokies are the least harmful of all cigarettes."

c. Married couples just aren't getting along as well together as they used to. In 1920 only one marriage in six ended in divorce while today two in four ends in divorce.

d. USA secretary of state says, "We have adopted the best possible security checks to prevent mafia members from infiltrating the State Department."

f. Parental care of children is becoming more and more lax. The head of the police reports, "Juvenile crime is on the increase."

g. The president of the mine workers says, "The workers of our mines have never gotten their fair share of the fruits of industry."

h. Ms. N, the great television star, says, "Blackies are definitely a superior cigarette."

i. The American Automobile Association reports show that Nevada spends more per capita on roads than New York. Obviously, Nevada must have better roads than New York."

j. The president of Russia testifies, "Russia wants only peace."

k. The head Lutheran Church testifies that the chief causes of divorce lie in hasty marriages.

1. If 35 per cent of the consumers, 60 per cent of management and 90 per cent of labor are for the repeal of the law, we can readily conclude that the American people are overwhelmingly for its repeal.

n. A government official in charge of the Department of Defense says, "Our department has the most efficient organization that it has ever had."

o. The farmers of our land are worse off than the factory workers. According to the EU statistics, the annual income of the average factory worker is 10% more than that of the average farmer.

p. We can readily conclude that the people in the USA today are having trouble paying for hospital care. The president of the Association of American Hospitals reports, "Due to increased costs, we have bad to double our charges on hospital services over the past ten years."

q. A recent candidate for President of the United States says that major banks are doing their best to control this USA.

r. The Fair Employment Practices Commission of the government reports that it has been able to handle 3000 cases successfully.

a. Mary Smith is tall; Jack Smith is tall; Frank Smith is tall. The Smith family must be a tall family.

b. The percentage of native-born New Yorkers living in New York City must be very small. Last Saturday evening I stopped one hundred individuals as

they were walking down the street past Times Square. Only one was a native of New York City.

d. Professor Smith is better known than Professor Jones. The other day I stood in the hall of the science building with pictures of each. Twice as many were able to identify Professor Smith as Professor Jones.

f. Banks are untrustworthy and all bankers are swindlers. Why, I lost a thousand dollars to a banker once.

k. Pollution of our rivers is a serious problem in the United States. Studies by the Department of the Interior reveal that the Hudson, the Potomac, the Ohio, and the Mississippi are particularly bad.

ADVANCED NEW MATTER DRILL

Assign them a motion. Assign them as either opposition or proposition.

Have them design one new matter argument for their side of the motion. Give them five minutes

Have them give it to the group (3 minutes) and then comment.

You have 90 minutes, so try and have them all do at least two. Switch sides on the same motion if you want.

MOTIONS:

European Parliament should act to promote a mission to send humans to Mars.

European Parliament should condemn continued United States military presence in Iraq.

European Parliament should condemn Iran’s nuclear program.

European Parliament should act to condemn all smoking in public places in the European Union.

European Parliament should act to condemn the expansion of nuclear power to generate electricity.

European Parliament should act to promote the expansion of wind power to generate electricity.

European Parliament should act to condemn the centralization of media outlets.

European Parliament should become a real parliament.

It is justified for youth to have a special seat in the European Parliament.

OPPOSITION STRATEGY DRILL – TRAINING FOR 1ST OR 2ND OPP

You send teams (or pairs of people) off with a motion we have not yet debated. They will return in ten minutes with a list of five major opposition arguments (ranked strongest to weakest) they could use. If they were going to be first opposition they would use their strongest, and the reason we have five is because as second opposition you need to cross off the arguments on your list as the first opposition uses them and then use an argument they did not use for the extension.

It will take you a few minutes to give each pair a motion.

By now the first team should be returning to you. For five minutes hear their ideas (but not as a formal speech), critique their ideas, and then give them a new motion to repeat.

By this time the next team should be there ready to show you their work.

Repeat until time is up.

Here are some motions:

This house supports the admission of Turkey into the EU.

This house supports Chechnya becoming an independent state.

This house would take military measures to stop human rights abuses in Sudan.

This house would stop work on the nuclear enrichment program in Iran.

This house would negotiate with terrorists.

This house believes Taiwan has a right to become an independent country.

This house supports the Kurds.

This house believes that Africa can secure itself.

This house believes that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is a failure.

This house believes that military participation in efforts to control illegal drugs has been a failure.

This house believes that all nations should adopt a no first use policy for nuclear weapons.

This house believes that open borders can be a significant threat to international security.

This house would demilitarize space.

This house would make the United Nations responsible for outer space security and development.

This house believes that the more we venture into outer space the more secure Earth becomes.

This house believes that current security measures have not made airline travel more secure.

This house believes that those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.

SECOND GOVT EXERCISES

Give the team one of the motions below.

Give them 5 minutes to prep a strategy as 2nd Govt.

Have them come back and look at their argument list. Then tell them which ones the 1st govt will use, and send them off to design their 2nd govt extension.

Then they come back 5 minutes later with an extended outline of their second govt extension. Review it wih them.

Send them off to do another motion.

Repeat as often as you can. Keep the teams working and coming back to you. Your conversation with them is important, try and keep the others prepping while you talk to one team.

TOPICS:

European Parliament should act to condemn the centralization of media outlets.

European Parliament should act to condemn spending public money for art.

European Parliament should condemn Iran’s nuclear program.

European Union should adopt the federal presidential system of the United States.

POINT OF INFORMATION EXERCISES

EXERCISE ONE:Have the students compose a 3-minute speech on a motion, preferably of last night’s debate.Have one student give the three-minute speech without interruption. Then, have each of the other students make one point (which must be accepted) to that speaker. After that has happened the trainer can evaluate the points and the answers. Next speaker until all have had a chance to experience it.

EXERCISE TWO:Have students work in pairs. Based on a speech from last night, have the other student make points for about eight minutes, then have them switch roles. Trainers should walk around to listen in while it is happening.

EXERCISE THREE:Divide into two groups. In each group have a trainer make a short speech about some recent motion. Then, have each student in the group make points to the trainer and the trainer will model good response technique.

EXERCISE FOUR:Divide into two groups. Using the speeches students gave earlier in exercise one, the trainer can make points to each student in turn, with them answering. After each answer the trainer can make suggestions about their performance.

EXERCISE FIVE:Have each student take turns standing up and refusing five points using different methods. Use different techniques. After all students have refused their points make suggestions about the refusing techniques that worked well and those that did not.

ARGUMENT AND REFUTATION EXERCISES

The following are attempts at causal reasoning. Explain why the reasoning attempted is causal in nature and use one or more lines of argument to evaluate or refute it:

Since 1990 crime in country X has been increasing rapidly. During the same period the number of violent movies shown has increased equally rapidly. Therefore, the increase in crime results from violent movies.

In the last few years we have improved the educational system and more people are getting better and better educations. In those same years, however, the per capita crime rate has been increasing. One of the evils of education, despite all its great benefits, is that education does produce a higher crime rate.

I just broke a mirror; therefore I can expect to have bad luck.

There wouldn't be so much crime if our laws carried heavier penalties.

We must conclude that our laws controlling opium production are not

good. Otherwise we wouldn't have had so many people producing opium.

Crimes among immigrants have increased since they have been given better educational privileges. Therefore, the growth of crime among immigrants results from the growth of education among the immigrants.

She is all wet; it must be raining outside.

The barriers to voter registration deprive people of the right to vote. In nations with easier registration more people vote in elections. Therefore, easier voter registration procedures should be adopted.

In order to make sure that we have enough and better qualified teachers, we must pass the new minimum wage law calling for much higher salaries for teachers.

Obviously our laws against serving alcohol do not carry severe enough penalties. Look at the great number of cases where alcoholic drinks are sold to people.

We must make sure that we do as much as possible to prevent

murder; therefore we must never abolish the death penalty.

She is training for the race; obviously she will win it.

There is a great deal of corruption in our police force. If we were to increase salaries for police, we would have less corruption among our police.

Leaving the cleaning up of river pollution to local government units will never work. The local units are not cleaning up the water for themselves, but for communities down the stream; thus they never have the incentive.

There wouldn't be so much reckless driving on our roads if our laws carried heavier penalties.

I have taken a course in argumentation. It must inevitably follow that I am now a more logical person.

6. Explain each of the following special types of fallacies:

a. Arguing in a circle

b. Assuming a more general truth which involves the point at issuec. The fallacious question d. Appeals to prejudicee. Argument involving personalities (argumentum ad hominem)f. Shifting groundg. Argument from tradition and customh. An appeal to ignorance of the opposite i. False synthesisj. Fallacy of divisionk. Fallacy of equivocation

7. Give an apt example of each of the above fallacies.

8.Use one or more lines of argument on evidence to evaluate or refute the following:

a.The Chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities says, "Communism is threatening our colleges and universities."

b.Mister Y, the baseball star, says, "Smokies are the least harmful of all cigarettes."

c. Married couples just aren't getting along as well together as they used to. In 1920 only one marriage in six ended in divorce while today two in four ends in divorce.

d.Our secretary of state says, "We have adopted the best possible security checks to prevent mafia members from infiltrating the State Department."

e.Miss A, the great movie star, says, "Sudsy is the best soap for your complexion."

f. Parental care of children is becoming more and more lax. The head of the FBI reports, "Juvenile crime is on the increase."

g.The president of the mine workers says, "The workers of our mines have never gotten their fair share of the fruits of industry."

h.Ms. N, the great television star, says, "Blackies are definitely a superior cigarette."

i. The American Automobile Association reports show that Nevada spends more per capita on roads than New York. Obviously, Nevada must have better roads than New York."

j. The president of Russia testifies, "Russia wants only peace."

k. The head of the FBI testifies that the chief causes of divorce lie in hasty marriages.

1. If 35 per cent of the consumers, 60 per cent of management and 90 per cent of labor are for the repeal of the law, we can readily conclude that the American people are overwhelmingly for its repeal.

m. In a study of stutterers, Professor Mildred Berry of Rockford College found more twins in the families of

the stutterers than in the families of the nonstutterers used as a control group. Therefore, there must be a relationship between Stuttering and twinning.

n.A cabinet member in charge of the Department of Defense says, "Our department has the most efficient organization that it has ever had."

o.The farmers of our land are worse off than the factory workers. According to the United States Treasury Department reports, the annual income of the average factory worker is five hundred dollars more than that of the average farmer.

p.We can readily conclude that the people today are having trouble paying for hospital care. The president of the Association of American Hospitals reports, "Due to increased costs, we have bad to double our charges on hospital services over the past ten years."

q.A recent candidate for President of the United States says that Wall Street is doing its best to control this country.

r. The Fair Employment Practices Commission of New York State reports that it has been able to handle 3000 cases successfully.

s. Obviously the schools in the South are poorer than those in the North. The Almanac reveals that the average per capita income in the South is between $400 and $500 less than that in the North.

10. The following are attempts at induction reasoning. Explain why each is inductive in nature; use lines of argument to evaluate or refute.

a.Mary Smith is tall; Jack Smith is tall; Frank Smith is tall. The Smith family must be a tall family.

b.The percentage of native-born New Yorkers living in New York City must be very small. Last Saturday evening I stopped one hundred individuals as they were walking down the street past Times Square. Only one was a native of New York City.

c. I shall never like Tim Johnson. I was introduced to him the other night and he insulted my sweetheart.

d.Professor Smith is better known than Professor Jones. The other day I stood in the hall of the science building with pictures of each. Twice as many were able to identify Professor Smith as Professor Jones.

e.She is a social boor. I was out to dinner with her the other night and she left her spoon in the coffee cup.

f. Banks are untrustworthy and all bankers are swindlers. Why, I lost a thousand dollars to a banker once.

g.Oh, she is nothing but a drunkard! I had a date with her and she got very intoxicated.

h.You can see from the papers that all they do in college is play football and basketball.

i. She must be an ignorant person. She didn't know but twenty-four state capitals out of the fifty. She could only name fifteen of our presidents. She could name only cities with a population of over a million persons,

j. Indiana certainly is a flat state. I went through it on my way to Chicago and I didn't see a single hill.

l. Income is unfairly distributed in country X. The 1992 Economic Almanac reveals to us that in 1990 the average farm worker got only $21,302 a year and the average schoolteacher received only $22,420. However, the average auto worker got $41,007 per year and the average security and commodity broker got as much as $68,163. In other words, there is an unfair distribution of income from profession to profession. And later years have not overcome this disparity.

m.Pollution of our rivers is a serious problem in the United States. Studies by the Department of the Interior reveal that the Hudson, the Potomac, the Ohio, and the Mississippi are particularly bad.

Points of Information: Drills & ActivitiesBy Steve Llano (don’t blame Tuna for the bad activity names)

LORD OF THE POINTSSomeone prepares a first proposition speech on a motion of your choosing. That person will deliver the speech to the group and everyone is allowed to pose questions after the first minute. This means many more people than just 4 can stand up for possible questions, training the speaker to handle the stress of multiple questions. The goal is for the speaker to finish their speech and try to take a few questions as well as deny quite a lot. The person who takes the most questions while being able to finish their speech is clearly the Lord of the Points. Have someone deliver an opposition speech and do the same activity. If everyone writes a proposition and opposition speech and does this activity for 6-7 minutes it should provide a good opportunity for everyone to participate.

RESEARCH PACKET FESTIVAL OF LAUGHSFind an article in the research packet that you prefer. Give everyone a few minutes to read over it so they understand it. Then have a student deliver this article for 5-7 minutes as if it were a speech. People in the audience can offer points about what the speaker is saying while reading the article. This helps the speaker focus on dealing with points that come out of order in the organization of the article.ALTERNATIVE: Assign an article to groups of 3 people. Give them 15-20 minutes to read the article together, then have one member of each group deliver the article as if it were a speech for 5-7 minutes. The other two members of the group should offer points frequently and the speaker should try to maximize how many they can take while still remaining organized in their speech. Helps develop asking good points and answering them while remaining organized in their actions.

QUESTION LINES OF OBLITERATIONDivide the students into two equal groups. One side is Government and one side Opposition. You (or an extra student if you have them) choose an issue to deliver like a first proposition. All the opposition side of the group can offer points of information during this speech. After you are done, then arrange the students into lines facing each other. Have the opposition student ask the government student they correspond with a question about the government side. Then the government student will answer briefly, and the next opposition student will ask the next question to the next student for the proposition

side. Continue through all students, then flip sides and have them do it again.

QUESTION AND ANSWER REFINERYHave students compose speeches based on a proposition of your choosing or invention. Then as each student gives their speech you ask questions (3 or 4). Have people redo answers to the questions to make them shorter, more on point, serve as transitions, etc. Take the answer that was given and try to get the student to make it into something that is more effective not in just dealing with the question, but also in making them a more fluid speaker in handling points of information.

ORMOZ DRILLS

Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont

Drills are

incredibly useful

learning tools.

Debating is largely

a skill, and skills

require practice and

repetition. Fill all

of your time; repeat

as often as seems

useful. Reward

successes, encourage

failures. Always

have students

applaud for anyone

doing anything in

public.

SPEAKING: keep the time they speak to 30 seconds or less

Speaking drills are mostly exercises in exaggeration. If you speak too fast, slow way down; if you don’t use emphasis over emphasize, etc. This makes them also fun to watch and do.

Inventory drills [good way to start out]A student speaks on any debate-like subject for 30 seconds. Talk about what they need to do differently. Have them speak again. Repeat and repeat.

Focus on one or two featuresFind one or two weakness and have them speak for 30 seconds exaggerating the one or two defects. Then they can move on

to other defects or just repeat.

ARE DrillStudents often need basic training in how to make an argument. Usually they do so in a sloppy fashion, waste too much time, and have little or no support. Tell students to make an argument in three simple steps: A-R-E

Assertion – Say what the argument is: simple, something a judge could write down, subject-verb-object-value term (horrible, wonderful, beneficial, disastrous).

Reasoning – Explain the logical process behind your argument (causation,

category, similar example, etc.)

Evidence – Something to support their argument, hopefully from the list.

Have the student make one argument against some point you offer them (Bush re-election will be bad for Europe). Make them do it in 20 seconds. Critique and repeat.

Drama drillHave boring students say something (anything) in a hugely over-dramatic way. Scream at them to be more dramatic as they speak. You may have to give an example. Lots of fun. Can bring out shy students.

Fast speaking drills (for non-English speakers)Many non-native English speakers are

not smooth speakers because they are searching for exactly the right word. Often this is a luxury from writing. The word is there, they just need to learn to access it faster. By foprcing them to speak quickly they will often reduce this “searching for words” disfluency. Does not always work and assumes that students have basic functioning vocabulary.

Language shifting drills (for non-English speakers)Have students give a speech (perhaps 1 minute for this one). Have them begin in English, and then after a feew seconds shout “shift” and they will switch to their native language. Then have them shift back. After they are done, analyze the differences

between the two. Examine: non-verbals (like gestures), variation (voice, volume, speed), disfluencies (um, ah, etc.). The differences may indicate that they are much better in their native language (no surprise there) but it also shows that they CAN speak better, and that they can learn to transfer these skills to their English presentations if they focus on it and practice.

Word economy drillsSome speakers just take a long time to get to the point, and as a result make very few arguments. Have a student make one argument in 30 seconds. Then give them 20, then give them 15. If they are making the argument

sufficiently their word economy is improving.

UM-AH-ETC. DrillStudents who use the same “verbal pause” all the time need this one. Have them speak for 30 seconds and count the number. Have them do it again until the number drops way down.

Skill drills: note-taking, listening, argumentation

NOTE TAKING/LISTENING DRILLS

RUMOR MILLHave a short debate argument ready and prepared. Put students in a circle and whisper it into the ear of the student in your left. They then pass it on. When it gets back to you have the last student says it out

loud. Then read to them the original argument. How is it different? How different? Try it again with an effort to increase accuracy.

FLOW SHARINGHave people take the flow from the morning exhibition debate and hand them in. Then give them out to different people. Have each person then critique the flowsheet of someone else that they receive. They do not need to be able to read the handwriting of the other person to analyze the form of the flow, the detail of it, and the way arguments do or do not connect together. This should be interesting because all of the flows will be of the same debate.

PRACTICE FLOWING

Have someone give a speech from the previous day’s practice debate, preferably a first prop or opp speech. Everyone will flow it, and then you go through what was said. In a circle, the first student explains what the first argument was, the second student explains the next argument, etc. This will show how much of the argumentative content people really get. Techniques of students who have more detail and who accurately reflect the arguments given should be shared.

HAND IN FLOWSHave students hand in their flow from the morning exhibtion debate after it is over. Later give them back with some advice on how to improve.

ARGUMENTATION DRILLS

CRITIQUE INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTSIn your small groups review the following inductive arguments and, utilizing the lines of argument for each one, think of how to criticize them.LINES OF ARGUMENT: (from experienced lecture)

1.Are the examples true?

2.Universal or isolated? Representative?

3.Sufficient period of time?

4.Typical or atypical?5.Negative

instances?6.Conclusion properly

stated? Qualifiers?SAMPLE ARGUMENTS TO DISCUSS:The following are

attempts at induction reasoning. Explain why each is inductive

in nature; use lines of argument to evaluate or refute.

a. Mary Smith is tall; Jack Smith is tall; Frank Smith is tall. The Smith family must be a tall family.

b.The percentage of native-born New Yorkers living in New York City must be very small. Last Saturday evening I stopped one hundred individuals as they were walking down the street past Times Square. Only one was a native of New York City.

c.I shall never like Tim Johnson. I was introduced to him the other night and he insulted my sweetheart.

d.Professor Smith is better known than Professor Jones. The other day I stood in the hall of the science building with pictures

of each. Twice as many were able to identify Professor Smith as Professor Jones.

e. She is a social boor. I was out to dinner with her the other night and she left her spoon in the coffee cup.

f.Banks are untrustworthy and all bankers are swindlers. Why, I lost a thousand dollars to a banker once.

g. Oh, she is nothing but a drunkard! I had a date with her and she got very intoxicated.

h. You can see from the newspapers that all they do in college is play football and basketball.

i. She must be an ignorant person. She didn't know but twenty-four state capitals out of the fifty. She could only

name fifteen of our presidents. She could name only cities with a population of over a million persons,

j. Indiana certainly is a flat state. I went through it on my way to Chicago and I didn't see a single hill.n.Income is unfairly

distributed in country X. The 1992 Economic Almanac reveals to us that in 1990 the average farm worker got only $21,302 a year and the average schoolteacher received only $22,420. However, the average auto worker got $41,007 per year and the average security and commodity broker got as much as $68,163. In other words, there is an unfair

distribution of income from profession to profession. And later years have not overcome this disparity.

o.Pollution of our rivers is a serious problem in the United States. Studies by the Department of the Interior reveal that the Hudson, the Potomac, the Ohio, and the Mississippi are particularly bad.

CRITIQUE DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTSUse the lines of argument from the lecture (experienced) to analyze the following deductive arguments.a.John Brown must be a Communist. He believes it morally right to overthrow capitalist system by force.

b.Alcoholism is a dreaded disease; drinking is the cause of alcoholism; therefore, drinking leads to this dreaded disease.

c.Pine wood is good for lumber; matches are pine wood; therefore matches are good for lumber.

d. She is not unemployed; therefore she must be a working person.e. It is obvious that Sarah Vinez is subversive; she is a member of two organizations that have been listed as sub-versive by the attorney general of the United States.f. She will frown on

drinking at our faculty party; she is the dean of students.

g. Most people agree that it has been good for labor to unionize; then why shouldn't

teachers and professors unionize? After all, they have to labor for a living.

h.Of course Jim Johnson believes in the civil rights program; he has stated again and again that be is a Democrat.

i. Ira Simpson must be interested in athletics; he is a college student.

j. Most people agree that it is good for a person to develop social relationships. Then why shouldn't all students join a fraternity or sorority? After all, fraternities and sororities are chiefly concerned with social life.k.Since the United

Nations can't accomplish its basic purpose of preventing war, it should be abolished.

l. Since she works at the Ford plant, she

must be a member of a labor union.

m. Capitalism with the profit motive has brought us greed and more greed; therefore we should adopt socialism.

CRITIQUE CAUSAL ARGUMENTSUse the lines of argument from the lecture (experienced) to analyze the following causal arguments.CAUSAL LINES OF ARGUMENT1. DOES THE

ALLEGED CAUSE HAVE THE MEANS, POWER, FACILITIES, AND/OR DESIRE TO PRODUCE THE EFFECT?

2. IS THIS THE SOLE CAUSE OR ARE THERE OTHER CAUSES?

3. IS THIS CAUSE SIGNIFICANT OR INSIGNIFICANT?

4. IS THIS AN ORIGINAL OR CONTRIBUTING CAUSE?5. ARE THERE OR WILL

THERE BE COUNTERACTING CAUSES?

6. HAS COINCIDENCE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP?

The following are attempts at causal reasoning. Explain why the reasoning attempted is causal in nature and use one or more lines of argument to evaluate or refute it:a.Since World War II

juvenile crime in the USA has been increasing rapidly. During the same period the sale of comic books has increased equally rapidly. Therefore, the increase in juvenile delinquency results from comic books.

b.In the last one hundred years we have improved the educational system and more people are getting better and better educations. In those same years, however, the per capita crime rate has been increasing. One of the evils of education, despite all its great benefits, is that education does produce a higher crime rate.

c.Obviously our laws against serving alcohol to minors do not carry severe enough penalties. Look at the great number of cases where alcoholic drinks are sold them.

d.A federal fair employment practices law will reduce discrimination in hiring on the basis of race, creed, or color. The fine of

$1,000 for each violation will be too costly to the employer.

e.I just broke a mirror; therefore I can expect to have bad luck.

f. There wouldn't be so much juvenile crime if our laws carried heavier penalties.

g.We must conclude that our laws controlling narcotics are not good. Otherwise we wouldn't have had so many people using narcotics.

h. Thirteen sat down at the table to eat today; therefore we will have a misfortune soon.

i. Crimes among immigrants have increased since they have been given better educational privileges. Therefore, the growth of crime among immigrants results from the

growth of education among the immigrants.

j. She is all wet; it must be raining outside.k.The barriers to voter

registration deprive people of the right to vote. In states with easier registration more people vote in elections. Therefore, easier voter registration procedures should be adopted.

l. In order to make sure that we have enough and better qualified teachers, we must pass the new minimum wage law calling for a minimum salary of $40,000.

m. There wouldn't be so much reckless driving on our roads if our laws carried heavier penalties.

n.We must make sure that we do as much as possible to prevent murder; therefore we

must never abolish capital punishment.

o. She is training for the race; obviously she will win it.p.There is a great deal

of corruption in our police force. If we were to legalize gambling and thus reduce the chances for corruption, we would have less corruption among our policemen.

q.Leaving the cleaning up of river pollution to local government units will never work. The local units are not cleaning up the water for themselves, but for communities down the stream; thus they never have the incentive.

r. I have taken a course in argumentation. It must inevitably follow that I am now a more logical person.

PROPOSITION & CASE BUILDING EXERCISES

MOTION INTERPRETATIONGive a motion (we will try and have a list) to a team. Give them fifteen minutes to take it and come up with a rough outline of a first prop speech and defend it to you. After five minutes, give the next team another motion. Five more minutes and you give out another and your first team is ready. Keep cycling them through, after they finish one, give them another. Don’t spend more than five minutes with each team. Repeat until exhausted. Have them keep their notes for later use on opposition preparation.

CREATIVE AND CONSERVATIVE

MOTION INTERPRETATIONHand out the same relatively loose motion to each team. Give them ten minutes to think of an interpretation of the topic for the debate. Tell some teams they should have straightforward conservative interpretations, and tell others they should have very creative and interpretations. Then have them briefly share each one. Discuss which ones would be acceptable of the creative interpretations, and which ones would be strategic of the conservative interpretations.

FORMS OF SUPPORTGive each team a different motion. Give them ten minutes to come up with examples, statistics, anything else that can be a form of support for that motion. Then go through and have each team share what they came up with. Reward the team with the most support and the most creative ideas. Repeat as necessary.

RHETORICAL FRAMINGEvery good case should have a slogan or an expression or an analogy that gives it additional rhetorical power. Think of

speeches like Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech or Churchill’s “Finest Hour speech” or Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbechov, break down this wall,” or J.F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech or Gandhi’s “Become the change you want in the world.” Give out the same motion to everyone. In ten minutes have students come up with such a rhetorical frame, compose an introduction and a conclusion using it, and then share it with the group. Compare them. Repeat as needed.

OPPOSITION ANTICIPATIONEach team should take a motion they have already designed a first speech for. Give them ten minutes to come up with major opposition arguments and how

they would answer them. Have them share them with the group. Make sure they are quick and get to the point. Repeat as desired.DRILLS FOR OPPOSITION:

ATTACK EVIDENCE DRILL (DEFENSE)Give the students a bit of evidence and have them critique it.

1. Mister Y, the baseball star, says, "Smokies are the least harmful of all cigarettes."

2. Married couples just aren't getting along as well together as they used to. In 1920 only one marriage in six ended in divorce while today two in four ends in divorce.

3. Parental care of children is becoming more and more lax. The head of the police reports, "Juvenile crime is on the increase."

4. The president of the mineworkers says, "The workers of our mines have never gotten their fair share of the fruits of industry."

5. The American Automobile Association reports show that Nevada spends more per capita on roads than New York. Obviously, Nevada must have better roads than New York."

6. The president of Russia testifies, "Russia wants only peace."

7. The head of the Catholic Church testifies that the chief causes of divorce lie in hasty marriages.

8. If 35 per cent of the consumers, 60 per cent of management and 90 per cent of labor are for the repeal of the law, we can readily conclude that the American people are overwhelmingly for its repeal.

9. In a study of stutterers, Professor Mildred Berry of Rockford College found more twins in the families of the stutterers than in the families of the nonstutterers used as a control group. Therefore, there

must be a relationship between Stuttering and twinning.

10. A cabinet member in charge of the Department of Defense says, "Our department has the most efficient organization that it has ever had."

11. The farmers of USA land are worse off than the factory workers. According to the United States Treasury Department reports, the annual income of the average factory worker is five hundred dollars more than that of the average farmer.

12. We can readily conclude that the American people today are having trouble paying for hospital care. The president of the Association of American Hospitals reports, "Due to increased costs, we have bad to double our charges on hospital services over the past ten years."

VALUE DRILL (DEFENSE)Using the suggested way to indict single values, analyze the following statements.

1. Freedom of speech is more important than security from terrorism.

2. Security from terrorism is more important that freedom of speech.

3. Economic growth should always be pursued as a goal.

4. Freedom of the press is more important that the privacy of government officials.

5. Public nudity at beaches is obscene and dangerous

6. All over the world we must guarantee equal rights for women.

7. During divorce proceedings custody of the children should be given to the mother as a right.

8. Democracy is the best form of government.

9. Personal information should always be considered as private and citizens should not be required to disclose it.

10. Art is always valuable and should never be destroyed.

OFFENSE DRILLTake a motion that they worked on yesterday, and then come up with two offensive arguments. Give out a motion, give them 15 minutes, give out another one 5 minutes later, then another one 5 minutes later when the first team is ready.

Have them cycle through as many as you would like.

GENERAL DEFENSE DRILLTake a motion they worked on yesterday (and made a case outline for) and have the team come up with three good arguments against each major point in the case. Give out a motion, give them 15 minutes, give out another one 5 minutes later, then another one 5 minutes later when the first team is ready. Have them cycle through as many as you would like.

DEFINITION ATTACK DRILLTake a look at the definition used for these motions, indict it, and propose a more reasonable one.

1. The United States should withdraw from NATO. Define withdraw as reduce 100 troops from Macedonia.

2. USA-EU cooperation on terrorism should be substantially reformed. Define substantially reformed as “discontinue” because the entire “War of Terrorism” is counterproductive.

3. EU citizens receive a superior education to USA citizens. Define superior as costing less money.

4. The EU will be the melting pot of the future as the USA was the melting pot of the recent past. Define melting pot as a diet consisting of many different foods.

5. The civilization that came from Europe is the rightfully dominating force in human culture. Define “rightfully” as “currently.”

6. The USA and all EU member states should renounce and disarm all nuclear weapons. Define “disarm” as remove the firing mechanisms so that it would take 30 minutes to reactivate them. They claim to avoid nuclear accidents.

7. Long live free speech on the Internet! Define “free

speech” as something you volunteer, something that is not compelled. Do not allow government to force people to say certain things on the Internet.

8. The EU should adopt a Patriot Act of its own. Define “Patriot Act” as a law forcing all school children to recite a pledge of allegiance to the flag of the EU at the beginning of each school day.

9. The EU expansion should be never-ending. Define “expansion” as economic prosperity.

Opposition strategyPoints of Information