Another fallacy that Glenn Beck commits is poisoning the well. He makes the issue so biased and one-sided, that anyone who wants to disagree with him would look "immoral" (Writing and Rhetoric, Gary Hatch). I mean, who doesn't want Congress to spend money on what "the people want"? As if anyone even knows what it is that the people really do want. If someone did want to disagree with Beck, the other part of the readers and listeners would have a hard time agreeing because Glenn Beck is so credible. His audience is so willing to consent to whatever Beck says that contradictory view points would feel imposing.
The last fallacy that I found in Glenn Beck's article is his assumption that everyone wants to change all of Congress. When in reality, everyone likes their own congress members, it is the "other ones" that are disliked. If a democrat could choose who was in Congress, they would get rid of the republicans and keep their own party. Beck misinterprets and assumes that America wants to kick out all of Congress when everyone actually just has certain members that they have problems with.
The quote in the first paragraph is related very well to the information you started with. The set up before hand is very well put together. However, I think that in your other two paragraphs, you could include more from Glenn Beck himself. It is good that you quoted from the writing and rhetoric book, but it would be beneficial to your points to have more of what Beck said to back up your ideas. When you say that he uses poisoning the well, it would be a good idea to show the statements he makes that are under that category of fallacy.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be good to include an example to explain why you think 'he assumes that everyone wants to change all of Congress.'
With these small changes, your ideas and thoughts will be more fully explained and your paper will be much easier to read and understand!! Keep up the good work Meg!!
I love Glenn Beck. You should put the page numbers when you cite the writing and rhetoric book. I talked to Brother Goldberg about citing that book. In my paper I am going to say: Gary Hatch said "blah blah blah" (Writing and Rhetoric 71). Also I think the first Beck quote you use would benefit by being introduced a little better. You could maybe put in a sentence right before it about how he is striving to find virtue among members of Congress. And I'm sitting right next to you so you probably just heard, that its better to say "commit" a logical fallacy, instead of "use" a fallacy. You do that in the first sentences of your first two paragraphs. Great post though :)
ReplyDelete