Com 220 Week 1 Assignment

This speech has quite a few examples of bias, fallacies, and rhetorical devices.   An example of bias When Kane says, “Jim Gettys has something less than a chance. Every straw vote, every independent poll shows that I'll be elected.”   This shows political bias because he does not give any evidence to support these claims.   Examples of fallacies are: “I made no campaign promises, because until a few weeks ago I had no hope of being elected,” and “The working man and the slum child know they can expect my best efforts in their interests. The decent, ordinary citizens know that I'll do everything in my power to protect the underprivileged, the underpaid, and the the underfed!”   These are fallacies because they play on the emotions of the listener as well as by taking advantage of the social relationships between the speaker and the listener.   An example of bias is “with one purpose only: to point out and make public the dishonesty, the downright villainy, of Boss Jim W. Gettys' political machine -- now in complete control of the government of this State!”   This is a biases statement because there is no facts to support it.  

The speaker addressed arguments by making claims for what he would if   elected, but he did not make   a very effective argument.   There wasn’t any supporting evidence, so he gave no openings for a counter argument.  

The arguments were not effective at all, as they didn’t have any supporting facts.   In order for an arguments to be effective, one must have evidence to support their claim as well as have evidence to negate any possible counter arguments that are anticipated.   To do this well, it is important to open up debate against your stance, and to be prepared with documented facts that support your argument while proving the counter argument wrong. [continues]

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