Transcript Appeal to Ridicule

Fallacy
Appeal to Ridicule
(Appeal to Mockery/ The Horse Laugh)
Anna Houchens
Tiffany Tolsma
Appeal to Ridicule
A fallacy in which ridicule or mockery
is substituted for evidence in an
argument.
"Fallacy: Appeal to Ridicule." Fallacy: Appeal to Ridicule. The Nizkor, 2012.
Web. 20 Feb. 2013"
Universal example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6
q1Y5_zCJs
“Obama Mocks Socialist Accusations." Youtube.com. N.p., 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 21 Feb.
2013.
"The Horse Laugh." Fresh Hoil Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
<http://freshoiltoday.blogspot.com/2012/05/most-interesting-man-in-worl>.
In the speech Obama mocks the statements made against
him about being a socialist by creating a joke about when he
was younger. This shows that he clearly doesn’t want to be
called a socialist and he undermines the statement by
ridiculing it.
The horse laugh picture is closely related to this fallacy
because when ridiculing a subject you usually want to laugh
at it or mock it, therefore the horse laugh represents the
humor of the subject being mocked.
Act I
“She hates me, uncle, for I would not be her slave.
It’s a bitter woman, and I will not work for such a
woman!”
- Abigail
Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible, Act I." The Language of Literature. American Literature. Evanston,
IL: McDougal Littell, 2000. 171. Print.
This quote is an example of this fallacy due to the fact that
Abby is ridiculing Elizabeth in order for her uncle to believe
her. Abby belittles Elizabeth’s opinion by making him
believe that Elizabeth is a bitter woman which in fact is not
why Abby was fired, making this statement a fallacy.
Act II
“But- surely you know what a jabberer she is. Did
you tell them that?” - Proctor
Miller, Arthur N. "The Crucible, Act II." The Language of Literature. American Literature.
Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2000. 195. Print
In this scene Proctor is questioning Mary Warren’s
statement that Sarah Good had confessed. He then makes
Sarah’s confession seem untruthful by stating that she is a
jabberer. When he says this about her it makes others not want
to believe her statement, making this quote a fallacy.
Act III
“ Your not a Boston judge yet , Hathorne. You’ll not
call me daft!”
- Giles
Miller, Arthur N. "The Crucible, Act III." The Language of Literature.
American Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2000. 208. Print.
In this quote Giles is angry with Hathorne because
his wife has been accused and arrested. He then
wants Hathorne’s authority to be irrelevant and
wants others to not believe what he has to say, in
order for that to happen he belittles Hathornes
position by claiming that he isn’t a Boston judge
which implies that he isn’t a “real” judge.