Logical Fallacies: How Writers Build Their Arguments

This week in class we looked at some of the logical mistakes that writers frequently make when constructing their arguments. Although it may not be immediately obvious why this topic should be covered in a writing course, my hope is that most of you can see how this section of the class relates to the composition of position papers. When we're writing an argumentative paper its critical that our arguments are logically sound; otherwise, we cant reasonably expect our readers to take our opinions seriously. Furthermore, learning to identity logical fallacies makes us all more criticle readers. Many excellent writers are soeloquant that they can compel! their audience to agree with them simply by writing an emotionally persuasive paper (the same, I should add, holds true for lawyers and politicians). While its fine to appreciate a well-crafted essay, we should all remain highly skeptical of any claim made by a writer who's logic appears suspect.