Finding Fallacies in a Speech

Speech Read: I have A Dream By Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Fallacies of Relevance:

Genetic Fallacies: in a way I think this speech has genetic fallacies because it claims that white and their ideas are untrustworthy because of their racial origin. He claims that white people think that simply because of the reason that they are white they have the right to do anything and go past anyone.

Abusive: it arguments the proposals, assertions, or arguments of a group which in this case are the white people. Again this speech is mainly against of the whites and their superiority.

Bandwagon Approach: Luther replies that his argument is completely correct. An example is when he mentions that the declaration of independence was signed for all men to have “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”.
Appeal to Emotion: I think this text might contain a bit of this fallacy because he is mentioning that he hopes that one day black and white children can hold hands and uses metaphors like these that have a lot to do with one person’s feelings.

Component Fallacies:

Begging the Question: I think this type of fallacy occurs in the text and it is also very notorial. This is because he assumes as evidence for his argument the conclusion. Since the beginning of the text he talks about the same thing and doesn’t develop his ideas in an orderly way what I think happens is that he jots down every idea he has and repeats it a lot in the text.

Circular Reasoning: This type of fallacy is very common in all speeches because most of the time the purpose of speeches is to convince people of something. Therefore they repeat the same thing in different words. That’s pretty much what Luther King does he tries to convince that black people should be free and equal to everybody else.

Red Herring: with this phrase Luther King tries to change the subject or divert the argument from the real question and to set a side-Pont.
“America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt”.
I think this happens this way because Luther goes a little off the road but at the same time is making a discrete but true “joke” about how Americans have given black people a hard time, and made them felt like they have “insufficient funds” meaning that they don’t serve for anything.

Straw Man Argument: I found a great paragraph were there is a very clear example of an attempt to prove his own point by overstating which is that he repeats at least 50 times “I have a Dream”.
But in one part I think he exaggerates a lot:
“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”
I think this is a little to much, saying that white people “crippled” and the best part is that he even accepts it! When he says: “….. We´ve come here today to DRAMATIZE…..” he accepts that he is getting a little way beyond limits.

Slippery Slope: This occurs because he says that once the first step is undertaken (“unleash” black people) the second and third step will inevitably follow. These two steps could be freedom, equality, happiness etc. Just by taking simple steps positive things will follow.

The Bible (CH 5-11)

When I began reading The KJV bible version I thought that all those names that are at the beginning were a bit unnecessary. They name all the descendants of the third son of Adam and Eve. But after comes a story I really like which is the story of Noah’s Ark. I like this story because it was a form of God punishing humanity because all the war going on. He decided to make the world rain for 40 days and 40 nights and told Noah to make an arc with specific regulations and in one of those requests he told him to take one of each animal species (male and female). Also he could take his wife sons and grandsons. When the 40 days and night passed the Universal Flood had ended the lord, as representation that he would never do something like his again to humanity. This sign or “token” like they call it in the text was an arc, later called the “rainbow”.

After this story they mention the descendants of the 3 sons of Noah. I liked these new chapters of the KJV bible and I’m really looking forward to read the rest of the Genesis.

The Bible (CH 1-5)

I felt really familiar reading the first 5 chapter f the bible, considering it sounds just like a myth story. It starts talking about the creation of the earth and why we came to be here and why, which is much of what we have been studying in class. I liked it lot because we had all heard about the "myth" that God created the world in seven days, but we hadn't actually read it in detail and most importantly: directly from the bible! At the beginning they describe the very beginning of the earth, when it was all black and there wasn't even light. Slowly it tells us how God created one thing every day, one day he created day and night, other he creates light and dark, another he created animals etc. But on the sixth day he created a being who would rule upon the others and this would be man. he would have complete power over everything and would "rule". Then comes the story of how men reproduced and the story of Adam and Eve takes place. This is the story we all know that first came Adam but he needed company and out of his rib came Eve. Then comes the story of Abel and Cain, which were two brothers that have very different personalities and Cain ends up killing his brother and he is severely punished to death. Lastly which is a part I think they should omit is the descendants of Cain and his wife, but there are a lot of names so it confused me a little bit.

What i thought was very curious was that i also read this spanish bible called "Dios Habla Hoy" and it was very similar to that of King James version. But I noticed some clear differences. One of them is that in the Spanish bible there is much more quotes, and the characters talk more. And a very curious one was that on the spanish bible at the end of chapter 5 it says that Adam and Eve had another son which they called Enos and later he started to evoke the name of the lord.

So far I'm having a lot of fun reading the bible and I'm also liking this King James Version a lot, I also find it very interesting comparing it to the Spanish bible so Ill keep on doing this.

Commenting About3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. The Golden Fleece 2. The Griffin or Gryphon 3. Giants


The Golden Fleece: I think this myth is very similar to the story of “Noah and the Ark” One of the reasons could be because”Argo” like the “arch” was called in this story is similar to that of Noah’s ARK. Also when the dove leads them to the right path it also relates to it because in the story of “Noahs Ark” they explain how a white dove symbolized peace and made Noah do the right thing.

The Gryffin or Gryphon: It pretty much describes the Griffins (which also can be called Gryphons). They have the body of a lion but the head and the wings of an eagle. India is the native country of these particular animals. Their instinct tells them were buried treasures are.

Giants: It tells and differs monsters from human giants. The great difference between them is that human giants did have feelings and felt love Hate etc. instead conventional monsters were beings of unnatural proportions and parts that regarded terror and had a huge strength and ferocity. Also it says that monsters feared the gods so much that they had themselves under various forms like birds, goats, cows etc.

Commeting About3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. Minerva 2. Niobe 3. The Grageae and Gorgons

Minerva: I thought this myth was very interesting and it teaches us a lot of things. It deals a lot with what happens in the world. Competing and rivalry is one of them we always try to be better than others and try to demonstrate it, it is in our blood to want to be better than others. Also when someone is wealthier, or more “important” they don’t like someone of a lower class or status competing against them. That is what happened in the myth, a goddess didn’t want a simple weaver to compete against her, that’s why at the end when she saw the maiden was doing a better job than she was, she turned her into a spider. This also tech us that we are very bad losers, and often we hurt (either verbally or physically) the person after the “competition” is over.

Niobe: Once again in this myth a goddess and a non-goddess dare themselves to see who is better. It is about hate revenge, rage and a lot of mixed feelings. I think this myth was fun to read but it was very dramatic. At the en all the 14 sons and daughters Niobe had (she was the non-goddess) died the children of Latona killed them. And also they killed her husband, so she wouldn’t have anything to say she was better.

The Graeae and Gorgons: This myth the only thing they do is introduce who are the Gorgons an who are the Graeae. The gorgons were monstrous females with huge teeth like those of swine, brazen claws, and snaky hair. The Graeae were three sisters who were gray-haired from their birth, whence their name. They were personifications of the terror of the seas. Their names in Greek mean the love epithets.

Commenting About 3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. Juno and her Rivals 2. Glaucus and Scylla 3. Perseus and Atlas

Juno and Her Rivals: This myth treats about treason and cheating. But I didn’t like it much because it involved many characters and you got really confused. At the beginning it started with a story and you ended up with a totally different one.

Glaucus and Scylla: This myth had a lot to do with revenge and rage. When people get mad sometime they do things they don’t want to do and say things they don’t want to say. That’s why sometimes it is better to count until 10 and chill. That’s exactly what happened in this story two people loved each other and in revenge a goddess turned Scylla (the lady) into a monster, just because she didn’t want that these two people would be together.

Perseus and Atlas: Once more this myth treats about assumptions and presipitations. Without even knowing people kill others without being secure of their procedence.

Commenting About 3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. Pyramus and Thisbe 2. Cepahlus and Procris 3. Prometheus and Pandora

Pyramus and Thisbe: This story has a lot to do with the silly mistakes humanity makes. It treats about two young teenagers who are very wealthy and they love each other. Unfortunately their parent’s don’t want them to be together. So one day they decide to escape so they can live happily together. They set a meeting place and Thisbe got there first. There was a thirsty lion nearby and ripped off her veil and destroyed it with her bloody teeth. But fortunately or rather unfortunately nothing happened to her. When Pyramus arrived he saw the veil covered in blood and thought about her beloved Thisbe, he thought he was dead! So he killed himself with a sword too. When Thisbe arrived he saw Pyramus died and therefore ended with her life too. This I can relate it a lot with miscommunication and that human are very accelerated and want everything now and can’t wait. Also just by looking at something we draw out errand conclusions and act without thinking. We act very precipitated and don’t stop and analyze things.

Cephalus and Procris: Once again this myth has a lot to do with miscommunication and drawing out poor conclusions. Cephalus and Procris were a happy couple who loved each other deeply. One day Cepahlus went hunting and said “Come, sweet breeze, come and fan my breasts, come and allay the heat that burns me”. Somebody heard him and went and told Procris, the story ends up badly once more. People should first be sure of what they are talking about before actually telling to other people. It could end up hurting innocent people and making a big and unnecessary problem.

Prometheus and Pandora: This is a typicall creation myth which talks about Prometheus, which was a Titan who created the earth. When he finished creating the earth there were only man, but after a woman called Pandora came , and she opened a box in which feelings of men were introduced. Pretty much it talks about the Golden Age and the other stages which the world went through so we could get to this.