Using Logical Fallacies Has Become a Trend - Essay Example

Al Gore’s speech had several fallacies and these fallacies will be comprehensively highlighted and analyzed.  “While I can't thank each of you individually in words, I do so in my heart.” This was Gore's opening lines and this is the emotional appeal, clearly a logical fallacy.    “Let's not forget that a few years ago, you were also working hard. But your hard work was undone by a government that didn't work, didn't put people first, and wasn't on your side.” A series of three dichotomies are created when Gore uses antithesis here. Antithesis has become a part and parcel of a campaign address.    “And our progress in the economy is a good chapter in our history. But now we turn the page and write a new chapter. And that's what I want to speak about tonight.” The use of two metaphors is evident here, a good chapter in our history is a metaphor, and turning the page and writing a new chapter is another metaphor used by Gore.  “But my focus is on working families, people trying to make house payments and car payments, working overtime to save for college and do right by their kids Whether you're in a suburb, or an inner-city Whether you raise crops or drive hogs and cattle on a farm, drive a big rig on the Interstate, or drive e-commerce on the Internet Whether you're starting to raise your own family, or getting ready to retire after a lifetime of hard work.” Rhetoric is seen here, the word drive is repeated thrice and the same makes it rhetoric.  “To all the families who are struggling with things that money can't measure -- like trying to find a little more time to spend with your children, or protecting your children from entertainment that you think glorifies violence and indecency -- I want you to know: I believe we must challenge a culture with too much meanness, and not enough meaning. And as president, I will stand with you for a goal that we share: to give more power back to the parents, to choose what your children are exposed to, so you can pass on your family's basic lessons of responsibility and decency." Gore's populist theme is highlighted here, he directly addresses the families. Standard metaphors and antithesis have been used here.    “We're entering a new time. We're electing a new President.” There is a direct comparison here, Gore is suggesting to the people that he is not Bill Clinton; he is someone extremely different so there is a direct comparison which is evident from Gore’s diction.   "I grew up in a wonderful family." Gore is again comparing here, he says he is a good person like the people in the audience so the comparison is evident once again.    “My father respected my mother as an equal, if not more. She was his best friend, and in many ways, his conscience. And I learned from them the value of a true, loving partnership that lasts for life.” Gore is again suggesting that he is not Bill Clinton, the comparison is conspicuous once again.    “I also saw so much of what could go right -- citizens lifting local communities, family by family, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, in churches and charities, on school boards and City Councils.” Emotional appeals are being made here, Gore points out factors like neighborhood, family, community, and so on.  “In the Senate and as vice president, I fought for welfare reform. Over and over again, I talked to folks who told me how they were trapped in the old welfare system. I saw what it did to families. So I fought to end welfare as we then knew it -- to help those in trouble, but to insist on work and responsibility.” Rhetoric is once again evident here; Gore makes some very realistic promises. Only promises are being made here but Gore does not talk about results. Read More