Assignment Author
Ashley SquiresContext of Assignment
After you have given students a list of fallacies and discussed their definitions.
Pedagogical Goals of the Assignment
To entertain as well as educate students about the use of fallacies in the media.
Assignment Description
These are segments from the The Daily Show with John Stewart that I think are particularly effective at mocking logical fallacies in news media. The first is a segment that John Hodgeman does semi-regularly in which he mocks the "TV expert." It's a great example of appeals to authority and can also be used when talking about ethos. Additionally, the topic of this particular clip is immigration and communicable diseases, and some of the clips from Lou Dobbs feature the rather infamous Madeleine Cosman, whom many of your students researching immigration and healthcare have probably encountered.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=89349&title=immigr...
The next clip is an old segment from back when Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell were both cast members. They do a mock pundit debate sketch called "Even Stevphen," and a typical example will provide a wealth of logical fallacy examples (ad hominem, red herring, slippery slope, false dichotomy, to name a few). I usually have my students write down the ones they pick up on as the clip is playing:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=124308&title=steph...