Find a few real-life examples of bad reasoning. Possible sources include: newspaper and magazine articles, editorials, and letters to the editor; television and radio newscasts; television and radio shows on which opinions are expressed (for example, documentaries, talk shows, and political roundtables); books; public lectures; and so on.
Write a paper of about five pages in length (double-spaced, typed) in which you analyze the specimens of reasoning you have selected and explain precisely why you find them to be fallacious or otherwise unsound. You probably will not need to find more than two or three examples of unsound reasoning, but you may discuss either more or fewer examples, so long as your discussion ends up being roughly five pages long.
With your paper please include copies of the material you are evaluating. That is, hand in either a photocopy (of printed material) or a transcript (of unpublished material). It is best to use a video or audio tape recorder in preparing a transcript, though if these are not available, a transcript based upon carefully taken notes is also acceptable.
Here are four more points to keep in mind when preparing your paper. (1) All examples should be drawn from the year 2017. (Re-runs of old television shows are not exceptions, even if they are broadcast again in 2017!) (2) Do not overuse advertising examples (no more than one or two pages). (3) Do not use sources that cannot be expected to reason cogently (for example, young children, the mentally ill, supermarket tabloids, Jerry Springer, and so forth). (4) Find sources that are themselves guilty of fallacious reasoning. Do not use sources that point out fallacious reasoning by others. Please state the fallacy and explain how the source is is committing the fallacy.
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