Straw Man Argument

By Sam and Michael

What is it? A straw man argument is to take at the oppositions

argument and misrepresent it, in doing this the opposition arguments becomes weakened and easy to shoot down- weak like a straw man. People can invoke a straw man when they put forth an argument which is extreme or easy to argue against. You would put forth a straw man argument because you know it will be easy for you to knock down. It is a good way of misrepresenting your opponents position on the argument.

Critique Straw man arguments are uniquely deceptive because they

present a version of the opposing argument which is either weaker or heavily exaggerated. Presenting a weaker argument allows for it to be easily knocked down, and shows strength in your argument. It also misrepresents the opponents position on argument which causes people to be more convinced to your side which is deceptive. Or the second type of straw man argument, in which the oppositions argument is highly exaggerated; this is deceptive because it makes the opposition seem absurd and shows reason and conventionality in your argument.

Examples of Straw Man Arguments 1) If we legalized abortion our society would operate smoothly and make lives easier

for many. 2) Many people say if you say yes to abortion, you're allowing prostitutes and people

who have children out of wedlock to carry on with their lives.3) Prostitutes and sex before marriage? Are these things we want to accept and promote in our society?- the straw man here is bluntly saying that allowing abortion will let prostitutes and people who children out of wedlock carry on with their lives, we've said this so basically and given them no supporting evidence. We then easily shot this down by pointing out the ethical flaws in prostitution and sex before marriage.1) We should support Israel’s claim to Palestine because they contribute greatly ot the world, and this conflict often results in terrorism.2) Many people say if you don't support Israel, you support terrorism.3) Every day the state of Israel continues to launch air strikes and bombing raids against neighbouring countries; killing innocent children, women and people defending their country, if we support and fund this are we really fighting terrorism?- the straw man in this instance is how we created two sides in the conflict and provided no neutral option. This is also a blind statement because it simply says if you are anyone who doesn't 100% and entirely, support and agree with Israel you are supporting terrorism. We shot this down by showing that some of the military action by is actually terrorism, showing invalidity in the argument and left the reader with rhetorical question.

The Power of Three The writer will use the persuasive technique known as a straw man

argument, a straw man. A straw man argument is to take at the oppositions argument and misrepresent it, in doing this the opposition arguments becomes weakened and easy to shoot down- weak like a straw man. The effects of a straw man argument on a reader and how it supports the contention are;- showing weakness and poor structure in the opposition argument, then immediately contrasting it with your rational and clearly superior argument- it allows for reader to distrust and disregard the opposition's argument because it's presented so bluntly and poorly- misrepresenting a weak argument makes it ridiculously easy for the writer, who is rebutting to shoot it down, this strengthens the rebuttal and ultimately gives the reader that final push to your side- a rebuttal is not only used to achieve the previous points but to also restate the contention, and seeing though the reader's mind is fresh with your strong argument the opposition's weak one who will they be more inclined to side with?