Appeal to Fear Alexus Furlong & Quentin Staples

Catalina. "Appeal to Fear Exercise." COMM41:Catalina. 4 Nov Web. 13 Apr "Uncle Sam." The Civil War Web. 13 Apr

Appeal to Fear Appeal to fear: Target is persuaded to agree by threats or force. A fallacy in which a person attempts to create support for his or her idea by using deception and propaganda in attempts to increase fear and prejudice toward a competitor. Roland, Jon. "Logical Fallacies." Index. 6 Jan Web. 13 Apr

Universal Example Weapons of Mass Destruction – a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and other life forms) and/or cause great damage to man- made structures (e.g. buildings), natural structures (e.g. mountains), or the biosphere in general. Due to the impact of WMDs, the fear of a WMD attack has shaped political policies and campaigns, fostered social movements, and has been the central theme of many films. A television commercial called Daisy, promoting Democrat Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 presidential candidacy, invoked the fear of a nuclear war and was an element in Johnson's subsequent election. YouTube - Lyndon Johnson - DaisyYouTube - Lyndon Johnson - Daisy

YouTube - Lyndon Johnson - Daisy." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 10usc311, 18 Oct Web. 13 Apr

Examples from The Crucible “ Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents heads on the pillow next to me, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” – Abigail Act 1 pg.175

Explanation Abigail was trying to scare the girls into lying about what really happened. She said she would come to them at night and harm them if they confess to conjuring spirits. She knows that if she can threat them they won’t say a word about what happened. They would be too fearful of what would happened to them if they confessed.

“…You will confess yourself or you will hang! Do you know who I am? I say you will hang if you do not open with me!” - Danforth Act 3 pg. 225

Explanation Danforth was trying to make Mary Warren confess to what they did. The only way he could think of making her confess was to make her fearful of her life. In most cases a person would tell the truth if they know they would get harmed if they lied. Of course she confessed because if not she would have hanged. Most people say they will harm you if you don’t confess but they just say that to get you to speak up.

“ Mary, God damns all liars!” – John Proctor Act 3 pg.225 Explanation: John wanted Mary to tell the truth to the court. He wanted her to confess that the girls were all lying about seeing spirits. When she became hesitant to speak he told her that to make her want to confess. She knew that if she lied to the court she would be committing a sin and may not go to heaven.

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