Appeal to Ridicule Emma Doyle, Kelly Moss and Jake Beakes
Slide 2
Definition Appeal to Ridicule- a specific type of appeal to
emotion where an argument is made by presenting the opponents
argument in a way that makes it appear ridiculous.
Slide 3
Real World Examples The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang
Theory
Slide 4
The Crucible Example #1 Proctor. To live in, yes. But to ask
ownership is like you shall own the meeting house itself; the last
meeting I were at you spoke so long on deeds and mortgages I
thought it were an auction. (1.181) Here, John Proctor is making a
fallacious argument as to why he does not attend Parris church.
Instead of preaching about God, Proctor dislikes the fact that
Parris speaks more about money. For this reason, Proctor makes fun
of Parris by saying that his meeting house seems more like an
auction than a place of worship.
Slide 5
The Crucible Example #2 Proctor. I think, sometimes the man
dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin houses. (2.198) Again,
Proctor is ridiculing Parris. Puritans came to the New World to
escape religious persecution in a country whose national religion
was Catholicism. Puritans worship in churches, not Catholic
cathedrals. In order to ridicule Parris, he associates him with an
institution that the Puritans sought to avoid.
Slide 6
The Crucible Example #3 Danforth. Oh, it is a proper lawyer! Do
you wish me to declare the court in full session here? Or will you
give me good reply? (3.214) In this part of the play, Danforth is
ridiculing Giles Corey. Preceding this statement, Giles told
Danforth that he could not be held in contempt of court because
they were only having a hearing, not a trial. In response, Danforth
mocks Giles with verbal irony in calling Giles a proper lawyer.
Giles is very far from being a lawyer. In fact, he has probably had
very little education at all.
Slide 7
The Crucible Example #4 Proctor. There might also be a dragon
with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it. (3.217)
Here, Proctor is defending his wife, Elizabeth. She has been
accused of having poppets, or voodoo dolls. Proctor knows this is a
ridiculous accusation. It could not possibly be true. To prove his
point, Proctor gives a ridiculous analogy to having poppets in his
house. In his mind, it would be equally preposterous to have a
poppet as well as a dragon in his home. He uses this to ridicule
those who have wrongly accused his wife of witchcraft.
Slide 8
Works Cited Fallacy: Appeal to Ridicule. FindTheData. Find the
Data, n.d. Web. 12 March 2015. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible.
Evanston, Il: McDougal Little, 2006. Print. Appeal to Ridicule-
Amanda Bui and Johnathan Clements YouTube. Web. 13 March 2015.
