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Grade 9 · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 6

Argument & Rhetoric

Appeals, fallacies and credible sources

What your child practises

Spotting ethos, pathos and logos, common fallacies such as straw man and false dilemma, loaded language and bias, and judging whether a source or media message can be trusted.

Yukon Curriculum learning standard: Persuasive techniques and critical thinking: rhetorical appeals, logical fallacies, bias and the credibility of sources

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    “If we let students use phones in class, next they'll want to sleep in class!” This is…

    • ethos
    • a rebuttal
    • a slippery slope
    • a statistic

  2. Question 2

    What is the purpose of a rebuttal paragraph?

    • To respond to an opposing view with reasons or evidence
    • To introduce the author
    • To list the sources
    • To repeat the thesis word for word

  3. Question 3

    Which source would be most trustworthy for current Canadian unemployment rates?

    • A rumour on a message board
    • A celebrity's post
    • Statistics Canada
    • A sponsored advertisement

  4. Question 4

    A graph's vertical axis starts at 90 instead of 0, making a small difference look huge. What is the problem?

    • It makes the graph more accurate.
    • It can mislead readers about the size of the difference.
    • It shows the data in a different language.
    • It adds more data.

  5. Question 5

    “Everyone's using this app, so it must be safe.” This is…

    • a bandwagon appeal
    • a logical claim
    • ad hominem
    • a rebuttal

  6. Question 6

    Ethos, pathos or logos? Sort each persuasive statement.

    Sort into: 🎓 Ethos · 💗 Pathos · 📊 Logos

    • 🧮If A is more than B and B is more than C, A is more than C.
    • 🌙No child should ever go to bed hungry.
    • 🐶Picture a lonely puppy waiting for a home.
    • 🏆Our award-winning team has helped thousands.
    • 📈Studies show 82% of students improved.
    • 🩺As a doctor for twenty years, I recommend it.

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