The effective use of rhetoric can spur people to action for worthy causes, make positive health changes, and even persuade them to finish college. Conversely, like most things in life, what can be used for good can also be used in a negative way to arouse emotions such as indignation, fear and panic. This type of rhetoric often uses fallacious statements in appeal to emotions, which complicates the issue even further as emotions are misdirected. Unfortunately, newspapers are full of numerous examples of fallacious statements. Last week, the following five examples appeared in the New York Times and USA Today. Examples included statements demonstrating scapegoating, slippery slope, ad hominem, straw man, line drawing, indignation-based arguments, and envy-based arguments. The first example, in an article on the current state of income and wealth in the United States, the author states that the fact that Americans earn and are worth less than they did four years ago was triggered by the “financial crisis and the sharp decline in the value of homes, Americans' main asset, followed by sharp declines in stock prices. The crisis has led to a persistently high unemployment rate that has reduced the income of many Americans and made it more difficult to obtain wage increases for those who have managed to keep their jobs” (Norris, 2012). Falling home prices are being used as a scapegoat for the overall financial condition of Americans. Scapegoating is a technique that places blame on a specific group for a certain circumstance (Moore & Parker, 2012, p. 187). By placing the blame on the real estate industry, Norris attempts to demonstrate that the American public is largely experiencing financial... middle of paper... Retrieved from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com /2012 /06/09/business/economy/as-recovery-drags-on-income-and-wealth-lag.htmlOhio State University. (2012). Statistical summary. Retrieved from Ohio State University.edu: http://www.osu.edu/osutoday/stuinfo.phpSaad, L. (2012). “Pro-choice” Americans at least 41%. Retrieved from Gallup Politics: http://www.gallup.com/poll/154838/Pro-Choice-Americans-Record-Low.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium =gallupnews&utm_cSara Lee Annual Report. (2012). Sara Lee 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved from Sara Lee Corporation: http://www.saralee.com/ourcompany/sl11ar/pdf/2011SL_Financials.pdfUSDA. (2011). Profiling food consumption in America. Retrieved from USDA.gov: http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf