Straw man — English definition
Defined in 2 courses:
- Misrepresenting an opponent's argument as a weaker or distorted version, then knocking that down. (English 10: Choices, Conscience & Consequences)
- A fallacy that distorts an opponent's position into a weaker version, then attacks that weaker version instead. (English 11: American Voices, Identity & Public Memory)
Where it is taught
- Logical Fallacies — Argument, Rhetoric & Tragic Choices, English 10: Choices, Conscience & Consequences, Grade 10
- Evaluating Reasoning & Evidence — Public Argument, Rhetoric & Competing Accounts, English 11: American Voices, Identity & Public Memory, Grade 11
In use
A straw man distorts the opponent's position into a weaker, cartoonish version and then defeats that: if someone argues for later school start times and you reply, 'so you think teenagers should just sleep all day and never learn responsibility,' you have not answered their actual claim; you have knocked down one nobody made.
Logical Fallacies
A straw man distorts an opponent's view into a weaker one and attacks that instead ('people who want to reform testing just want to abolish all standards').
Evaluating Reasoning & Evidence