what fallacy is this? I don't know what colleges are teaching these days! I have just received a letter of application from a young man who graduated from the state university last June. It was a wretched letter – badly written, with elementary errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The state university does not deserve the tax support that it is getting.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/hasty-generalization.html

corndogs

The fallacy in this statement is known as hasty generalization. It occurs when a conclusion is made about a whole group or category based on insufficient evidence or a single example. In this case, the author received a poorly written letter from one individual who graduated from the state university, and then generalizes that the entire institution does not deserve tax support. This conclusion is based on the assumption that the single letter represents the quality of education provided by the university as a whole.

To identify this fallacy, you need to look for two key elements:
1. Insufficient evidence: The author's conclusion is based on only one example (the poorly written letter) without considering other factors such as the curriculum, teaching methods, or the performance of other graduates.
2. Overgeneralization: The author jumps to a sweeping and negative conclusion about the entire university based on the shortcomings of one individual or experience.

To refute this fallacy and form a more accurate conclusion, it is important to consider a larger sample size, gather more evidence, and evaluate the overall quality of education provided by the state university.