Argument Essentials of Argument, p 98

1. Argument Essentials of Argument, p 98 Discover the argument/main claim by asking, “What is the author trying to prove?” Or plan an argument of your own by asking, “What do I want to prove?” The argument organizes the entire text; everything else in it is related to the argument. The best way to identify it is to complete the following statement as soon as you have finished reading: “This author wants me to believe that…” An argument is debatable, and often relies on claims/sub-claims, evidence, and warrants/assumptions.

2. Support & Evidence Essentials of Argument, pp 100-101 Claims/subclaims: Supporting, debatable reasons for the claim. Evidence: Observed events, specific examples of real happenings, references to historical or recent events, and statistical reports. Evidence is verifiable; two people looking at the same evidence would agree on its existence but might interpret it differently. Opinions: An author may use personal opinion or opinions of experts the author selects to quote. Opinions may be informed, based on considerable knowledge and excellent judgment, or they may be ill-founded, based on hearsay and gossip.

3. Warrants Essentials of Argument, p 103 Warrants are the assumptions, general principles, conventions of specific disciplines, widely held values, commonly accepted beliefs, and appeals to human motives that are important to any argument. Even though they can be spelled out as part of the written argument, usually they are not. Since individual audience members vary in their backgrounds and perspectives, not everyone will state the warrants in exactly the same way. Warrants can be shared by or in conflict with the audience and arguer. Warrants also vary from culture to culture. What does this author value? Do I share those values? / Do I believe that this evidence supports this claim? Why or why not?

4. Backing Essentials of Argument, pp 105-106 Additional information or an appeal to common values/beliefs (held by most people, or people who belong to specific discipline or culture) for an audience that doesn’t necessarily agree with the warrant and that help justify the claim.

5. Rebuttal Essentials of Argument, pp 106-107 A rebuttal establishes what is wrong, invalid, or unacceptable about an argument and may also present counterarguments or new arguments that represent entirely different perspectives or points of view on the issue. To attack the validity of the claim, an author may demonstrate that the support is faulty or that the warrants are faulty or unbelievable. Rebuttals may appear as answers to arguments that have already been stated or the author may anticipate the reader’s rebuttal and include answers to possible objections that might be raised.

6. Qualifiers Essentials of Argument, p 107 The outcomes of argument are usually not described as establishing certainty or truth in the same sense that mathematics and science are. Arguments seek to establish what is probably true as well as what might be expedient or desirable for the future. Arguers tell you what they think for now along with what they think should be done, given their present information. Consequently, the language of certainty (always, never, the best, the worst, and so on) promises too much when used in claims or in other parts of the argument. Thus words like always and never change to sometimes; is or are change to may be or might.

7. Logos

8. Ethos

9. Pathos

10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HNKqffU3Cc&index=2&list=PLUt_PBZQzj_D7wPfnSX-m9Ho1pfcq_CgGhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HNKqffU3Cc&index=2&list=PLUt_PBZQzj_D7wPfnSX-m9Ho1pfcq_CgG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAlyHUWjNjE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplMjgh_QlM&index=3&list=PLUt_PBZQzj_D7wPfnSX-m9Ho1pfcq_CgG

11. Strategies Logos: appeals to reason, understanding, and common sense. Ethos: appeals to the audience’s impressions, opinions, and judgements about the individual stating the argument; an arguer who demonstrates competence, good character, fair-mindedness, and goodwill toward the audience is more convincing than the arguer who lacks these qualities. Audiences are more likely to trust and believe individuals with good ethos than those without it. At times, arguers also need to establish the ethos of the experts whom they quote in their arguments. Pathos: appeal to the feelings of an audience; the audience’s feelings are aroused primarily through emotional lagnuage, examples, personal narratives, and descriptions of events that contain emotional elements and provoke strong feelings

12. Fallacies in Logic Begging the question: Claim is restated without support. Red herring: Providing irrelevant and misleading support. Non sequitur: The conclusion does not follow from the evidence and warrant. Straw man: The arguer sets up an idea, refutes it, then appears to win, even though the idea may be unrelated to the issue at hand Misusing evidence: Stacking evidence to represent only one side of the issue

13. Fallacies in Logic cont. Either-or: The argument is over-simplified by the arguer and presented as an either-or choice. Post hoc: Faulty cause — one thing is implied or said to cause another when there is in fact no causal relationship between them Hasty generalization: a conclusion is based on too few examples (may contribute to stereotyping)

14. Fallacies that Affect Ethos Ad hominem: argument attacks a person’s character rather than a person’s ideas Guilt by association: the belief that a person’s character can be judged by the characters of their associates Using authority instead of evidence: a variation of begging the question; the arguer relies on personal authority to prove a point instead of on evidence

15. Emotional Fallacies Bandwagon appeal Slippery slope Creating false needs

16. Rhetorical Strategies: More Language Cause and effect relationship Historical analogies Literal analogies Figurative analogies • Argument from Definition • Argument from Statistics • Argument from Authority

17. Rhetorical Strategies cont. Motivational appeals Value appeals Language that appeals to logic Language that develops ethos • Language that appeals to emotion