Writing the Argumentative Essay

1. Writing the Argumentative Essay By Caryl Bishop

2. Argumentation • “. . . the art of influencing others, through the medium of reasoned discourse, to believe or act as we wish them to believe or act.”

3. Structure of Argument • Claim • Proposition • Support • Evidence • Motivational Appeals • Warrant • Assumption(s) that have been taken for granted

4. Features of Argumentation • Writer • Develop your own ETHOS or borrow from established authority • Audience • Know your audience and be sensitive to their views • Text • Use the language to make your point, but be careful not to misuse language

5. The Writer • Ethos • Your own • You must look like you know what you’re talking about • Educate yourself on the issue(s) before writing • Borrow from authority • Be sure to give appropriate credit where due

6. The Audience • Who is your audience? • Qualities you should presume of your audience: • Assume they are as knowledgeable about your topic as you are. • Assume they are aware of common knowledge. • Assume they could be fundamentally opposed to your argument and be sensitive to their prejudices – • Don’t Alienate Your Audience

7. The Text • Argue from logic and reason • Do NOT base your entire argument on: • Emotion • Religious Conviction • Tradition • Avoid fallacious logic • There are a multitude of formal errors in logic, known as FALLACIES

8. Some Common Fallacies • Hasty Generalization • Faulty Use of Authority • Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc • False Analogy • Ad Hominem • False Dilemma • Slippery Slope

9. Hasty Generalization • Black or White thinking • Prejudice • Drawing Hasty Conclusions • Insufficient Evidence

10. Faulty Use of Authority • Misuse of a source • Misquoting • Fitting the quotation to your own needs • If four out of five dentists prefer Colgate, don’t use the one dentist who prefers Crest as your authority!

11. Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc • “After this, therefore because of this” • Faulty Cause and Effect Reasoning

12. False Analogy • Faulty Connection Between Two Things Being Compared

13. Ad Hominem • “Against the Man” • Attacking the person rather than attacking an issue. • If you don’t like this administration’s policies, and want to see them changed, don’t attack the President, address the issues you want changed.

14. False Dilemma • “Black or White Fallacy” • There are only two alternatives, no room for compromise and no grey areas. • Nearly every issue has at least two sides, and somewhere, someone has determined that the OTHER side is the only legitimate approach. • Nothing is black and white; there are shades of grey everywhere!

15. Slippery Slope • The assumption that “A” will inevitably lead to “B” • Then “B” will inevitably lead to “C” • And so on… • And so on…

16. More Common Fallacies • Begging the Question • The Straw Man Fallacy • “Two Wrongs Make a Right” • Non-Sequitur • Ad Populum • Appeal to Tradition • Faulty Emotional Appeal

17. Begging the Question • The statement being argued actually assumes the issue has already been proven true. • An argument that assumes itself Circular Reasoning

18. Straw Man Fallacy • Set up a slightly different problem and attack it, rather than the problem at issue • Diverts attention away from the real issue • “Wag the Dog”

19. “Two Wrongs Make A Right” • “But all my friends are doing it…” • Diverts attention away from the question at issue

20. Non-Sequitur • “It does not follow” • Erroneous Cause and Effect Reasoning • Uses irrelevant information to back of a claim

21. Ad Populum • Appeals to the prejudices of the people • Appeals to popular opinion • Appeals to what you believe your teacher wants to hear

22. Appeal to Tradition • “But we’ve always done it that way before…” • Just because it has always been that way doesn’t make it right

23. Faulty Emotional Appeals • Don’t base your whole claim on an appeal to emotion • Don’t use emotional appeals that are • Irrelevant to the argument • Draw attention away from the real issue • Appear to conceal another purpose