Transcript Slide 1

Taking a Stand…
Choosing an Issue
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Choose an issue that is important and
interesting to you. It should be one you have
a strong belief or curiosity about.
Make sure it’s a real issue, not just your
personal preference.
Be sure that your issue is arguable and that
many people can and will disagree about it.
Identifying Your Thesis
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The thesis for this essay is called a
proposition or position statement.
Sometimes you may not have completely
decided what your position is when you pick
a topic. You must research and gain facts
which will help you decide.
Example position statement: Schools should
abolish grades as a way of judging
performance because…
Developing Support
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Next, you must read, research your topic to
find support for your argument.
Think about purpose, tone, and your
audience as you begin to plan your outline.
Who are you trying to convince? What tone
will be most effective? Why is it important to
convince them?
Using Logical Appeals
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Supporting information can be given using
logical appeals or logos.
Logical appeal can be used in your essay by
giving facts or statistics.
Anecdotes, or brief stories based on
personal experiences, also may be used as
factual evidence.
Using Emotional Appeals
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Since people tend to make decisions with
their hearts as well as their minds, writers
should use logical appeal mixed with
emotional appeal or pathos.
Anecdotes, or personal experience can also
represent emotional appeal.
Writers should also look at use of language
and word choice which have connotative
meanings and evoke feelings and attitudes.
Using Ethical Appeals
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Establishing credibility and character is also
important when trying to make an effective
argument. These are ethical appeals or
ethos.
You should back up your opinion with those
who are considered experts in their field.
Remember: Effective argumentation will use
all three of these appeals.
Identifying Opposition
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In addition to using these appeals for your
position, argumentation must also have the
opposition’s points mentioned.
You then must be able to counterpoint or
refute their side.
Remember: Ignoring that there is another
side will weaken your argument. You must
be able to show or prove that your position is
stronger.
Organizing Support
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You may want to consider which of the
following methods to use when organizing
your support.
Order of Importance: Begin or end with your
strongest appeal – strongest in the eyes of
your audience, that is.
Chronological Order: A cause/effect chain
may work best for you to propose or attack a
course of action.
Organizing Support
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Logical Order: Comparison/contrast may
also be used to present opposing positions
and refutations. You may present all
objections first and then your refutations, or
you may prefer to present and refute
positions one by one.
Let’s Review:
Basic Elements
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Introduction: Presents background
necessary for understanding the issue and
presents opinion or position.
Body: Uses logical, emotional and ethical
appeals to support position and presents
opposing position with refutation.
Conclusion: Reemphasizes opinion by
summing up important ideas and gives a call
to action – something you want your
audience to do.
Avoiding Fallacies
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Sometimes when writing argumentation,
writers will using examples that look like
reasoning but are not. Your reasoning must
be sound. Critical readers will see through
opinions that are not supported well. Here
are a few fallacies you will want to avoid
when writing your argumentative essay.
Hasty Generalization
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This is a conclusion based on insufficient
evidence or one that ignores exceptions.
For example:
Hasty generalization: Television game
shows exploit contestants by appealing to
greed.
Acceptable: Many television shows exploit
contestants by appealing to greed.
Attacking the Person
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The latin word is ad hominem which is also
known as “name-calling.”
Attacking the Person: The only people who
want television cameras in the courtroom are
thrill-seeking busybodies.
Facing the Issue: Some people support
cameras in the courtroom because they
believe that the public has a right to view all
public trials.
False Authority
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Expert testimony is valuable only when it
comes from someone who is knowledgeable
about the topic in question.
Michelle Van, president of the Downtown
Merchants Association, says the proposed
museum will not interfere with traffic flow.
City traffic engineers report that traffic
surrounding the proposed site is below
maximum levels set in the city plan.
Circular Reasoning
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This occurs when the reason offered for an
opinion is merely the opinion stated in
different words.
Circular Reasoning: No one should control
the world’s oceans because the oceans
belong to all countries.
Acceptable: International treaties guarantee
all nations their fair share of the oceans’
resources.
Either-Or Reasoning
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This fallacy assumes that every issue has
only two possibilities.
Either-Or Reasoning: Either we limit the
population growth or we starve.
Acceptable: Unchecked population growth
threatens the world’s ability to adequately
feed future generations.
Non Sequitur
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In Latin, non sequitur means “it does not
follow.”
Non Sequitur: Our increasingly mobile
society demands a higher speed limit.
Acceptable: A higher speed limit will aid
commerce by allowing truckers to shorten
delivery times and increase total deliveries.
Red Herring
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Drawing its name from a method of throwing
a bloodhound off the scent, the red herring
fallacy consists of introducing an element
into an argument that has nothing to do with
the issue. An example of a red herring is
when a lawyer blames a guilty verdict on the
“media circus.”
Begging the Question
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An argument begs the question when it
assumes that part of what has to be proven
is true. For example, if a politician claims
that she could not have given contracts to
her friends because she is honest, she may
need to prove her record of honesty.
Ways to Organize Paper
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Thesis: You must have both points
(opposing and supporting) in the thesis.
Examples of words to choose: Even though
cloning may bring medical benefits, the
ethical dilemma outweighs the benefits.
Other words: although, despite, even though,
while, etc.
Introduction
Weak Points
Opposing Points Refuted
Conclusion
Introduction
Attention grabber; background; thesis
Evidence
Body
Evidence
Opposing Position
Conclusion
Restatement of position