Upload
ciara-white
View
49
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
English 110. Thursday April 24, 2014. The Agenda. Discuss rebuttals, introductions Discuss Ch. 8, 9 & 10 Return and discuss papers. Structure of an Argument. Review: What are the five parts of an argument?. Structure of an Argument. Modern Structure - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Citation preview
Structure of an Argument
• Modern Structure • Introduction (Classical: Exordium)• Background (Classical: Narratio) • Lines of Argument (Classical: Partitio, Confirmatio) • Alternative Arguments (Classical: Refutatio) • Conclusion (Classical: Peroratio)
Structure of an Argument
• Introduction• Gets readers’ interest and willingness to listen• Establishes your qualifications to write about the topic• Establishes some common ground with your readers• Demonstrates that you’re fair and evenhanded• States your claim
Structure of an Argument
• Background• Presents information, including personal narrative,
that’s important to your argument
• Lines of Argument• Presents good reasons, including logical and emotional
appeals, in support of your claim
Structure of an Argument
• Alternative Arguments• Examines alternative points of view and opposing
arguments• Notes the advantages and disadvantages of these
views• Explains why your view is better than others
Structure of an Argument
• Conclusion• Summarizes the argument• Elaborates on the implications of your claim• Makes clear what you want the audience to think or
do• Reinforces your credibility and perhaps offers an
emotional appeal
Structure of an Argument
• Look at the Declaration of Independence and find the following elements … • Introduction • Background • Lines of Argument
Toulmin Argument
• Named for British philosopher Stephen Toulmin• Five parts• Claim – the argument you wish to prove• Qualifiers – any limits you place on your claim• Reasons/Evidence – support for your claim• Warrants – underlying assumptions that support your
claim• Backing – evidence for warrant
Toulmin Argument
• Claims • Debatable and controversial• May start out as sweeping and overly simplistic
but will progress toward something more reasonable and subtle• Vegetarianism is the best choice of diet.• NASA should launch a human expedition to Mars.
Toulmin Argument
• Claims • Can begin to develop a claim by first coming up
with reasons to support it or finding evidence that backs up the point …
• Look at the example on p. 134
Evidence and Reason(s)
So Claim
Toulmin Argument
• Claims • Once you make a claim, people will
automatically start questioning it • How do you know your evidence is good?• Do the reasons really support your claim?
• There must be a logical and persuasive connection between a claim and the reasons and data supporting it• This connection is called the warrant
Toulmin Argument
• Warrants • Answer the question: How do I get from the data
to the claim?
Evidence and Reason(s) So Claim
BecauseWarrant
Toulmin Argument
• Warrants • Look for the general principle that allows you to justify
the move from a reason to a specific to a specific claim – the bridge connecting them• Often a value or a principle that you share with your
readers
• Refresher: What’s an enthymeme? • A statement that links a claim to a supporting reason• Gas-fueled cars should be illegal because they pollute the
environment.
Toulmin Argument
• Warrants • Enthymeme: Don’t eat that mushroom because
it’s poisonous!• The warrant is that anything that’s poisonous shouldn’t
be eaten.• Or … If something is poisonous, it’s dangerous to eat.
Reason: The mushroom is
poisonousClaim: So don’t
eat it!
Because: Eating poisonous things is
dangerous
Toulmin Argument
• Practice • Enthymeme: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reason: Claim:
Because:
Toulmin Argument
• Practice • Enthymeme: La Salle University should require all
students to study abroad for one semester because it would expand many students’ cultural horizons.
Reason(s): Claim:
Warrant:
Toulmin Argument
• Backing • Support for warrants• Enthymeme: NASA should launch a human
expedition to Mars because Americans need a unifying national goal. • What’s the claim? • What’s the reason?
• Warrant: What unifies the nation ought to be a national priority.
Toulmin Argument
• Backing• Americans want to be part of something bigger than
themselves • Emotional appeal as evidence
• In a country as diverse as the United States, common purposes and values help make the nation stronger. • Ethical appeal as evidence
• In the past, government investments such as the Hoover Dam and the Apollo moon program enabled many – though not all – Americans to work toward common goals. • Logical appeal as evidence
Toulmin Argument
• Qualifiers• Make writing more precise and honest (believable) by
acknowledging limitations of your case … • Few• It is possible• Rarely• Most• In general• Often• For the most part• Typically
Toulmin Argument
• Practice with Qualifiers• Enthymeme: You will get into law school because
your LSAT scores are in the 98th percentile. • How can this be qualified?
Reason: Your LSAT scores are in the 98th percentile
Claim: So, you will likely get into law school
Because: High LSAT scores are an important factor in law school admission
Proposal Arguments
• Provide thoughtful reasons for supporting or resisting change
• The simplest form … A should do B because of C“The student government should endorse the Academic Bill of Rights because students should not be punished in their courses for their personal political views.”
Proposal Arguments
• Three main characteristics:• They call for change, often in response to a
problem• They focus on the future• They center on the audience
Arguments of Fact
• All try to establish one thing – whether something is or is not so (is or is not a fact)• Has a crime occurred? • Is a historical fact true? • Are the claims of a politician accurate?
• These kinds of questions can seem very unlike arguments … people like to think that facts are settled, e.g. the Earth orbits the sun• They become arguments when they are
controversial or challenge beliefs and the facts must be interpreted
Arguments of Definition
• Arguments about how something is defined • Is a human fetus a “person”?• Is a person on life support still “alive”? • What is “intelligence”?
Arguments of Evaluation
• Everyday arguments that evaluate something• What did you have for breakfast?• What did you wear out with your friends Saturday
night?• What did you spend your savings on?
Sources• http://www.summitpost.org/chimney-rock-gap/329128• http://
vlc.polyu.edu.hk/academicwriter/Evidence/Secondary%20Sources/researchgaps.htm
• Adapted from http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/thesis.htm
• Adapted from Bradley Dowden, California State University, Sacramento, CA
• Adapted from Andrea Lundsford and John Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s an Argument, 6th Ed. New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-4576-0606-9.