Argumentation

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Argumentation

• Structure and Development

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On Argumentation

• The aim of argument, or of discussion, should
  not be victory, but progress. -Joseph Joubert,
  Pensees, 1842

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Argument vs Persuasion

• Persuasion method writer uses to move audience
  (belief or action)
• Relies on appeals
• Argumentation the appeal to reason
• Does not try to move an audience
• Primary purpose demonstrate certain ideas are
  valid and others are not
• Most effective arguments combine appeals

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Basic Structure of an Argument

• Makes Points
• Supplies Evidence
• Establishes logical chain or reasoning
• Refutes Opposing Arguments
• Accommodates the views of the Audience

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An Argument

• In an argument a writer or speaker has a specific
  purpose for addressing a targeted audience.
  He/she uses reasoning to accept or reject an idea
  based on its validity and truth.
• An argument has a thesis statement or claim (a
  stand on the issue), which is supported with
  various premises (evidence).

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When analyzing an argument

• Determine the credibility of the writers and
  their purposes for writing.
• Be familiar with how writers appeal to targeted
  audiences by using three classical strategies

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Three different strategies are

• Pathos
• Ethos
• Logos

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Rhetorical Triangle
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Rhetorical Triangle
At the core of the rhetorical triangle is purpose.
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You must gain practice in
identifying precisely writers
apparent purposes.
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Logical Appeal Logos

• Appeals to an audiences reasoning or logic
• Language may be more dispassionate, appealing to
  the intellect rather than the emotions.

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Be able to identify

• specific to general conclusion (ISG inductive
  moves from specific to general)
• general to specific conclusion (DoGS deductive
  moves from general to specific)

• INDUCTIVE REASONING
• DEDUCTIVE REASONING

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Also be able to

• Understand the flaws in logic (logical
  fallacies).
• Recognize concession and counterargument.

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Concession

• An expression of concern for the feelings of
  those who may disagree with the writers
  position.
• Shows the writer to be a logical thinker and a
  concerned, fair-minded person who realizes that
  every argument has two sides.

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Counterargument

• Three parts
• - acknowledging
• (concession)
• - accommodating (setting
• them up)
• - refuting (shooting them
• down)

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Logical reasoning will also rely on

• Facts and evidence
• research
• tradition (precedent)
• authorities
• cause/effect
• analogies
• effective metaphors

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Emotional Appeal Pathos

• Passion, not logic, stirs most people to take a
  stance.
• Writers will use a friendlier, more relaxed tone
  and appeal to the basic needs that all people
  have

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• physical needs--life and health of the body
• psychological needs--a persons inner life, the
  need for love and self-respect
• social needs--the need for freedom, for status
  and power, for acceptance by others

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Three strategies to employ

• connotative diction, imagery, metaphors
• appeals to pity, compassion--the qualities that
  unite all humans
• carefully crafted syntax such as parallelism,
  anaphora, etc. to appeal to the readers sense
  of order and control

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Pathos Question

• How has the writer appealed to audiences
  emotions?

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Ethical Appeals Ethos

• Ethos in Greek loosely translates to character
• possess good character and argue in ways that
  reveal that good character
• audience should see writers as people very much
  like themselves--establish credibility

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Ethos Questions

• How does the writer or speaker present himself as
  reliable, good?
• How does the writer or speaker aim to build
  bridges with the audience or opposition?

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Ethos Strategies

• make qualified claims (exceptions to rules,
  perhaps some many)
• restate opposing view accurately and fairly
• associate self with relevant authorities
  relevant allusions
• use first-person plural pronouns we us to
  establish a relationship

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In Persuasive essay address issue in one of three
ways

• Defend, or agree with a position
• Challenge, or disagree with a position
• Qualify, or make the claim more flexible by
  adding certain terms almost, may, probably, in
  most cases, hardly, sometimes, might, frequently,
  usually, often et. al.

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Rhetorical Devices

• Repetition/Anaphora (deliberate use of any
  element of language more than once)
• Allusion (reference to a mythological, literary,
  or historical person place or thing)
• Parallelism/Antithesis