Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Argument

But were afraid to ask…

How do we use argument in everyday life?

• Sign in restaurant: “Best Breakfast Anywhere!”• A professor urges her students to spend less

time texting and more time reading books.• A nurse tells a child getting a shot, “This won’t

hurt a bit.”• A sports columnist blasts a coach for a play he

called, even though it produced a touchdown.

Arguments this semester

• Recall some essays we have read that make an argument.

• Which essays that you’ve written this semester are arguments?

Rhetorical TriangleSpeaker/Writer

Audience Subject

Thesis (or claim)

.Usually at the beginning

If you think readers may have difficulty accepting your thesis until they have read some or all of your argument, could save it for the middle or end.

Look at example thesis statements on p. 518

Evidence

• What kinds of evidence could a writer use to support a claim?

Types of Appeals

• Logical (logos)—facts, statistics, expert opinions, examples, etc.

• Emotional (pathos)—appeal to pride, shame, fear, hope, etc.

• Ethical (ethos)—appeal to the authority or good character of the speaker

Types of Reasoning

• Inductive—Classical, from ancient Greece

• Deductive

• Toulmin analysis—a modern, practical, way of reasoning developed by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin

The Toulmin Method

• Claim—what you are proving with the data

• Data—the evidence to prove something

• Warrant—the underlying assumption that connects the data to the claim

Here’s an example…

Harry was born in Bermuda

(Data)

So Harry is a British subject

(Claim)

Since people born in Bermuda are legally British subjects

(Warrant)

Another example

A vegetarian diet leads to healthier and longer life.

(Claim)

The authors of How to Eat Vegetarian say so.

(Data)

Those authors are a reliable source of information about diet.

(Warrant)

What’s the warrant?

• Congress should ban animal testing for cosmetics (claim) because animals are tortured and this testing provides no necessary benefits for humans (data).

• Why do the data prove the claim? That’s the warrant.

What’s the warrant?

• Claim: Drug abuse is a serious problem in America, so the U.S. must help to destroy drug production in Latin America.

• Data: facts and figures about drug abuse in the U.S. and production in Latin America

• Warrant: ?

Warrant

• As long as drugs are manufactured in Latin America, they will be smuggled into the United States, and drug abuse will continue.

• Left unstated, this warrant could damage the writer’s argument.

• If the writer states the warrant, the reader knows what assumptions are being made.

Find the claim and warrant

• Solar power can supply 20 percent of the energy needs now satisfied by fossil and nuclear power.

• Whale hunting should be banned by international law.

• Both creation and evolution should be taught in public schools.

• Curfews for teens will reduce the abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Types of claims

• Claims of fact—something existed, exists, or will exist, based on verifiable data

• Claims of value—some things are more or less desirable than others

• Claims of policy—specific solutions should be instituted to solve problems—should, must, or ought usually appear in the statements

Classical reasoning

• Inductive– Going from the specific to the general, based

on observations– I threw the ball in the air several times, and

each time it fell to the ground. So next time I throw it, it will fall to the ground again.

– Jason had a motive, cell phone records place him at the scene, and he owned a gun like the murder weapon. Therefore, Jason is the murderer.

Inductive reasoning

• Moves from specific to general, from example to rule

• Ex.: I interview lots of people over the age of 80, asking them about their computer usage and skill level.

• After interviewing 100 people, I conclude that people over 80 are not skilled at using computers and don’t use them much.

Deductive reasoning

• Goes from general to specific.

• Based on a syllogism, a three-step form of reasoning practiced by Aristotle

• Ex.: All men are mortal. – Socrates is a man.– Therefore, Socrates is mortal

•

Examples from school

• Think of a geometry example

• Think of a science example

Problems

• What must be true in order for a conclusion to be valid?