Arguments: Claims and evidence

Facts, reason, and evidence

Rhetoric and ArgumentO Rhetoric = how something is said

O art of persuasive communicationO Argument = what is said

O claims followed by evidence that lead to a conclusion.

Everything is rhetorical AND

Everything is an argument

Thesis + Support Your thesis (your main point) should be

supported by evidence that is appropriate to your audience. Your point needs the best support possible, otherwise it will topple over.

The basics

Claim + Evidence In an argument, each claim or statement

should be backed up by some sort of evidence. These claims+evidence become part of the more comprehensive support for your argument.

Evidence can be categorized into two types: found evidence and invented evidence.

Found evidence is usually used as a logical appeal, but all types of evidence can be used to appeal to either logos, ethos or pathos.

Means of supportInvented Evidence

(Rational Appeals)

• Anecdote• Analogy/

Comparison• Consequences/

Effects• Contrasts• Categories/

Models

Found Evidence (Hard Evidence)

• Facts • Statistics• Questionnaires/Polls• Testimonies and

Interviews• Experiments• Precedent (formal)• “Textual” Evidence

(text, image, sound)Just remember, in an argument, the writer can use any of these as logical, ethical and/or emotional appeals.

Application The easiest way to think about how to apply this

in your own writing is to consider each paragraph its own claim+evidence delivery device.

Each paragraph should rely on one primary strategy to add support for a thesis by doing the following:1. Connect the claim+evidence to the thesis,

usually through metadiscourse.2. Clearly stating the claim.3. Provide evidence that is appropriate to the

rhetorical situation (writer, purpose, audience).▪ The means of support

What types of evidence do you see?

O Take 5 minutes to read Duncan Geere’s review of Minecraft for Wired UKO http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-1

1/23/minecraft-review

O What types of evidence does Geere use to support his claim that the game is “good”?

(If you want to know a bit more about Minecraft, might I suggest the Kids React To video)

Advanced Argument

Argument via syllogism

O In an argument, you base a claim+evidence on certain premises. O If these

premises are universally true or are comprehensively connected, then it is a syllogism

Everything’s an Argument Enthymeme

O If premises in an argument are only probable, then you have an enthymeme.

O Enthymemes are arguments that blend claims+evidence together based on the following:

O Probability – there is probable but not universal precedence or likelihood that claim and evidence are connected.

O Audience assumptions – the writer assumes the audience will agree with the premise, claim or evidence.

Argument via enthymemes

Corporations

want to make

a profitmore than

theywant to do

good

Corporationswill take what

they wantin order to

make a profit

Corporations are bad

Enthymemes

O Most arguments rely on enthymemes rather than syllogisms because stating/restating every universalism would be boring to read and not really necessary for intended audiences.

O Let’s look at some claims from Duncan Geere’s Minecraft review for Wired UK:

O To read an argument via enthymemes, ask:O Why aren’t the premises revealed?O What is the probability that this is true/known

given the intended audience?O Is it an effective argument?

Enthymemes (Minecraft review)

O “The blocky representations of sheep and pigs are far cuter than a real sheep would be, and the zombies are more scary.”

O “there's a bit too much forced wandering around, hunting for scarce resources, to reach the endgame.”

O “it'd be unfair not to mention Minecraft's incredible piano soundtrack, created by German electronic musician C418. Most of the time, you won't hear it, you'll just hear the game's ambience—moos, lava fizzles and the steady thud-thud-thud of a block being broken. Occasionally, though, just as you're sailing along a broken coast, or climbing a hill at sunset, or returning to the surface after a tough day down your mine, the twinkly piano will kick in and there's no feeling like it.”

Arguments: Warrants and qualifiers

Toulmin and beyond

Claims + evidence A thesis needs support, and this support

comes from claims and evidence. Claims need to be controversial and

debatable for them to be useful in an argument Controversial – there is disagreement (“12

inches makes a foot” is not controversial) Debatable – there can be differing viewpoints

(“I love ice cream!” is not debatable) Claims also need to be explicitly stated for

most audiences.

WarrantsO Claims and evidence have warrants –

the assumptions or basis for your argument. These are usually unstated (Remember the enthymemes?)

O Warrants sometimes need to be stated when certain audiences might be particularly unfamiliar or unreceptive to your claims/evidence.

ExamplesOverweight people should

exercise moreVariations of syllogisms of this enthymeme:O If you are overweight, you will not attract a lover (warrant = want to attract

a lover)

O Exercise will help you lose weight (warrant = unless you have an illness or medical disposition towards weight gain)

O Exercising will help you attract a lover O Overweight people live shorter lives (warrant = you want to live longer)

O Exercise increases the body’s resilience to disease (warrant = unless you have another medical condition that makes you susceptible to disease)

O Exercise counteracts being overweight, thus helping you live longer  O Exercising will help you lose weight (warrant = you want to lose weight)

O Riding a bike is exercise (warrant = you are physically able to ride a bike)

O Riding a bike will help you lose weight

Of noteO Notice that most of the warrants are

things that you might not have thought about unless you had considered the full syllogism of the claims and evidence.

O Also, notice that by uncovering these syllogisms and their associated warrants, you may consider your argument differently.

So now I have to write out syllogisms…

There are two easy strategies to get at your warrants and find some potentially problematic issues with your argument without going to all the work of writing out syllogisms:

1. Contrary Position – consider a contrary position of a claim or evidence

Contrary claim: People should not exercise more (“Since I sell diet pills, exercising effects the number of pills I sell, so don’t exercise more.”)

2. Alternative Assumptions – imagine differing contexts or situations in which the claim or evidence would need to be known.

Alt. assumption: Readers of Runner’s World should not exercise more. (“They are exercising enough as is”)

Alt. assumption: People should exercise more because it is good for the exercise equipment industry. (“external impact from an individual activity”)

QualifiersO We cannot roundup, manage, control, or

otherwise articulate all assumptions and warrants because we would never get to our main point – SO – we have Qualifiers:

Few More or less Often

It is possible In some cases Perhaps

Rarely Many Sometimes

It seems In the main Possibly

Some Routinely For the most part

It may be Most If it were soOne might argue Under these

circumstancesModals (should, would, could, might)

Counterarguments

O To persuade those who haven’t made up their mind (and even those who have), it is important to demonstrate to your audience that you understand and have considered both sides of an issue. For this reason, it is important to introduce the opposition and write about the ways in which its arguments are based on false assumptions, fallacies in logic, or errors in judgment. There are many strategies for writing a counterargument into your work, so picking the right strategy relies on properly reading the rhetorical situation.

Effective argumentsO Claims should be stated clearly and

qualified carefully.O Claims should be supported with

evidence and good reasons.O Claims and reasons should be based

on assumptions readers will likely accept.

O Effective arguments respectfully anticipate objections readers might offer.