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Everythings an Argument with Readings remains a labor of h lively introduction to rhetoric drawn directly from our teaching persuasive writing The chapters still practically selves and we take special pleasure in discovering fresh a tive everyday arguments that illuminate the ways we all USE

both verbal and visual-to assert our presence in the world the book continues to strike a chord with many students an who have made Everythings an Argument with Readings a bes field since its debut We offer now a fourth edition thorougl reach even more writers and instructors and to account fm see in the way arguments are framed and circulated thr

world The purposefully controversial title of this text sums up

sumptions we share First language provides the most po of understanding the world and of using that understan shape lives Second arguments seldom if eyer have onI rather they present a dizzying array of perspectives often takes on a subject as there are arguers UnderstandinE then calls for carefully considering a full range of perspe coming to judgment Third and most important alliangu ing the language of sound and images or of symbol systen writing-is in some way argumentative or persuasive poi rection and asking for response From the latest blog entry dential seal from the American flag to the Toyota Prius gr from the latest hip-hop hit to the brand identity of Nike where beckon for response People walk talk and breath very much as they breathe the air everything is a potential

So our purpose in Everythings an Argument with Reading argument as something thats as natural and everyday as sneakers as something we do almost from the moment w fact an infants first cry is as poignant a claim as we can im something thats worthy of careful attention and practice In

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5 READING ARGUMENTS

A nurse assures a youngster eyeing an approaching needle This wont hurt one bit

A sports columnist blasts a football coach for passing on fourth down and two in a close game-even though the play produces a touchdown

Please let me make it through this chern exam a student silently prays

These visual and verbal messages all contain arguments From the clothes you wear to the foods you choose to eat to the groups you decide to join-all of these everyday activities make nuanced sometimes im-plicit arguments about who you are and what you value Thus an argument can be any text-whether written spoken or visual-that expresses a point of view Sometimes arguments can be aggressive com-posed deliberately to change what people believe think or do At other times your goals may be more subtle and your writing may be designed to convince yourself or others that specific facts are reliable or that cer-tain views should be considered or at least tolerated

In fact some theoris ts claim that language is itself inherently persua-sive (even when you say hi hows it going for instance in one sense youre arguing that your hello deserves a response) and hence every text is also an argument designed to influence readers For example a poem that observes what little girls do in church may indirectly critique the role religion plays in womens lives for good or ill

I worry for the girls I once had braids and wore lace that made me suffer I had not yet done the things that would need forgiving

-Kathleen Norris Little Girls in Church

To take another example observations about family life among the poor in India may suddenly illuminate the writers life and the readers experience forcing comparisons that quietly argue for change

C H A PT E R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT

I have learned from Jagat and his family a kind ofcommitment a form of friendship that is not always available in the West where we have become cynical and instrumental in so many of our relationships to others

-Jeremy Seabrook Family Values

Even humor makes an argument when it causes readers to become aware-through bursts of laughter or just a faint smile-of the way things are and how they might be different Take a look for example at an excerpt from the introduction to Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway along with its cover which also makes a humorous argument

To do even a halfway decent book on a subject as complex as the united States government you have to spend a lot of time in Washington DC So the first thing I decided when I was getting ready to write this book was that it would not be even halfway decent

-Dave Barry Dave Barry Hits below the Beltway

Dave Barrys humorous argument begins on his books cover

CHAPTER 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT 7

More obvious as arguments are those that make a claim and present evidence to support it Such writing often moves readers to recognize problems and to consider solutions Suasion of this kind is usually easy to recognize

Discrimination against Hispanics or any other group should be fought and there are laws and a massive apparatus to do so But the way to eliminate such discrimination is not to classify all Hispanics as victims

- Linda Chavez Towards a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation (WJomen unhappy in their marriages often enter full-time employ-ment as an escape But although a womans entrance into the work-place does tend to increase the stability of her marriage it does not increase her happiness

- The Popular Research Institute Penn State University Resistance to science is born of fear Fear in tum is bred by ignorance And it is ignorance that is our deepest malady

- J Michael Bishop Enemies of Promise

Purposes of Argument

If in some ways all language has an argumentative edge that aims to make a point not all language use aims to win out over others In con-trast to the traditional Western concept of argument as being about fighting or combat communication theorists such as Sonja Foss Cindy Griffin and]osina Makau describe an invitational argument the kind that aims not to win over another person or group but to invite others to enter a space of mutual regard and exploration In fact as youll see writers and speakers have as many purposes for arguing as for using language including-in addition to winning-to inform to convince to explore to make decisions even to meditate or pray

Of course many arguments are aimed at winning Such is the tradi-tional purpose of much writing and speaking in the political arena in the business world and in the law courts TWo candidates for office for example try to win out over each other in appealing for votes the ers of one soft drink try to outsell their competitors by appealing to pub-lic tastes and two lawyers try to defeat each other in pleading to ajudge and jury In your college writing you may also be called on to make an argument that appeals to a judge andor jury (your instructor and

6

8 READING ARGUMENTS

classmates) You might for instance argue that peer-to-peer file-sharing is legal because of the established legal precedent of fair use In doing so you may need to defeat your unseen opponents-those who oppose such file-sharing

At this point it may be helpful to acknowledge a common academic distinction between argument and persuasion In this view the point of argument is to discover some version of the truth using evidence and reasons Argument of this sort leads audiences toward conviction an agreement that a claim is true or reasonable or that a course of action is desirable The aim of persuasion is to change a point of view or to move others from conviction to action In other words writers or speakers argue to discover some truth they persuade when they think they al-ready know it

Argument (discover a conviction Persuasion (know a truth) --action

In practice this distinction between argument and persuasion can be hard to sustain Its unnatural for writers or readers to imagine their minds divided between a part that pursues truth and a part that seeks to persuade And yet you may want to reserve the term persuasion for writing thats aggressively designed to change opinions through the use of both reason and other appropriate techniques For writing that sets out to persuade at all costs abandoning reason faimess and truth alto-gether the term propaganda with all its negative connotations seems to fit Some would suggest that advertiSing often works just as welL

But as weve already suggested arguing isnt always about winning or even about changing others views In addition to invitational argu-ment another school of argument-called Rogerian argument after the psychotherapist Carl Rogers-is based on finding common ground and establishing trust among those who disagree about issues and on ap-proaching audiences in nonthreatening ways Writers who follow Rogerian approaches seek to understand the perspectives of those with whom they disagree looking for bothand or winwin solutions (rather than eitheror or winlose ones) whenever possible Much successful argument today follows such principles consciously or not

Some other purposes or goals of argument are worth considering in more detaiL

9C H A PT E R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT

Arguments to Inform

Many arguments from street signs to notices of meetings to newspaper headlines may not seem especially argumenta-tive because their main purpose is just to inform members of an audience about something they didnt know Other in-formative arguments are more obviously intended to persuade For example an essential step in sell-ing anything especially something new is to in-form or remind the cus-tomer that it exists as in advertisements like the one for Star Wars men-tioned at the very be- f h h Avisual argument to inform in Key West Florida gmmng 0 t IS C apter Political campaigns use arguments to inform extensively as welL Think of all the posters youve seen with names and smiling faces of candidates and the offices theyre seeking Rice in 2008 Lujan for Mayor Of course these verbal or visual texts are often aimed at winning out over an unnamed opponent just as many ads are aimed at unnamed competing products But on the surface at least they serve simply to give a candidate name recognition by informing voters that he or she is run- ning for office

Arguments to inform can be also more subtle than ads or signs Consider how Joan Didion uses argument to inform readers about the artist Georgia OKeeffe

This is a woman who in 1939 could advise her admirers that they were missing her point that their appreciation of her famous flowers was merely sentimental When I paint a red hill she observed coolly

10 READING ARGUMENTS

Georgia OKeeffe Rust Red Hills (1930)

in the catalogue for an exhibition that year you say it is too bad that r ilont always paint flowers A flower tOuches almost everyones heart A red hill doesnt touch everyones heart

-Joan Didion Georgia OKeeffe

By giving specific information about OKeeffe and her Own ideas about her art Didion in this passage argues that readers should pay closer at-tention to all the work of this artist

Arguments to Convince

If you were writing a report that attempted to identify the causes of changes in global temperatures you would likely be trying not to

conquer opponents but to satisfy readers that you had thoroughly ex-amined those causes and that they merit serious attention As a form of writing repOJts typically aim to persuade readers rather than win out over Opponents Yet the presence of those who might disagree is always implied and it shapes a writers strategies In the following passage for example Paul Osterman argues to convince readers of the urgency sur-rounding jobs for all citizens

Among employed 19- to 31-year-old high school graduates who did not go to college more than 30 percent had not been in their position for even a year Another 12 percent had only one year of tenure The pattern was much the same for women who had remained in the

C H A PTE R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT 11

President George W Bush was arguing to convince on May1 2003 when he landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln flight deck and announced Mission Accomplished in Iraq Such pictures were later used against Bush however when it became clear that the announcement was at best premature

labor force for the four years prior to the survey These are adults who for a variety of reasons-a lack of skills training or disposition- have not managed to secure adult jobs

-Paul Osterman Getting Started

Osterman uses facts to report a seemingly objective conclusion about the stability of employment among certain groups but hes also arguing against those who find that the current job situation is tolerable and not worthy of concern or action

Arguments to Explore Meghan DawnMany important subjects call for arguments that take the form ofexplo-exploration argurration either on your own or with others If theres an opponent in invites readerssuch a situation at all (often there is not) its likely the status quo ora about Dove $ adscurrent trend that-for one reason or another-is puzzling Exploratory that makes so flliarguments may be deeply personal such as E B Whites often-reprinted uncomfortableessay Once More to the Lake in which the authors return with his

young son to a vacation spot from his own childhood leads him to reflect LINK TO P 618

13 READING ARGUMENTS12

on time memory and mortality Or the exploration may be aimed at ad-dressing serious problems in society James Fallows explores what he sees as Americas coming economic crisis by projecting himself for-ward to the election of 2016-and then looking back to speculate on what might happen between 2005 and 2016 Along the way he considers changes that may occur in education

we could have shored up our universities True the big change came as early as 2002 in the wake of 911 when tighter visa rules cut off the flow of foreign talent that American universities had chan-neled to American ends In the summer of 2007 China applied the name twenty Harvards to its ambition announced in the early 2000s to build major research institutions that would attract in-

temational talent It seemed preposterous (too much political control too great a language barrier) but no one is laughing now The Historic Campus of our best-known university Harvard is still presti-gious worldwide But its role is increasingly that of the theme park like Oxford or Heidelberg while the most ambitious students compete for fellowships at the Har-Bai and Har-Bei campuses in Mumbai and Beijing

-James Fallows Countdown to a Meltdown

Perhaps the essential argument in any such piece is the writerS as-sertion that a problem exists (in this case the damage that tighter visa rules do to American economic competitiveness) and that the writer or reader needs to solve it Some exploratory pieces present and defend so-lutions Paul Goldberger for example takes on the question of how best to rebuild Ground Zero exploring the false starts and what he argues is a massive failure of imagination that led to an unnecessarily elaborate plan for the Freedom Tower a 26 million square foot office building After exploring several possibilities Goldberger concludes that a much smaller (but still very tall) memorial tower would solve the problem of how Jo commemorate the site by integrating the structure fully into housing and extensive cultural space

A great tower by Calatrava or another architect equally adept at turn-ing engineering into poetic form would give New York the defiantly proud icon it has craved since the towers fell And it wouldnt require anybody to live or work a hundred stories above the street Most im-portant it would be a way of transcending the false divide between commemoration and renewal A soaring tower can be made to coexist with apartments and museums The planners at Ground Zero have

A digital rendering of the Freedom Tower designed by architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker

C H A PTE R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT

treated the sacred and the everyday as two distinct spheres The answer isnt to split the site into a memo-rial sector and a business sector but rather to find ways to honor the dead while rejuvenating the city to acknowledge the past while looking toward the future Ground Zero is the first great urban-design challenge of the twenty-first cen-tury and the noblest way to honor what happened here is to rebuild the site with the complexity and vi-tality that characterizes the best of Manhattan -Paul Goldberger Eyes on the Prize

Arguments to Make Decisions

Closely allied to argument that ex-plores is that which aims at making good sound decisions In fact the re-sult of many exploratory arguments may be to argue for a particular deci-sion whether that decision relates to the best computer for you to buy or the right person to choose as your life partner For college stu-dents choosing a major is a momen-tous decision and one way to go about making that decision is to argue your way through several al-ternatives in your own mind as well as with friends colleagues maybe even your parents By the time youve examined the pros and cons of each alternative you should be at least a little closer to a good deci-sion In the following paragraphs college student Jessica Cohen


reasons her way toward another momentous decision asking should she or should she not become an egg donor for a wealthy couple

Early in the spring of last year a classified ad ran for two weeks in the Yale Daily News EGG DONOR NEEDED The couple [Michelle and David) that placed the ad was picky and for that reason was offering $25000 for an egg from the right donor I kept dreaming about all the things I could do with $25000 I had gone into the correspondence (with David and Michelle) on a whim But soon despite Davids casual tone and the optimistic attitude of all the classifieds and information I read I decided that this process was something I didnt want to be part of I understand the desire for a child who will resemble and fit in with the family But once a couple starts choosing a few characteris-tics shooting for perfection is too easy-especially if they can afford it The money might have changed my life for a while but it would have led to the creation of a child encumbered with too many expec-tations

-Jessica Cohen Grade A The Market for a Yale Womans Eggs

m

J told my parents that ifgrades were so important they should have paid

for a smarter egg donor

C HAP T E R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT 15 I

Arguments to Meditate or Pray

Sometimes arguments can take the form of intense meditations on a theme or of prayer In such cases the writer or speaker is most often hoping to transform something in him- or herself or to reach a state of eqUilibrium or peace of mind If you know a familiar prayer or mantra think for a moment of what it argues for and how it uses quiet medita-tion to accomplish that goaL Such meditations dont have to be formal prayers however Look for example at an excerpt from Michael Lassells poem How to Watch Your Brother Die This poem which evokes the confusing emotions of a man during the death of his gay brother uses a kind of meditative language that allows the reader to reach an under-standing of the speaker and to evoke meditative thought in others

Feel how it feels to hold a man in your arms whose arms are used to holding men Offer God anything to bring your brother back Know you have nothing God could possibly want Curse God but do not abandon Him

-Michael Lassell How to Watch Your Brother Die

Another sort of meditative argument can be found in the stained-glass windows of churches and other public buildings Dazzled by a spectacle of light people pause to consider a windows message longer than they might were the same idea conveyed on paper The window en-gages viewers with a power not unlike that of poetry (see p 16)

As these examples suggest the effectiveness of argument depends not only on the purposes of the writer but also on the context surround-ing the plea and the people it seeks most directly to reach Though well examine arguments of all types in this book well focus chiefly on the kinds made in professional and academic situations

Occasions for Argument

Another way of thinking about arguments is to consider the public occa-sions that call for them In an ancient textbook of rhetoric or the art of persuasion the philosopher Aristotle provides an elegant scheme for classifying the purposes of arguments one based on issues of time-past future and present His formula is easy to remember and helpful


Rose and lancet windows in Frances Chartres Cathedral

in suggesting strategies for making convincing cases But because all classifications overlap with others to a certain extent dont be surprised to encounter many arguments that span more than one category-ar-guments about the past with implications for the future arguments about the future with bearings on the present and so on

-lt

Arguments about the Past

Debates about what has happened in the past are called forensic argu-ments such controversies are common in business government and academia For example in many criminal and civil cases lawyers inter-rogate witnesses to establish exactly what happened at an earlier time Did the defendant sexually harass her employee Did the company deliberately


ignore evidence that its product was deficient Was the contract properly en-forced The contentious nature of some forensic arguments is evident in this excerpt from a letter to the editor ofThe Atlantic Monthly

Robert Bryces article on the US militarys gas consumption in Iraq (Gas Pains May Atlantic) is factually inaccurate tactically misguided and a classic case of a red herring

-Captain David 1 Morris

In replying to this letter the author of the article Robert Bryce disputes Morriss statements introducing more evidence in support of his origi-nal claim Obviously then forensic arguments rely on evidence and tes-timony to re-create what can be known about events that have already occurred

Forensic arguments also rely heavily on precedents-actions or deci-sions in the past that influence policies or decisions in the present-and on analyses of cause and effect Consider the ongoing controversy over Christopher Columbus Are his expeditions to the Americas events worth celebrating or are they unhappy chapters in human history-or a mixture of both No simple exchange of evidence will suffice to still this debate the effects of Columbuss actions beginning in 1492 maybe stud-ied and debated for the next five hundred years As you might suspect from this example arguments abouthistory are typically forensic

Forensic cases may also be arguments about character such as when some(mes reputation is studied in a historical context to enrich current perspectives on the person Allusions to the past can make present arguments more vivid as in the following text about Ward Connerly head of an organization that aims to dismantle affirmative action programs

Despite the fact that Connerlys message seems clearly opposed to the Civil Rights Movement some people are fond of pointing out that the man is black But as far as politics goes that is irrelevant Before black suffrage there were African Americans who publicly argued against their own right to vote

-Carl Villarreal Connerly Is an Enemy of Civil Rights

Such writing can be exploratory and open-ended the point of argument being to enhance and sharpen knowledge not just to generate heat or score points


Theodor de Brys 1594 engraving tells one version of the Christopher Columbus story

Arguments about the Future

Debates about what will or should happen in the future are called delib-erative arguments Legislatures congresses and parliaments are called deliberative bodies because they establish policies for the future Should two people of the same sex be allowed to marry Should the United States build a defense againsrbflilistic missiles Because what has happened in the past influences the future deliberative judgments often rely on prior forensic arguments Thus deliberative arguments often draw on evidence and testimony as in this passage

The labor market is sending a clear signal While the American way of moving youngsters from high school to the labor market may be im-perfect the chief problem is that for many even getting a job no longer guarantees a decent standard of living More than ever getting ahead or even keeping up means staying in school longer


C H A PT E R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT 19

But since no one has a blueprint for whats to come deliberative ar-guments also advance by means of projections extrapolations and rea-soned guesses-If X is true Y may be true if X happens so may Y if X continues then Y may occur

In 2000 according to a World Health Organization assessment 11 bil-lion people worldwide had no regular access to safe drinking water and 24 billion had no regular access to sanitation systems Lack of access to clean water leads to four billion cases of diarrhea each year Peter Gleick an expert on global freshwater resources reveals that even if we reach the United Nations stated goal of the num-ber of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 as many as 76 million people will die from water-borne diseases before 2020

-Pacific Institute for Studies in Development Environment and security

Arguments about the Present

Arguments about the present are often arguments about contemporary values-the ethical premises and assumptions that are widely held (or contested) within a society Sometimes called epideictic arguments or ceremonial arguments because they tend to be heard at public occa-sions they include inaugural addresses sermons eulogies graduation speeches and civic remarks of all kinds Ceremonial arguments can be passionate and eloquent rich in anecdotes and examples Martin Luther King Jr was a master of ceremonial discourse and he was particularly adept at finding affirmation in the depths of despair

Three nights later our home was bombed Strangely enough I ac-cepted the word of the bombing calmly My experience with God had given me a new strength and trust I know now that God is able to give us the interior resources to face the storms and problems of life

- Martin Luther King Jr Our God Is Able

King argues here that the arbiter of good and evil in society is ulti-mately God But not all ceremonial arguments reach quite so far

More typical are values arguments that explore contemporary cul-ture praising whats admirable and blaming whats not In the following argument student Latisha Chisholm looks at rap after Thpac Snakur-and doesnt like what she sees

When I think about how rap music has changed I generally associate the demise of my appreciation for the industry with the death of

20 ) READING ARGUMENTS

Tupac With his death not only did one of the most intriguing rap ri-valries of all time die but the motivation for rapping seems to have changed Where money had always been a plus now it is obviously more important than wanting to express the hardships of Black com-munities With current rappers the positive power that came from the desire to represent Black people is lost One of the biggest rappers now got his big break while talking about sneakers Others announce re-tirement without really having done much for the soul or for Black peoples morale I equate new rappers to NFL players that dont love the game anymore Theyre only in it for the money It looks like the voice of a people has lost its heart

-Latisha Chisholm Has Rap Lost Its Soul

As in many ceremonial arguments Chisholm here reinforces common values such as representing ones community honorably and fairly

Kinds of Argument

Yet another way of categorizing arguments is to consider their status or stasis-that is the kinds of issues they address This categorization sys-tem is called stasis theory In ancient Greek and Roman civilizations rhetoricians defined a series of questions by which to examine legal cases The questions would be posed in sequence because each de-pended on the question(s) preceding it Together the questions helped determine the point of contention in an argument the place where dis-putants could focus their energy and hence what kind of an argument they should make A modern version of those questions might look like the following

l Did something happen What is its nature

What is its quality What actions should be taken

Heres how the questions might be used to explore a crime

DID SOMETHING HAPPEN

Yes A young man kissed a young woman against her will The act was witnessed by a teacher and friends and acquaintances of both parties The facts suggest dearly that something happened If you were going


CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT

Considering Whats Normal If you want to communicate effectively with people across cultures then you need to try to learn something about the norms in those cul-tures- and to be aware of the norms guiding your own behavior

bull Be aware of the assumptions that guide your own customary ways of arguing a point Remember that roost of us tend to see our own way as the normal or right way to do things Such assumptions guide your thinking and your judgments about what counts-arid what works - in an argument Nevertheless just because it seems normal to take a very aggressive stance in an argument dont for-get that others may find that aggression startling or even alarming

bull Keep in mind that if your own ways seem inherently right then even without thinking about it you may assume that other ways are somehow less than right Its righe to drive on the right side of the road in the United States but on the left in England and Australia arguing that one way is the only really right way would not get you very far Such thinking makes it hard to communicate effectively across cultures

bull Remember that ways of arguing are influenced by cultural contexts and that they differ widely across cultures Pay attention to the ways people from cultures other than your own argue and be flex-ible and open to the many ways of thinking youll no doubt en-counter

bull Respect the differences among individuals within a given culture dont expect that every member of a community behaves-or ar-gues-in just the Same way

The best advice then might be dont assume Just because you think wearing a navy blazer and a knee-length skirt argues that you should be taken seriously as a job candidate at a multinational corporation such dress may be perceived different1y in other settings And if youre conducting an interview where a candidate doesnt look you in the eye dont assume that this reflects any lack of confidence or respect he or she may intend it as a sign of politeness

READING ARGUMENTS 22

Sexual harassment

to write an argument about this event this first stasis question proves not very helpful since theres no debate about whether the act oc-curred If the event were debatable however you could develop an ar-gument of fact

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE THING

The act might be construed as sexual harassment defined as the imposition of unwanted or unsolicited sexual attention or activity on

1 a personbull1)le young man kissed the young woman on the lips Kissing n people who arent relatives on the lips is generally considered a sex-

ual activity The young woman did not want to be kissed and com-plained to her teacher The young mans act meets the definition of sexual harassment Careful analysis of this stasis question could lead to an argument of definition

11

WHAT IS THE QUALITY OF THE THING

Both the young man and young woman involved in the action are six years old They were playing in a schoolyard The boy didnt realize that kissing girls against their will was a violation of school policy


school sexual harassment policies had not in the past been enforced against first-graders Most people dont regard six-year-olds as sexu-aUy culpable Moreover the girl wants to play with the boy again and apparently doesnt resent his action Were you to decide on this focus you would be developing an argument of evaluation

WHAT ACTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN

The case has raised a ruckus among parents the general public and some feminists and anti-feminists The consensus seems to be that the school overreacted in seeking to brand the boy as a sexual harasser Yet it is important that the issue of sexual harassment not be dismissed as trivial Consequently the boy should be warned not to kiss girls against their will The teachers should be warned not to make federal cases out of schoolyard spats With this stasis question as your focus you would be developing a proposal argument

As you can see each of the stasis questions explores different as-pects of a and uses different evidence or techniques to reach conclusions You can use stasis theory to explore the aspects of any topic youre considering In addition studying the results of your ex-ploration of the stasis questions can help you determine the major point you want to make and thus identify the type of argument that will be most effective

Arguments of Fact-Did Something Happen

An argument of fact usually involves a statement that can be proved or disproved with specific evidence or testimony Although relatively simple to define such arguments are often quite subtle involving layers of complexity not apparent when the question is initially posed

For example the question of pollution of the oceans-Is it really oc-curring -would seem relatively easy to settle Either scientific data prove that the oceans are being polluted as a result of human activity or they dont But to settle the matter writers and readers would first have to agree on a number of points each of which would have to be exam-ined and debated What constitutes pollution How will such pollution be measured Over what period of time Are any current deviations i1 water qual-

unprecedented How can one be certain that deviations are attributable to human action Nevertheless questions of this sort can be disputed primarily on the facts complicated and contentious as they may be But should you choose to develop an argument of fact be aware of how

24 25 READING ARGUMENTS

difficult it can sometimes be to establish facts (For more on arguments based on facts see Chapter 4)

Arguments of Definition-What Is the Nature of the Thing

Just as contentious as arguments based on facts are questions of defini-tion An argument of definition often involves determining whether one known object or action belongs in a second-and more highly con-tested-category One of the most hotly debated issues in American life today involves a question of definition Is a human fetus a human being If one argues that it is then a second issue of definition arises Is abortion murder As you can see issues of definition can have mighty conse-quences-and decades of debate may leave the matter unresolved

Writer Christopher Hitchens defines a word familiar to almost every-one-then gives it a twist

On its own the word cowboy is not particularly opprobrious It means a ranch hand or cattle driver almost by definition a mounted gtne herding the steers in the general direction of Cheyenne and thus providing protein on the hoof The job calls for toughness that has little appeal to the sentimental A typical cowboy would be laconic patient somewhat fatalistic and prone to spend his wages on brawl-ing and loose gallantry His first duty is to cattle and he has to have an eye for weather Unpolished but in his way invaluable A rough job but someones got to do it And so forth

(But today] the word cowboy has a special relationship with the state of Texas its lone star logo and the name of its Dallas football team President Bush has played to this strength if it is a strength at least three times

Boiled down the use of the word cowboy expresses a fixed atti-tude and an expectation on the part of non-Texans about people from Texas Its a competition between a cliched mentality and a cliche itself How well-apart from some with us or with the terror-ists rhetoric-does the president fit the stereotype

-Christopher Hitchens Cowboy Bob Costas eulogizing Mickey Mantle a great baseball player who

had many universally human faults advances his assessment by means of an important definitional distinction

In the last year Mickey Mantle always so hard upon himself finally came to accept and appreciate the distinction between a role model and a heromiddotThe first he often was not the second he always will be

-Bob Costas Eulogy for Mickey Mantle


But arguments of definition can be less weighty than these though still hotly contested Is video game playing a sport Is Lil Kim an artist Is the Subaru Outback an SUV To argue such cases one would first have to put forth definitions and then those definitions would have to become the foci of debates themselves (For more about argu-ments of definition see Chap-ter 8)

Arguments of Evaluation-What Is the Quality of the Thing

Arguments of definition lead natu-rally into arguments of quality-that is to questions about quality Most auto enthusiasts for ex-ample wouldnt be content merely to inquire whether the Corvette is a sports car Theyd prefer to argue whether its a good sports car or a An artist-or not Lil Kim arriving at better sports car than say the the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards Viper Or they might want to assert that its the best sports car in the world perhaps qualifying their claim with the caveat for the price

Arguments of evaluation are so common that writers sometimes take them for granted ignoring their complexity and importance in es-tablishing peoples values and priorities For instance the stasis ques-tion What is the quality of the thing is at the heart of attempts to understand the nuclear capability of North Korea Strategists working to develop us policy toward North Korea need to use this stasis ques-tion to develop a compelling argument of evaluation

Consider how Rosa Parks assesses Martin Luther King Jr in the fol-lowing passage Though she seems to be defining the concept of Ieader shes actually measuring King against criteria she has set for true leader an important distinction


Dr King was a true leader I never sensed fear in him I just felt he knew what had to be done and took the leading role without regard to consequences I knew he was destined to do great things He had an elegance about him and a speaking style that let you know where you stood and inspired you to do the best you could He truly is a role model for us all The sacrifice of his life should never be forgotten and his dream must live on

-Rosa Parks Role Models

Parkss comments represent a type of informal evaluation thats com-mon in ceremonial arguments because King is so well known she doesnt have to burnish every claim with specific evidence (See p 19 for more on ceremonial arguments) In contrast Molly Ivins in praising Barbara Jordan makes quite explicit the connections between her claim and the evidence

Barbara Jordan whose name was so often preceded by the words the first black woman to that they seemed like a permanent title died Wednesday in Austin A great spirit is gone The first black woman to serve in the Texas Senate the first black woman in Congress (she and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of california were both elected in 1972 but Jordan had no Republican opposition) the first black elected to

Barbara Jordan addressing fellow members of Congress in 1978


Congress from South since Reconstruction the first black woman to sit on major corporate boards and so on Were it not for the disease that slowly crippled her she probably would have been the first black woman on the Supreme Court-it is known that Jimmy Carter had her on his short list

And long before she became the first and only black woman to there was that astounding string of achievements going back to high school valedictorian honors atTexas southern University law degree from Boston University Both her famous diction and her enormous dignity were present from the beginning her high school teachers re-called Her precise enunciation was a legacy from her father a Baptist minister and characteristic of educated blacks of his day Her great baritone voice was so impressive that her colleagues in the Legislature used to joke that if Hollywood ever needed someone to be the voice of the Lord Almighty only Jordan would do

-Molly Ivins Barbara Jordan A Great Spirit

An argument of evaluation advances by presenting criteria and then measuring individual people ideas or things against those standards Both the standards and the measurement can be explored argumenta-tively And thats an important way to think of arguments-as ways to expand whats known not just to settle differences (For more about ar-guments of evaluation see Chapter 9)

Proposal Arguments-What Actions Should Be Taken

In arguments that propose action writers first have to succeed in pre-senting a problem in such a compelling way that readers ask What can we do A proposal argument often begins with the presentation of re-search to document existing conditions Thus if youre developing an ar-gument about rising tuition costs at your college you could use all of the stasis questions to explore the issue and to establish that costs are in-deed rising But the last question-What actions should be taken-will probably be the most important since it will lead you to develop con-crete proposals to address the rise in fees Knowing and explaining the status quo enable writers to explore appropriate and viable alternatives and then to recommend one preferable course of action In examining a nationwide move to eliminate remedial education in four-year colleges John Cloud considers one possible proposal to avoid such action

Students age 22 and over account for 43 of those in remedial class-rooms according to the National Center for Developmental Education


( But) 55 of those needing remediation must take just one course Is it too much to ask them to pay extra for that class or take it at a community college

-John Cloud Whos Ready for College

Where a need is already obvious writers may spend most of their en-ergies describing and defending the solution US senators Barack Obama and Richard Lugar for example assume that one great threat to national security comes from the next flu pandemic Here they detail the steps necessary to solve this problem

We recommend that this administration work with Congress public health officials the pharmaceutical industry foreign governments and international organizations to create a permanent framework for curtailing the spread of future infectious diseases Among the parts of that framework could be these Increasing international disease sur-veillance response capacity and public education especially in South-east Asia Stockpiling enough antiviral doses to cover high-risk populations and essential workers Ensuring that here at home Health and Human Services and state governments put in place plans that address issues of surveillance medical care drug and vaccine distribution communication protection of the work force and main-

Veterinarian holding chicken to be tested for avian flu

CHAPTER 1 EVERYTHING ISAN ARGUMENT 29

tenance of core public functions in case of a pandemic Accelerating research into avian flu vaccines and antiviral drugs Establishing in-centives to encourage nations to report flu outbreaks quickly and fully So far [avian flu] has not been found in the United States But in an age when you can board planes in Bangkok or Hong Kong and arrive in Chicago Indianapolis or New York in hours we must face the real-ity that these exotic killer diseases are not isolated health problems half a world away but direct and immediate threats to security and prosperity here at home

-Barack Obama and Richard Lugar Grounding a Pandemic

Americans in particular tend to see the world in terms of problems and solutions indeed many expect that almost any difficulty can be overcome by the proper infusion of technology and money So proposal arguments seem especially appealing to Americans even though quick-fix attitudes may themselves constitute a problem (For more about pro-posal arguments see Chapter

STASIS QUESTIONS AT WORK

Suppose you have an opportunity to speak at a student conference on the issue of global warming The Campus Young Republicans are spon-soring the conference but theyve made a point of inviting students with varying perspectives to speak You are concerned about global warming and are tentatively in favor of strengthening industrial pollu-tion standards aimed at reducing global warming trends You decide that youd like to learn a lot more by investigating the issue more fully and preparing to speak on it You use the stasis questions to get started

bull Did something happen Does global warming exist Many in the oil and gas industry and some scientists whove studied the issue in-sist that global warming isnt a worldwide phenomenon or that it essentially doesnt exist or that the evidence is still inconclusive The Bush administration which had previously expressed skepti-cism appeared to accept the phenomenon as real in 2005 though it still refused to sign an international agreement aimed at reducing global warming Most scientists whove studied the issue and most other governments on the other hand argue that the phenomenon

(continued)


(continued)

A glacier in Central Asia turning into a lake Are human causes responsible

does indeed exist and that it has reached very serious proportions In coming to your own conclusion about global warming youll weigh the factual evidence very carefully making sure that you can support your answer to the question Does it exist and that you can point out problems associated with opposing arguments

bull What is the nature of the thing Looking for definitions of global reveals great disagreement To the extent that the

Bush administration and the oil and gas industry acknowledge the phenomenon as real they tend to define it as largely a matter of naturally occurring events (periodic long-term fluctuations in cli-mate) while most scientists and other governments base their def-inition mostly on human causes (emissions of carbon dioxide and methane) Thus you begin to consider questions of cause and effect and competing definitions very carefully How do the definitions these groups choose to use foster the goals of each group Whats at stake

CHAPTER 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT ( 31

(continued) Washington DC turning into a Jake Even in proposal arguments humor can help

Gentlemen its time we gave some serious thought to the effiets ofglobal warming raquo

for the administration and the industry in promoting their definition of global warming Whats at stake for the scientists and governments who put forth the opposing definition Exploring this stasis question will help you understand how the context of an argument shapes the claims that the argument makes

bull What is the quality of the thing This question will lead you to ex-amine claims that global warming is-or is not-harming our en-vironment Again you quickly find that these charges are hotly contested as the energy industry and the Bush administration largely dismiss the claims by most scientists and governments that the phenomenon is causing great environmental harm Exploring these arguments will allow you to ask who or what entities are pro-viding evidence in support of their claim and who stands to gain in this analysis Where does evidence for the dangers of global

(continued)


(continued) come from Who stands to gain if the dangers are accepted as real and present and who stands to gain if they arent

bull What actions should be taken In this case as well you find wide disagreement Ifglobal warming is a naturally occurring phenome-non or may not be causing serious harm then its at least arguable that nothing needs to be done that the problem will correct itself in time Or perhaps those in the administration who have made these arguments ought to sponsor a new study of global warming in an effort to prove once and for all that their understanding of global warming and its effects is the correct one If on the other hand global warming is caused mainly by human activity and poses a clear threat to the quality of the environment then the administra-tion is bound to recommend implementing appropriate and effec-tive responses to such danger (although not everyone agrees on precisely what such responses should be) You quickly discover that the definitions and assessment of harm being used directly shape the actions (or lack of action) that each side recommends As you in-vestigate the proposals being made and the reasons that underlie them you come closer and closer to developing your own argument

Using the stasis questions as a way to get into the topic of global warming adds up to a crash course on the subject As you sort through the claims and counterclaims associated with each of the questions you move toward identifying your own stance on global warming-and to-ward the claim you want to make about it for the student conference You come to the conclusion that global warming does exist and that it does present a serious danger Yet given the audience for the conference you know that you still have quite a bit of work to do Since many con-ference attendees will not agree with your conclusion you begin to gather the most fair and evenhanded research available to make your case and you begin working to establish your own credibility and to con-sider how best you can present your case to your specific audience

Audiences for Arguments

No argument of course even one that engages stasis questions thor-oughly can be effective unless it speaks compellingly to others Audiences for argument exist across a range of possibilities-from the


flesh-and-blood person sitting right across the table from you to the virtual participants in an online conversation to the imagined ideal readers a written text invites

The figure below may help you think about your own wide range of possible readers or audiences

Readers and writers in context

Writer Text bull -Readers

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intendedideal readers invoked readers real readers c

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As a writer youll almost always be addressing an intended reader one who exists in your own mind As we write this textbook were cer-tainly thinking of those who will read it you are our intended reader and ideally you know something about and are interested in the subject of this book Though we dont know you personally a version of you ex-ists very much in us as writers for we are intending to write for you In the same way the editors of student-produced Soul Sistah call out the audience they hope to address

Soul Sistah is a seasonal magazine dedicated to creatively exploring spirituality as it connects to black identity womanhood music cul-ture and sexuality Aiming to reach a multicultural readership and writership Soul Sistah is addressed to everyone interested in under-standing black womens experience as well as those seeking to ex-plore their own spirituality By giving people a forum to express themselves honestly Soul Sistah creates intimacy among readers writers and editors

-Editors of Soul Sistah

This passage reflects the editors intention of talking to a certain group of people But if texts-including visual texts-have intended readers (those the writer consciously intends to address) they also have invoked


alone at the family reUnIOn WHEN SEING

BLACK MALE amp GAY DOESNT

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Soul Sistah a campus magazine

readers (those who can be seen represented in the text) Later in this chapter for example you (our audience) are invoked as one who rec-ognizes the importance of respecting readers For another example look at the first paragraph of this chapter it invokes readers who are interested in the goals of argument whether those goals are overt or

CHAPTER EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT 35

subtle And the editors of Soul Sistah also invoke particular readers-those interested in honest self-expression and spirituality

Note that in spite 9f invoking a particular audience the editors dont use the pronouns we or us but instead rely on everyone Although the use of personal pronouns can often help make readers feel a connection to the writer it can also be dangerous if readers dont fit into the us they can easily feel excluded from a text and thus disaffected from it Such is the risk that writer bell hooks takes in the passage below

The most powerful resource any of us can have as we study and teach in university settings is full understanding and appreciation of the richness beauty and primacy of our familial and community back-grounds

-bell hooks Keeping Close to Home Class and Education

This sentence reflects hookss intention of talking to a certain us-we [who] study and teach in university settings Readers who dont fit into such an us may feel excluded from this group and thus from hookss essay And even those for whom this isnt an issue may feel alienated by hookss celebration of the richness beauty and primacy of our familial and community backgrounds Readers who see their own backgrounds as lacking in richness or beauty-or those who came to college precisely to get away from the primacy of their families or communities-may well not read beyond the our to see how hooks develops this argument

In addition to intended readers and the readers invoked by the text of the argument any argument will have real readers-and these real people may not be the ones intended or even the ones that the text calls forth You may pick up a letter written to someone else for instance and read it even though its not intended for you Even more likely you may read email not sent to you but rather forwarded (sometimes unwittingly) from someone else Or you may read a legal brief prepared for a lawyer and struggle to understand it since youre neither the intended reader nor the knowledgeable legal expert invoked in the text As these ex-amples suggest writers cant always (or even usually) control who the real readers of any argument will be As a writer then you want to think carefully about these real readers and to summon up what you do know about them even if that knowledge is limited

When Julia Carlisle wrote an op-ed article for the New YorlrTimes about being young urban professional and unemployed she intended to address readers who would sympathize with her plight her piece in-vokes such readers through the use of the pronoun we and examples


meant to suggest that she and those like her want very much to work at jobs that arent absurd But Carlisle ran into many readers who felt not only excluded from her text but highly offended by it One reader Florence Hoff made clear in a letter to the editor that she didnt sympa-thize with Carlisle at all In fact she saw Carlisle as self-indulgent as feeling entitled to one kind of job while rejecting others-the jobs that Hoff and others like her are only too glad to hold In this instance Carlisle needed to think not only of her intended readers or of the read-ers her text invited in but also of all the various real readers who were likely to encounter her article in the Times

Considering Contexts No consideration of readers can be complete without setting those read-ers in context In fact reading always takes place in what you might think of as a series of contexts-concentric circles that move outward from the most immediate context (the specific place and time in which the reading occurs) to broader and broader contexts including local and community contexts institutional contexts (such as school church or business) and cultural and linguistic contexts Julia Carlisles article for instance was written at a specific time and place (New York City in 1991) under certain economic conditions (increasing unemployment) and from the point of view of a white college-educated and fairly privi-leged person addressing an audience made up mostly of the same kind of people

37C H A PTE R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT

Thinking carefully about the context of an argument will al- Fighting most always raise questions of value Such is the case with Julia Carlisles letter and the re-sponse it evoked here we can see a clear clash of values with Carlisle implicitly valuing and privileging white-collar jobs while Hoffs response calls Carlisle on her values and sug-gests that Hoff holds a different set of values that gives respect to blue-collar work as well In fact beliefs and values are often implicit rather than spelled out explicitly in arguments But sometimes its important to be very specific Such was the case with Sharon Clahchischilliage a SharonNavajo woman who wanted to

ClahchischlllliirJ6run for Secretary of State in __

New Mexico even though doing Sectetay of State so would require her to resist some of the values of her own culture As a report in the Sharon Clahchischilliages campaign flyer Washington Times explains

By placing her face on billboards around the state and publicizing her justcallmesharoncom Web site she is bucking tribal customs Nava-jos as a rule do not stare people in the eyes nor ask for money or boast about their capabilities

Im going against the norms of my culture she admits just by being a candidate

-Julia Duin Navajo Woman Vies for Political Distinction

As we have seen such broader contexts and the values they entail al-ways affect both you as a writer of arguments and those who will read and respond to your arguments As such they deserve your careful inves-tigation As you compose arguments of your own you need to think care-fully about the contexts that surround your readers-and to put your topic in context as well

38 READING ARGUMENTS C H A PTE R 1 EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT 39

Appealing to Audiences

1Wenty-five hundred years ago Aristotle identified three key ways writ-ers can appeal to their audiences in arguments he labeled these appeals pathos ethos and logos These general appeals are as effective today as they were in Aristotles time though we usually think of them in slightly different tenns bull pathos - emotional appeals or appeals to the heart bull ethos ethical appeals or appeals based on the writers authority

and credibility bull logos logical appeals or appeals to reason

Emotional Appeals

Human beings often respond strongly to emotional appeals that tug at the heartstrings While facts and figures (or logical appeals) may con-vince us that the AIDS epidemic in Africa is real and serious what elicits an outpouring of support is the emotional power of televised images and

A starkly visual emotional appeal a mother holds her ill daughter at a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Sudan where violence and disease are killing tens of thousands

I

newspaper accounts of suffering people Concrete and descriptive lan-guage can paint pictures in readers minds thus building in emotional appeal as in the following example from a student argument about pro-viding better campus access for those using wheelchairs Marie inched her heavy wheelchair up the narrow entrance ramp to the library her anns straining to pull up the last twenty feet her face pinched with the sheer effort of it In addition figurative language-metaphors sim-

analogies and so on-can capture attention and appeal to emo-tions In a scathing review of Star Wars Episode III reviewer Anthony Lane of the New Yorker uses a metaphor to stir an emotion in his read-ers-in this case derision at how bad the movie is We already know the outcome-Anakin will indeed drop the killer-monk Jedi look and be-come Darth Vader the hockey goalkeeper from hell And as weve al-ready noted visuals can make very powerful appeals to emotion (For more about emotional appeals see Chapter 2)

Ethical Appeals

Equally important to an arguments success is the writers ethos or pres-entation of self Audiences respond well to writers or speakers who seem authoritative or trustworthy You can thus make ethical appeals to any audience by demonstrating that youre knowledgeable-you know what youre talking about and can make your case In a researched ar-ticle about the (lost of protection against terrorism for example writer William Finnegan introduces a series of facts to support the argument that New York is having to protect itself with little help from the federal government In fiscal year 2004 Wyoming received $3774 [in Homeland Security funds] per capita and North Dakota $3082 while New York got $541 Another good way to project authority is to mention your qualifi-cations though not in a boastful way My three-month observation of the communications procedures in a highly successful software firm demonstrates that

In addition you can build credibility in various other ways by high-lighting values that you and your audience share by demonstrating that youre fair and evenhanded and by showing that you respect your audi-ence A writer of an argument urging smokers to support a ban on smok-ing in restaurants might begin for example by saying For ten years I was a serious smoker and I know how serious the addiction can be thus demonstrating shared experiences and empathy for the audience One final important aspect of establishing both your authority and your


A homepage that makes an ethical appeal

CHAPTER EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT

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credibility is acknowledging opposing views and if necessary their strengths and the limitations of your own argument This proposal wont solve all the problems with the project but it will at least put it on o -lt N en en ena more solid financial basis en en en

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the homepage of the us Environmental Protection Agency (above) aims to establish its credibility The title emphasizes that this page has the authority of a US government agency behind it Underneath the title of the sponsoring agency are three pictures-of rows of healthy crops a beautiful coastline and a clean-looking city each chosen to illustrate values Americans hold in common The caption echoes the goal of pro-tecting human health and the environment thus making a strong ethi-cal appeal in a very small space (For more about ethical appeals see Chapter 3)

logical Appeals

Appeals to logic are often given most prominence and authority in US culture just the facts maam a famous early television detective used to say Indeed audiences respond well to the use of logic-to facts sta-tistics credible testimony cogent examples even a narrative or story that embodies a good sound reason in support of an argument TraditionalIylogical arguments are identified as using either inductive or deductive reasoning but in practice the two almost always work to-gether Inductive reasoning is the process of drawing a generalization on the basis of a number of specific examples if you become sick on sev-eral occasions after eating shellfish for instance youll likely draw the inductive conclusion that youre allergic to such food Deductive reason-ing on the other hand reaches a conclusion by assuming a general prin-ciple (called the major premise) and then applying that principle to a specific case (called the minor premise) The inductive generalization Shellfish makes me ill for example could serve as the major premise

Grade inflation at Cornell Source Society Gut Check Atlantic Monthly June 2005 p 44

for a deductive chain of reasoning Since all shellfish makes me ill I shouldnt eat the shrimp on this buffet If you can draw sound induc-tive or deductive conclusions and present them clearly in either words or images they can exert strong appeals to your audience The figure above shows a visual that makes a logical appeal about the existence of grade inflation at Cornell University (For more about logical appeals see Chapter 4)

Arguments and Their Rhetorical Situations

In this chapter weve been examining elements of argument one at a time moving from purposes and kinds of arguments to identifying the crux of any argument (its stasis) and to ways to formulate arguments in ways that appeal to audiences This discussion has emphasized the so-cial nature of argument the fact that even if were arguing with our-selves theres some give-and-take involved and that the argument exists in a particular context of some kind that influences how it can be shaped and how others will receive it The rhetorical situation is a short-hand phrase for this entire set of concerns and it can be depicted as a simple triangle (See the figure on p 42)

Its important to think about your rhetorical situation as dynamic since each element of it has the potential to affect all the other ele-ments A change of audience for example can lead you to reconsider all of your appeals If you begin to think in this dynamic way youll be


The rhetorical triangle

TopicMessage (Logical Appeals)

AudienceReaders SpeakerlWriter (Emotional Appeals) (Ethical Appeals)

developing a rhetorical turn of mind youll find yourself viewing any topic from a number of perspectives (what might a different audience think of this) and hence develop greater critical engagement with the issues and ideas most important to you Such a rhetorical frame of mind might even lead you to challenge the title of this textbook Is everything really an argument

RESPOND

1 Can an argument really be any text that expresses a point of view What kinds of arguments-if any-might be made by the following items

the embossed leather cover of a prayer book a Boston Red Sox cap a Livestrong bracelet the label on a best-selling rap CD tlre1lealth warning on a package of cigarettes a belated birthday card the nutrition label on a can of soup the cover of a science fiction novel a colored ribbon pinned to a shirt lapel a Rolex watch

2 Write short paragraphs describing times in the recent past when youve used language to inform to convince to explore to make deci-sions and to meditate or pray Be sure to write at least one paragraph


for each of these purposes Then decide whether each paragraph de-scribes an act of argument persuasion or both and offer some rea-sons in defense of your decisions In class trade paragraphs with a partner and decide whether his or her descriptions accurately fit the categories to which theyve been assigned If they dont then work with your partner to figure out why Is the problem with the descrip-tions The categories Both Neither

3 In a recent newspaper cir periodical find three editorials-one that makes a ceremonial argument one a deliberative argument and one a forensic argument Analyze the arguments by asking these ques-tions Who is arguing What purposes are the writers trying to achieve To whom are they directing their arguments Then consider whether the ar-guments purposes have been achieved in each case If they have offer some reasons for the arguments success

4 What common experiences-if any-do the following objects brand names and symbols evoke and for what audiences in particular

a USDA organic label the Nike swoosh the golden arches the Sean John label as seen on its Web site


a can of Coca-Cola ArampumentSleeping Beautys castle on the Disney logo Oprah Winfrey the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Ground Zero a dollar bill

5 Read the main editorial in your campus newspaper for three or four days Then choose the most interesting one and consider how the editor creates credibility or ethos in the editorial

6 Take a look at the bumper sticker below and then analyze it What is its purpose What kind of argument is it Which of the stasis questions does it most appropriately respond to What appeals does it make to its readers and how

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PR - Mrs. Morse's Classroom...

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Transcript of PR - Mrs. Morse's Classroom...