Week 14RDG 081

Quote

6 Minute Fluency

Chapter 9 & 10Argument:

Point

Relevant

Adequate

Critical Reading:

Fact

Opinion

Informed Opinion

Propaganda

• Bandwagon, testimonial, transfer, plain folks, name calling, glittering generalities.

Errors in reasoning (fallacies)

• Circular reasoning, personal attack, straw man, false cause, false comparison, either or

Chapter Nine: Argument

In a good argument (such as the one that appears to be going on in the above cartoon), the other person listens carefully as we state our case, waiting to see if we really have solid evidence to support our point of view.

© The New Yorker Collectiion 1986 Bernard Schoenbaum from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.

Point: What the Author is trying to say.

Support: How the author proves his/her point

Good Argument: Provides a persuasive and logical evidence to back it up.

Relevant: It really applies to the point.Irrelevant: Information that applies to

the topic but not to the point. Adequate: Enough amount of support

to make the relevant statement reliable to be proved.

The Basics of Argument: Point and Support

A good argument is one in which you make a point and then provide persuasive and logical evidence to back it up.

Point: The Beef and Burger Shop is a poor fast-food restaurant.

By itself, this point would not be convincing. But suppose the point is followed by these three reasons:

1. The burgers are full of gristle.

2. The roast beef sandwiches have a chemical taste.

3. The fries are lukewarm and soggy.

Clearly, the details provide solid support for the point. We’re convinced that it would not be a good idea to have lunch at the Beef and Burger Shop.

In the pair of statements below, one statement is the point, and the other is support for that point. Which is which?

A. You have constant headaches and blurred vision.

B. You should see a doctor.

Hint: If it sounds right to insert the word because in front of a sentence, you probably have a statement of support.

For example, we could say, “Because the burgers are full of gristle, because the roast beef sandwiches have a chemical taste, and because the fries are lukewarm and soggy, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Beef and Burger Shop is a poor fast-food restaurant.”

A. Support: You have constant headaches and blurred vision.

B. Point: You should see a doctor.

The point is that you should see a doctor.

You should do this because you have constant headaches and blurred vision.

In the three statements below, one statement is the point, and the other two are support for that point. Which is which?

A. A television is always blaring in one corner of the lounge.

B. The student lounge is not a place for quiet study.

C. There are always people there talking loudly to each other.

Hint: If it sounds right to insert the word because in front of a sentence, you probably have a statement of support.

For example, we could say, “Because the burgers are full of gristle, because the roast beef sandwiches have a chemical taste, and because the fries are lukewarm and soggy, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Beef and Burger Shop is a poor fast-food restaurant.”

A. Support: A television is always blaring in one corner of the lounge.

B. Point: The student lounge is not a place for quiet study.

C. Support: There are always people there talking loudly to each other.

Answers A and C give two reasons to support the point, which is that the student lounge is not a place for quiet study.

In the four statements below, one statement is the point, and the other three are support for that point. Which is which?

A. The people upstairs make a lot of noise.

B. We’d better look for another apartment.

C. Roaches seem to be taking over this apartment.

D. The landlord does nothing but promise to fix the leaky faucets.

Hint: If it sounds right to insert the word because in front of a sentence, you probably have a statement of support.

A. Support: The people upstairs make a lot of noise.

B. Point: We’d better look for another apartment.

C. Support: Roaches seem to be taking over this apartment.

D. Support: The landlord does nothing but promise tofix the leaky faucets.

Noise, roaches, and an unresponsive landlord are three reasons that support the point, which is that we’d better look for another apartment.

After you identify the point and support of an argument, you need to do two things:

1. Decide if the support is relevant.Does it really apply to the point?

2. Decide if the support is adequate.Is there enough support to prove the point?

Relevant and Adequate Support

Relevant Support

The point below is followed by six “facts,” only three of which are relevant support for the point. Can you find the three relevant statements of support?

Point: My dog Otis is not very bright.

1. He’s five years old and doesn’t respond to his name yet.

2. He cries when I leave for work every day.

3. He always gets excited when visitors arrive.

4. He often attacks the backyard hedge as if it’s a hostile animal.

5. He gets along very well with my neighbor’s cat.

6. I often have to put food in front of him because he can’t find it by himself.

The three items that support the point that Otis is not very bright are as follows:

1. He’s five years old and doesn’t respond to hisname yet.

4. He often attacks the backyard hedge as if it’s a hostile animal.

6. I often have to put food in front of him because he can’t find it by himself.

Adequate SupportIn the argument below, three supporting items are given, followed by four possible points. The evidence adequately supports only one of the points. Choose the one point you think is adequately supported.

Support

• The first time I went to that beach, I got a bad case of sunburn.

• The second time I went to that beach, I couldn’t go in the water because of the pollution.

• The third time I went to that beach, I stepped on a starfish and had to go to the emergency room to have the spikes removed from my foot.

Which point is adequately supported by the evidence above?

A. That beach is unsafe and should be closed.

B. I’ve had a string of bad experiences at that beach.

C. Beaches are not safe places.

D. We’re never going to get this planet cleaned up.

Which point is adequately supported by the evidence above?

A. That beach is unsafe and should be closed.

B. I’ve had a string of bad experiences at that beach.

C. Beaches are not safe places.

D. We’re never going to get this planet cleaned up.

The correct answer is B.

Answer A is not adequately supported by three isolated instances; we’d need many more reports of dangerous conditions before considering having the beach closed.

Answer C is even more poorly supported. We’d need many, many reports of dangerous conditions at beaches worldwide to come to the conclusion stated in C.

Answer D is supported in part by the reference to pollution in the second statement of support, but the other two statements (aboutsunburn and the starfish) are not examples of pollution.

Argument in Textbook Writing

In most textbook writing, argument takes the form of well-developed ideas or theories (in other words, points) that are supported with experiments, surveys, studies, expert testimony, reasons, examples, or other evidence.

Textbook arguments generally have solid support.

However, recognizing the author’s points and asking yourself whether the support is relevant and adequate will help you be an involved and critical reader.

Chapter ReviewIn this chapter, you learned the following:

• A good argument is made up of a point, or a conclusion, and logical evidence to back it up.

• To critically read an argument, you must recognize the point the author is making.

• To think through an argument, you need to decide if each piece of evidence is relevant.

• To think through an argument, you also need to decide if the author’s support is adequate.

• Textbook arguments generally have solid support, but recognizing the author’s point and looking for for relevant and adequate support will help you become a more involved and critical reader.

The final chapter in Part One—Chapter 10—will explain other aspects of being a critical reader: separating fact from opinion, detecting propaganda, and recognizing errors in reasoning.

Practice: Practice 1: page 365 1-10Practice 2: page 368-369 1-4Review Test: page 379-380 1-5Logical Fallacies: http://

learning.cl3.ust.hk/english-grammar-guide/Style/Logical_fallacies_quiz.htm

Additional links: Quiz 1: http://

wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/33/8660/2217196.cw/index.html

Quiz 2: http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/33/8661/2217224.cw/index.html

Fact and Opinion: http://users.dhp.com/~laflemm/RfT/Quiz2.htm

Unit Test: http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_winkler_paraessay_4/28/7366/1885945.cw/index.html

Argument: http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/

Claim/support: http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1

/

Chapter Ten: Critical Reading

Skilled readers can recognize an author’s point and the support for that point.

Critical readers can evaluate an author’s support for a point and determine whether that support is solid or not.

Reading critically includes these skills:• Separating fact from opinion• Detecting propaganda• Recognizing errors in reasoning

CRITICAL READING: Separating Fact from Opinion

FactA fact is information that can be proved true through objective evidence: physical proof or the spoken or written testimony of witnesses.

Here are some facts—they can be checked for accuracy and thus proved true:

Fact:The Quad Tower is the tallest building in this city.(A researcher could go out and, through inspection, confirm that the building is the tallest.)

Fact:Albert Einstein willed his violin to his grandson. (This statement can be checked in historical publications or with Einstein’s estate.)

Fact: On September 11, 2001, terrorists destroyed the New York World Trade Center, killing thousands.(This event was witnessed in person or on television by millions, and it’s in recordsworldwide.)

OpinionAn opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be objectively proved true. As a result, it is open to question.

Here are some opinions:

Opinion: The Quad Tower is the ugliest building in the city.(There’s no way to prove this statement because two people can look at thesame building and come to different conclusions about its beauty. Ugly is a value word, a word we use to express a value judgment. Value or judgment words are signals that an opinion is being expressed.)

Opinion: Einstein should have willed his violin to a museum.(Who says? Not his grandson. This is an opinion.)

Opinion: The attack on the World Trade Center was the worst act of terrorismin the history of humankind.(Whether something is “worst” is always debatable. Worst is another value word.)

OpinionAn opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be objectively proved true. As a result, it is open to question.

Here are some opinions:

Opinion: The Quad Tower is the ugliest building in the city.(There’s no way to prove this statement because two people can look at thesame building and come to different conclusions about its beauty. Ugly is a value word, a word we use to express a value judgment. Value or judgment words are signals that an opinion is being expressed.)

Opinion: Einstein should have willed his violin to a museum.(Who says? Not his grandson. This is an opinion.)

Opinion: The attack on the World Trade Center was the worst act of terrorismin the history of humankind.(Whether something is “worst” is always debatable. Worst is another value word.)

CRITICAL READING: Detecting Propaganda

Propaganda uses emotional appeals instead of presenting solid evidence to support a point.

Advertisers, salespeople, and politicians often lack adequate factual support for their points, so they appeal to our emotions by using propaganda techniques.

Part of being a critical reader is the ability to recognizeand resist these propaganda techniques.

Six Common Propaganda Techniques

• Bandwagon• Testimonial• Transfer• Plain Folks• Name Calling• Glittering Generalities

1. Bandwagon

The bandwagon technique tells us to buy a product or support a certain issue because “everybody else is doing it.”

• A TV commercial may claim that more and more people arewatching the evening news with a certain anchorperson.

• A cell phone ad may show people in many different kinds of occupations using a certain cell phone.

• A political ad may feature people from all walks of life speaking out in support of a certain candidate.

The ads imply that if you don’t jump on the bandwagon, the parade will pass you by.

2. TestimonialThe testimonial approach tells us to buy a product or support a certain issue because a celebrity is endorsing it.

The idea behind this technique is that the testimony of someone we admire will influence us.

• Famous athletes appear as spokespersons for all sorts of products, from soft drinks to automobiles.

• Movie and TV stars make commercials endorsing products and political issues.

Remember, though, that famous people get paid to endorse products. Also, they are not necessarily experts about the products or issues they promote.

3. TransferIn transfer, the most common type of propaganda technique, products or candidates try to associate themselves with something that people admire or love.

• A political candidate holds a sign saying “Vote for Me”and stands next to a beauty queen wrapped in a U.S.A. banner.

• A beautiful, sexy woman (or an American flag or other patriotic symbol) is used to promote a product, candidate, or cause.

The idea behind this technique is that we will transfer the positive feelings we have for a beautiful, sexy-looking person or our country to the product or candidate.

Over the years, advertisers have found that beauty and sex “sell” and that appeals to patriotism often succeed.

4. Plain FolksIn the plain folks technique, people present themselves as ordinary, average citizens, hoping we will identify with them and like them.

• Political candidates try to show they are just “plain folks” by talking about hard times in their lives. They also pose for photographs while wearing a hard hat or mingling with everyday people.

• The presidents of some companies appear in their own ads, trying to show that their giant corporations are just family businesses run by ordinary folks.

5. Name Calling

Name calling is the use of emotionally loaded language or negative comments to turn people against a rival product, candidate, or movement.

• A political candidate labels an opponent “soft,” “radical,”or “wimpy.”

• In a taste test, consumers describe the other leading brand of spaghetti sauce as “too salty” and “thin and tasteless.”

6. Glittering Generalities

A glittering generality is an important-sounding but unspecific claim about some product, candidate, or cause.

• An ad calls a certain television set “simply the best.”

• A campaign slogan claims that the person running for office is “the right candidate for our city.”

But no specific evidence is offered to support the claim. Words like best and right sound good, but they say nothing definite.

CRITICAL READING:Recognizing Errors in Reasoning

Fallacies are errors in reasoning that take the place of the real support needed in an argument. • A valid point is based on a rock-like foundation of solid support.

• A fallacious point is based on a house of cards that offers no real support at all.

Two common fallacies were discussed in Chapter 9, ”Argument”:

• Changing the subject distracts us from the issue by presenting irrelevant support that actually has nothing to do with the argument.

• Hasty generalization is a fallacy in which a point has inadequatesupport. Drawing a conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence is the same as making a hasty generalization.

Six Other Common Fallacies

Three Fallacies That Ignore the Issue• Circular Reasoning• Personal Attack• Straw Man

Three Fallacies that Oversimplify the Issue• False Cause• False Comparison• Either-Or

Three Fallacies That Ignore the Issue

• Circular reasoning repeats the point instead of giving evidence for it.Mr. Green is a great teacher because he is so wonderful at teaching.

• Personal attack ignores the issue and concentrates instead on the character of the opponent.Senator Brill’s opinions on public housing are worthless. He can’t even manage to hold his own household together—he’s been married and divorced three times.

• Straw man falsely claims that an opponent holds an extreme position and then opposes that position.Ms. Collins opposes capital punishment. But letting murderers out on the street to kill again is a crazy idea. If we did that, no one would be safe.

Three Fallacies That Oversimplifythe Issue

• False cause assumes that because event A came before event B, event A caused event B.The Macklin Company was more prosperous before Ms. Williams became president. Clearly, she is the cause of the decline.

• False comparison assumes that two things being compared are more alike than they really are.It didn’t hurt your grandfather to get to work without a car, and it won’t hurt you either.

• Either-or assumes that there are only two sides to a question.People who oppose unrestricted free speech are really in favor of censorship.

Chapter ReviewIn this chapter, you learned that critical readers evaluate an author’s support for a point and determine whether that support is solid or not. Critical reading includes the following three abilities:

•Separating fact from opinion. A fact is information that can be proved true through objective evidence. An opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be proved objectively true. Much of what we read is a mixture of fact and opinion, and our job as readers is to arrive at at the best possible informed opinion. Textbooks and other effective writing provide informed opinion—opinion based upon factual information.

•Detecting propaganda. Advertisers, salespeople, and politicians often try to promote their points by appealing to our emotions rather than our powers of reason. To do so, they practice six common propaganda techniques: bandwagon, testimonial, transfer, plain folks, name calling, and glittering generalities.

•Recognizing errors in reasoning. Politicians and others are at times guilty of errors in reasoning—fallacies—hat take the place of the real support needed in an argument. Such fallacies include circular reasoning, personal attack, straw man, false cause, false comparison, and either-or.

PracticePractice 1: page 406 1-10Practice 2: page 411 1-10Practice 3: page 417-418 1-10

Additional LinksFallacies:

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/

Propaganda: http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/Fallacies:http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/Propaganda:http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/Biased Argument:

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_mrup_1/

AssignmentChapter 9: Mastery Test: 1 A 1-3 B. All pg. 387-388Mastery Test: 3 Evens pg. 391-392Mastery Test: 6 All pg. 397-398

Chapter 10:Mastery Test: 2 1-20 evens pg. 433-434Mastery Test: 4 1-10 All pg. 437-438Mastery Test: 6 1-10 evens pg. 441-442Additional Reading: The Power Within page

533-546 # 1-20