Persuasion/Argument Presentation

1. Persuasion/Argument Presentation Presenters: Danna Creager, Brett McDaniel, Gabi de Leon, Katherine Bello, Rieka Yu APELAC 3, Period 5

2. Definition of an Argumentative/Persuasive Essay • Argument and persuasion are two different processes: • ARGUMENT: appeals mainly to an audience’s sense of reason in order to negotiate a common understanding or to win agreement with a claim • PERSUASION: appeals mainly to an audience’s feeling and values in order to compel some action, or at least to win support for an action. • Often we will use one term argument to mean a deliberate appeal to an audience’s reason an emotions in order to create compromise, win argument, or compel action. • Making an effective case for an opinion requires upholding certain responsibilities and attending to several established techniques of argumentation

3. Reading an Argumentative/Persuasive Essay • Elements of Argument- • The center of an argument is a debatable claim about the topic that you are arguing • It may also defend or attack a position, suggest a solution to a problem, recommend a change in policy, or possibly challenge a value or belief. • Next, the assertion or claim is broken down into subclaims that are supported by evidence. • Organize your argument into a clear, logical structure that pushes toward the conclusion. • Appeals to Readers- • Ethical: it is the sense a writer conveys of his or her expertise and character, which is exhibited through the use of tone, the use of evidence, and the rationality of the argument. • Emotional: it aims for the readers’ hearts to heighten, inspire, and compel the readers • Rational:addresses the rational sense of the readers and their logical reasoning through subclaims by evidence. • Inductive Reasoning: moves from the particular to the general or from evidence and details to a generalization or conclusion about such evidence. • Deductive Reasoning: moves from the general to the particular; the steps and thought process of deductive reasoning can be written in the form of syllogism. • Syllogism: three step outline • 1. Major Premise- generalization derived from induction • 2. Minor Premise- specific assertion about some element of the major premise • 3. Conclusion- assertion of the logical connection between the premises • Fallacies • Hasty generalization, oversimplification, begging/ignoring the question, ad hominem (“to the man”), either-or, non sequitur, post hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”)

4. Make sure: your thesis is debatable, preciseand clear your argument is unified, everything supports thesis the structureof your argument is clear there is specific and adequate evidence facts and outside informationare well detailed you have not slipped in any fallacies the tone is in moderation and is respectful Revising and Editing an Argumentative/Persuasive Essay

5. Analyzing an Argumentative/Persuasive Essay • “You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” • Major Premise: “we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision”, meaning that lwas should be obeyed • Minor Premise: “there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws,” meaning that some laws are unjust, and shouldn’t be considered as laws • Conclusion: “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws,” meaning that unjust laws should not be obeyed because since they are unjust, they are not considered as laws. Since they are not considered as laws, then they should not be obeyed.

6. Developing an Argumentative/Persuasive Essay • Choose a subject that irks you • Have some knowledge from experience or observation • Be able to write about it thoroughly with given space and time • Have passion for the subject you are writing about, but make sure it can be viewed objectively • Have research to be able to support your position • For a personal argument, use your own thoughts and look for opposing views for evidence along with facts and opinions from other sources • Non personal and controversial arguments NEED evidence from other sources • Generally address a neutral or mildly biased reader • The thesis should be precise and have broad range of facts supporting your argument and the argument of the opposing side • It can be at the beginning or end of the essay, depending on what effect is needed • The intro should show how the argument affects them • The main part should support the main argument with minor arguments with opposition wherever it is appropriate

7. 5 Main Points 1. Anticipate the reader’s gestures, expressions and words when structuring the argument, finding evidence to support the argument, and the way you conceive the argument in a way it affects the reader. 2. The argument must be debatable and must be clearly and logically supported by evidence when broken down 3. An argumentative essay must address the reader through ethos, pathos, and logos in order to successfully persuade him or her to agree with the writer’s position, but make sure not to be careless in making suggestive claims that could go against your position 4. Research, evidence, personal experiences, opinions (both sides), and knowledge of the readers’ needs and expectations is crucial for writing an argumentative essay in order to be able to sway the reader’s opinions 5. Clarify your points by showing each relation of evidence to the minor argument or facts stated in your thesis

8. Homework • Read “Sixteen” and write a practice précis on it • Due: Tuesday November 6

9. Précis on “Sixteen” In “sixteen” (2010), Charlie Spence compares the brain development of youth and adults so that people see “that trying juvenile offenders as adults and sentencing them to life in prison is immoral.” By using scientific studies and his personal experience, Spence shows that a child’s brain is not as mature as an adult, showing that “ ‘through adolescence… impulse control, planning, and critical-thinking skills are not fully developed’ ”, therefore a minor is unable to be fairly tried as an adult for a crime. Spence argues for juveniles to be tried as a minor, no matter what the crime, in order to give them “a better chance at rehabilitation and a second chance in society.” This argument is directed to everybody “a a society” with a sense of pathos by hoping that they are not “so cruel a society and a country that [they] would rather place [their] children in prison…with an immature brain…than try to rehabilitate them”