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Prompt : What do you know about arguments, persuasion, or the world of rhetoric? Regardless of the extent of your knowledge, answer the above questions. Prepare to share with the class. Warm-up: AP Lang. Day 2. Unit One: Rhetorical Strategies and Persuasion.
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Prompt: What do you know about arguments, persuasion, or the world of rhetoric? Regardless of the extent of your knowledge, answer the above questions. Prepare to share with the class. Warm-up: AP Lang Day 2
Unit One: Rhetorical Strategies and Persuasion Ethos, Pathos, Logos; Aristotle’s influence; visual arguments
Argumentation • What is an argument? • An argument is to use evidence and reason to discover some new version of the truth. • An argument can be any text (written, spoken, or visual) that expresses a point of view. • Sometimes these can be blunt and aggressive designed to change beliefs and actions, or they can be more subtle with the purpose to convince yourself and others your view should be considered.
Types of Arguments Arguments that: • Persuade • Convince • Inform • Explore issues/beliefs • Decide positions • Call for meditation/prayer Arguments about: • The Past (forensic) • The Future (deliberative) • The Present (ceremonial) • Fact • Definition • Evaluation/Causality • Proposal
Toulmin’s AnalysisBasic Parts of an Argument 9 out of 10 women feel more confident and look slimmer! Women should buy our slimming jeans! Studies show that teeth are 50% whiter after using our product! You should buy our tooth-whitening product! Claim Data Warrant People want whiter teeth…duh! People want to feel secure and slim.
Further ExamplesIdentify each part and determine the warrants. • You should purchase Under Armour athletic wear because they keep the body cool and insulated when active. • College students should have an iPad because course texts can all be purchased and stored in one, easy to organize place. Also provided is internet access and Microsoft Office programs. • People should conserve energy and recycle to fight global warming.
Questions to Consider What exactly qualifies as data? How do you accurately support a claim? Claim Data Warrant How do you know what a warrant is, especially if it’s not stated?
What is the writer’s message? • What is he/she trying to convey? • Consider the types of arguments. • The claim is, in essence, the thesis of a writer’s body of work. • That thesis then has to be supported if there is to be any form of success. Assessing a Claim Claim
What is the writer’s support? • What reasons are given? • What evidence is presented? • Consider the authenticity of data. • Is it legit, or is it a bunch of bologna? • Examples: statistics, surveys, research, expert testimony, first hand experience, general consensus. • In order for a claim to have weight, the data must be reliable, supportive, and work in favor. Assessing Data Data
What is being assumed here? • What is it about the audience and/or the situation that makes this possible? • The warrant is the link between the claim and the data. • The weakest part of any argument is the weakness of any warrant. • Warrant (or assumptions) make or break an argument. Assessing a Warrant Warrant
Refuting Arguments • A lot of what you see and read today is accepted without question. • TV ads, conversations, teacher lectures, newspaper articles, etc. • Using Toulmin’s model, you can accomplish two things: • Identify the basic elements of an argument being made. • Test and critique your own arguments. • Which will be a huge factor when writing argumentative papers. • There are three more elements to Toulmin’s model to discuss…
Toulmin’s Model Qualifier Rebuttal A statement about how strong the claim is. An exception(s) to a claim. Data Claim Warrant The need (if arisen) to support, or back, a warrant or assumption. Backing
“You should buy our teeth-whitening product because it removes 50% of surface stains after just one use!” • Qualifier: If a company claims that stains on teeth are caused by drinking coffee, a qualified claim may state that “the most significant cause of stained teeth is coffee.” It may not be the only cause, but it helps qualify a statement to be more accurate and therefore helps to appeal to the audience more to accomplish the goal. • Rebuttal: There is almost always an exception. For this, there may be coffee that doesn’t stain teeth. Therefore, the rebuttal (or exception) would be “coffee is the major cause of stained teeth except for those coffee drinkers who drink special non-teeth staining coffee. Other staining from lack of proper brushing, smoking, or bacteria can occur.”
“You should buy our teeth-whitening product because it removes 50% of surface stains after just one use!” • Backing: Sometimes the warrant is unimportant; other times it not broadly understood or accepted. In this case, a speaker/writer may have to defend a warrant. For this example, a company could back the warrant by saying whiter teeth will give you more dates or help you look better in yearbook photos.
Toulmin Argument: Practice • College students should have an iPad because course texts can all be purchased and stored in one, easy to organize place. Also provided is internet access and Microsoft Office programs. • People should conserve energy and recycle to fight global warming. • Develop appropriate qualifiers, rebuttals, and backings for each scenario above. • To effectively accomplish this, you may want/need to develop a more detailed example of the advertisement briefly outlined above. • Develop an argument of your own. Explicitly label the product, intended audience, and write the full advertisement. Then, further develop qualifiers, rebuttals, and backings that you could use to fight off audiences that many not be convinced.
Tonight’s Homework • Watch various television channels and analyze the commercials found in the breaks of each program. • Select one commercial to identify the basic elements of arguments according to Toulmin’s method. • Reflect on your thoughts towards the effectiveness and purpose of the chosen commercial. Develop rebuttals to the claims. • Record, email a link (that can be accessed in class), or bring a print copy or transcript of the commercial to our next class.
End of Class Discussion • What are the various types of arguments? • What are the three parts to an argument? • What are the three sub-components to an argument? • Where is this taking us and how does this apply to written text?
Personal Example: Upon graduating college and getting this job, I moved back in with my mother and step-dad… for six days. An argument developed between in regards to me getting my own place. My claim: I needed my own place. Data: My desire for independence and my financial stability. Warrant: I assumed it would be understood and agreed upon. I was wrong… Prompt: Consider an argument you’ve had with a parent or an authority. Narrate the experience, and then label the parts of the argument, develop qualifiers, rebuttals, and backings. Prepare to share. Warm-up: AP Lang Day 3
Sharing of Homework • Procedure: • Share with the class your chosen commercial. Either show the clip/display or read the transcript to the class. • Identify the parts to the argument according to Toulmin. Consider the types of arguments discussed in our last class. • A few students will be asked to share the advertisement to allow the class to identify the parts of the argument for practice. • Discussion of what we learned about the nature of television arguments. • Today’s work session on how to create an effective argument.
Types of Arguments Arguments that: • Persuade • Convince • Inform • Explore issues/beliefs • Decide positions • Call for meditation/prayer Arguments about: • The Past (forensic) • The Future (deliberative) • The Present (ceremonial) • Fact • Definition • Evaluation/Causality • Proposal
Questions to address: • What is the purpose of the argument? • Who is this argument intended for? • What makes this argument effective?
Origins of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos • About 2,500 years ago, philosopher Aristotle published On Rhetoric as a guide to being a successful speaker and writer. • His ideas of ethos, pathos and logos were so instrumental and successful that they remain our pillars of effective persuasion and argumentation used today. • To make our time in this course successful, we must spend the beginning days focusing on understanding, identifying, enhancing, and then using each of these pillars effectively.
Ethos • Ethos is the rhetorical strategy to assess a speaker or writer’s credibility. Without credibility, there is no merit. • There are many questions to consider to determine your credibility: • Does the audience respect you? • Does the audience believe you are of good character? • Does the audience believe you are generally trustworthy? • Does the audience believe you are an authority on this topic? • Do you know what you’re talking about? • Aristotle claimed “we are more likely to believe people who have good character.”
Do I Have Ethos? Where do I rank in terms of ethos? Why? • Consider the following: • A substitute teacher filling in for me. • A teacher who is appointed to the position of principal. • A principal appointed to school superintendent. • A business CEO… • Who is CEO over a cigarette company? • Who is speaking to middle school students about not smoking? • Ethos depends on several factors and contexts!
Ethos, cont’d • Trustworthiness is a huge factor. Is the speaker/writer honest? Ethical? Moral? Generous? • The audience tends to trust a subject more if that person can identify or belong to a group with which these qualities are often associated. • Examples: Discuss the merit and trustworthiness of the following. • A pastor delivering a sermon versus someone passing out religious flyers. • An article about bravery written by a firefighter versus a pet shop owner.
Ethos, cont’d • Credibility can also occur thanks to similarities shared between the audience and the speaker or writer. • Similarities to consider include: age, gender, race, culture, socio-economic status, citizenship, career, education, and personality. • Examples: Determine the level of ethos of the following. Do you share any similarities with these subjects? • A high school drop out writing about missed opportunities. • A stay at home mother writing about creating a successful at-home business. • A high school drop out writing about why students should go to college. • Are these people credible and trustworthy? Why/not?
Ethos, cont’d • Trustworthiness and credibility are important factors, but two factors not found in Aristotle’s time are authority and expertise. • Authority refers to the relationship between the speaker/writer and the audience. This includes the following: • Organizational authority (business CEO, manager, supervisor) • Political authority (president or political leader) • Religious authority (priest, pastor, nun) • Educational authority (principal, teacher, professor) • Elder authority (anyone who is older than us as an individual) • The greater one’s authority, the higher the likelihood the audience is inclined to read or listen and to be persuaded.
Ethos, cont’d. • Reputation or expertiseis the fourth and final component of ethos as developed by Aristotle. • Expertise is what you (or a speaker/writer) knows about a topic. • Reputation is what the audience knows about a topic. • Reputation is determined by several factors: • Experience in the field outlined in the topic – years of study. • Proximity to the topic – level of involvement, the person responsible, etc. • Production in the field – published, authored, created anything related. • Achievements and recognition – awards won, testimonials earned, records achieved. • Demonstrated skill – if you’re discussing money management, are you in debt?
How do these characteristics combine? • Ethos cannot be assessed with a checkbox (“Yes, you have ethos!” or “No, you don’t. Sorry.”) like you can with other things. • It’s more like beauty in the sense that there’s a whole range of beauty and many ways to obtain it, and it’s in the eye of the beholder (which in this respect is the audience).
Ethos: Practice To practice the necessary skills of identifying and discussing elements of ethos (and pathos and logos to come), consider the following three examples of a speaker and audience. Study each scenario and use your notes to identify the various elements to each relationship that work to help establish proper ethos. • A CEO speaking to her employees. • A U.S. President giving the State of the Union address. • A Teacher speaking to his students.
Ethos: Practice #1: A CEO speaking to her employees. • As the CEO, she has organizational authority as the boss of all bosses in the company, and this is usually accompanied by a reputation built on years of success within the company. She has worked her way from a simple employee over her years devoted to this job. However, she may not be very similar to most of the employees (older than most; richer than most; perhaps more reserved and analytical). Nonetheless, her trustworthiness is solid based on past history of honest communication with employees.
Ethos: Practice #2: The U.S. President giving the State of the Union address. • The President has more authority than most people on the planet based on his job title. His reputation and trustworthiness probably depend a fair bit on your political beliefs. If you are of the same political party, there will be a higher level of trustworthiness compared to the president being of a different affiliation as you identify. As for similarity to his audience, it’s a mixed bag: He’s American, and he’s not too old nor too young. But, he’s a politician and in a socio-economic class which puts him apart from most citizens. The older he is, the more likely he will identify with a higher percentage of older Americans who could cite many parts of his past and reputation that has led him to this political throne. • Consider President Obama and Senator McCain.
Ethos: Practice #3: A Teacher speaking to his students. • He probably has a record of trustworthiness, as long as he truthfully announces when assignments are due, when exams are scheduled, and following through with promises. He has authority over the 16-year-olds, both by way of position and by age. He has taught in the school for many years (expertise), including many of his students’ older siblings or current friends (reputation). If older, he’s not really similar to his students in terms of age, wealth, career, or choice of music; however, current younger teachers are more similar to students, especially if they return to teach in the area in which they grew up in. • Consider teachers that you have each had or currently have.
Ethos: Practice Reflection • Respond to the following questions on your ethos practice sheet: • What did this activity show you about the nature of individuals determining ethos? • Consider your last assignment where you had to select a commercial to analyze the parts of an argument. Determine the level of ethos those responsible for your commercial have.
Tonight’s Homework • Review over the notes you have taken in this course so far. Be sure to look over elements and definitions of argument according to Toulmin and Aristotle. • Expect a quiz next class. • Now is the time to clear up any confusion or questions you have on this.
Quote: “The emotions aren’t always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action.” Warm-up: AP Lang Prompt: Read the following quotation by famous American psychologist William James, and then consider the following questions. • Questions: • What is James’ argument about the nature of emotions? • Identify two situations to which James’ quotation applies that your classmates and I can relate. Day 4
Today’s Lesson • AP Language Quiz #1 • Notes and discussion of pathos and logos. • Activities and exercises to practice ethos, pathos, logos. • Introduction to OPTIC strategy of analyzing visual arguments. • Activity review of Toulmin and Aristotle practices. • Closing and assigning of homework.
AP Lang Quiz #1 • Get out a sheet of paper and label according: AP Lang Quiz #1 (top line by left margin), your name on next line, date (MM/DD/YY format) and class period both on next line (third line). • On this paper, answer the following questions: • What are Toulmin’s six considerations to every argument? • Which are Aristotle’s four components to ethos? • Create a RLE of someone considered to have positive ethos. • Create a RLE of someone who could have negative ethos. • When finished, turn your paper over and remain quiet until instructed to move on to the next step. You may get out extra paper to prepare taking today’s notes on pathos and logos.
What is Pathos? • Pathos is the quality of persuasion which appeals to the emotions of the audience; derived from Ancient Greek words for ‘suffering’ and ‘experience.’ • Common words from the same root used frequently today: • Pathology: describing the source of a patient’s disease or suffering. • Empathy: the ability to share the emotions of another person. • Sympathy: similar ability to share emotions, usually negative ones such as pain or sadness. • Antipathy: equates with strong, negative emotions toward another. • Pathetic: something likely to arouse compassion or contempt. • Question: What do each of these words have in common aside from simple emotion? Each focus on the concept of sharing.
Pathos • Using pathos connects to audiences by allowing them to “feel their pain” to build a bridge of trustworthiness. • Using pathos ties readers into the topic so that they can identify with the shared experience, thus forming a connection that allows for persuasion, argument, or other action. • Also, using emotional appeals helps make logical claims stronger or more memorable. • Photos and advertisements achieve this almost seamlessly and effortlessly.
Pathos, cont’d. • However, pathos without a rooted foundation is disaster. Making an audience angry is useless; instead, make them angry and direct that anger to the topic of your writing. • Just as having high ethos can make an audience more likely to be persuaded, the same regard can be applied to pathos. • With the proper use of pathos, audiences will: • Be more likely to understand a perspective (via the shared emotion or experience). • Be more likely accept claims being made. • Be more likely to act on a call-to-action being made.
Pathos in Use • Knowing what emotion is and how to identify it is relatively simple. Knowing when and how to use it effectively is key. #1 – Word Choice • Some words are emotionally neutral while others are emotionally charged. • When analyzing speeches and nonfiction, make note of a writer’s diction (word choice) that adds power, punch, and convey emotion. • The use of vivid, sensory words allows audiences to feel emotions associated to those words. (“the touch of grandpa’s flannel shirt…”) Discuss: Consider the difference in words used to label a suicide bomber on opposing sides of a political war. What emotion does the label “terrorist” evoke? What emotion does the label “martyr” evoke?
Pathos in Use, cont’d. #2 – Analogies and Metaphors • Analogies, metaphors, and other figures of speech not only add interest, but often makes an emotional connection by tapping into emotions already felt by an audience. • Example: If you speak about gang violence, you might plainly state that “We have a problem in our city…” On the other hand, you might say “We have a cancer in our city…” The latter analogy draws on your audience’s pre-existing feelings about cancer, and makes them want to eradicate the cause! • Practice: What other analogies/metaphors could you use?
Pathos in Use, cont’d. #3 – Storytelling/Anecdotes • Stories are often the quickest path to the greatest emotional connection with an audience. Carefully crafted stories allow one to evoke any of a wide range of emotionswhich explains why stories are often the most memorable components of a speech. #4 – Humor • Humor is closely related to storytelling, because you usually arrive at humor through stories. Nonetheless, humor merits special mention. • Humor in a presentation evokes emotions such as joy and surprise, and often triggers secondary emotions such as calmness and friendship. • If an audience is laughing, they are having fun. If they are having fun, they are happy to be listening to you and they are attentive. As an added boost, humor makes your audience like you (at least for a moment), and that boosts your ethos too.
Pathos in Use, cont’d. #5 – Use of Visuals • Saying “smoking damages lung tissues” is almost ineffective compared to showing an image of blackened lungs due to smoking. • Visuals quickly evoke vast amounts of emotions and are concise arguments that appeal to a large variety of audiences. • In a digital and visual 21st century, visuals are utilized to extremes.
Logos • Logos is the Greek root word from which the English logic is derived. Therefore, logos refers to “logical reasoning” of a speech or writing. • To be able to understand and evaluate one’s logos, one must understand the two “flavors” of logical reasoning: • 1) Deductive Reasoning • 2) Inductive Reasoning
Flavors of Logos #1-- Deductive Reasoning: • Claim + claim = a true conclusion. • The key is that in a deductive argument, if your claims are true, then your conclusion must be true. • For example, consider the following deductive argument: • Audiences hate all boring things. (claim) • Bullet-point slides are boring. (claim) • Therefore, audiences hate bullet-point slides. (conclusion) • So, if audiences hate boring things (yes!) and if bullet-point slides are boring (yes!), then audiences must hate bullet-point slides. • Claims will also be referred to as premises from time to time.
Flavors of Logos, cont’d. Deductive Example #2 • Students hate boring work. (claim) • Worksheets are boring. (claim) • Therefore, students are bored with worksheets. (conclusion) • So, if students hate being bored in school (yes!) and if worksheets are boring (yes!), then students must hate worksheets. • Practice: Create a deductive example of your own. Use claims not shown in these two examples, and prepare to share.
Flavors of Logos, cont’d. #2-- Inductive Reasoning: • Claim + claim = a conclusion (not guaranteed to be true) • Deductive vs. Inductive reasoning = the conclusion is not guaranteed to be true in inductive reasoning. It can only be stated with some degree of confidence. • For example, consider the following inductive argument: • All People Magazine articles you have read in the past were insightful. (claim) • This is a People Magazine article. (claim) • Therefore, this article is insightful. (conclusion) • Given these claims, it is reasonable to expect that this article will be insightful, but it cannot be stated with certaintyand it must be inferred. • Practice: Create an induductiveexample of your own. Use claims not shown in today’s examples, and prepare to share.