Transcript Understanding Argument

Understanding Argument
The Nature of Argument
 A conversation overheard in the school cafeteria:
“Hey, how come you didn’t order the meat loaf special? It’s pretty good
today.”
“Well, I read this book about vegetarianism, and I’ve decided to give
up meat. The book says meat is unhealthy and vegetarians live longer.
“Don’t be silly, Americans eat lots of meat, and we’re living longer than
ever!”
“Listen, this book tells how much healthier the Danes were during
WWII because they couldn’t eat meat.”
“I don’t believe it. A lot of these health books are written by quacks.
It’s pretty dumb to change your diet after reading one book.”
The Nature of Argument
 These people are having what most would call an argument.
There are, however, significant differences between the
typical meaning of argument as a fight and its definition as a
process of reasoning and advancing proof.
 Not all arguments end in clear victories for one side or the
other.
The terms of argument
 “Argumentation is the art of influencing others, through the
medium of reasoned discourse, to believe or act as we wish
them to believe or act.”
 Argument gives primary importance to logical appeals.
 Basically, an argument is a statement or statements offering
support for a claim.
AN ARGUMENT IS COMPOSED OF AT
LEAST THREE PARTS:
 The Claim
 The Support (evidence)
 The Warrant
Claim
 The claim answers the question, “What are you trying to
prove?” It may appear as the thesis (called claim) statement of
your essay.
Support
 Support consists of the materials used by the arguer (AKA
evidence) to convince an audience that his/her claim is
sound. These include:
 Evidence= (aka data) consists of facts, statistics, and testimonies
from experts.
 Motivational appeals= points out that these appeals are the
reasons that move an audience to accept a belief or adopt a
course of action (this is your ethos, pathos and logos).
 ALL claims you make, rather fact or opinion, must be
supported. This is called EVIDENCE!
Support: Evidence
 Factual evidence
 Examples (can also be hypothetical)
 Statistics (expresses information in numbers)
 Opinions (interpretation of facts)
 Casual connection (anorexia example about society)
 Predictions about the future
 Solutions to problems
 Expert opinions
Warrant
 Certain assumptions underlie all the claims we make. The
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term is used for such an assumption, a belief/principle that is
taken for granted.
Allows the reader to make the same connection between the
support and the claim that the author does (see your T-Chart
for a better visual)
The audience must share with us if our claims are to prove to
be acceptable
The writer/speaker may need added support for their
warrant (in order to get the other side to believe him/her)
** See your handout***
Support
Claim
(Larry cannot read
above third grade
level)
(He’s pretty
dumb)
Warrant
(Anybody who can’t read above third grade
level must be pretty dumb)
Example
 Claim: Adoption of a vegetarian diet leads to a healthier,
longer life.
 Support: The authors of Becoming aVegetarian Family say so.
 Warrant: The authors of Becoming aVegetarian Family are
reliable sources of information on diet.
Every argument must include…
 Ethos- author’s credibility
 Pathos- appeal to emotion
 Logos – appeal to logic
Wrap Up
 SO, basically when forming your argument you should have
three elements:
 The claim (which is your claim statement; last sentence of intro
paragraph)
 The support (which is all of your factual or opinionated
evidence- later will become your concrete details)
 The warrant ( the underlying assumption that connects speaker
to audience)
 Now….on to how to organize an argument, now that you
know what an argument is, and how it is structured!
Activity: Evaluate an Argument
 “Ugly” handout with activity