Four main types of claims

Issues of Definition- ex. What does it mean to be a person?

Issues of Causation- ex. What is the cause of autism?

Issues of Evaluation- ex. The anchor baby policy is unfair to current U.S. citizens.

Issues of Recommendation- ex. Should we convert to renewable energy sources?

Using Evidence Effectively

Evidence used in an argument should meet the STAR criteria:

Sufficiency: Is there enough evidence?

Typicality: Is the chosen evidence representative and typical?

Accuracy: Is the evidence accurate and up-to-date?

Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the claim?

Sufficiency- consider the claim…

“Working full time seriously harms a student’s grade point average.” This claim would require much data- examples and statistical studies- overstatement.

“Working full time often harms a student’s grade point average.” A few representative examples may be enough- qualified statement.

Typicality

Readers need to believe that the evidence is typical and representative rather than extreme instances.

Accuracy

As a writer, you must be scrupulous in using the most recent and accurate evidence you can find.

Outdated evidence will weaken your credibility.

Relevance

“I deserve an A in this course because I worked extremely hard.”

This evidence is not relevant to the claim. Knowing political biases of sources will help

you locate data sources that both you and your readers can trust.

Kinds of Evidence

Personal experience (pathos) Data (logos & ethos) Interviews (pathos) Testimony (powerful if source has credibility, but less

persuasive than data) Hypothetical examples, cases, or scenarios

(imaginative appeal, but must be plausible) Reasoned sequence of ideas (conceptual, linked by

ideas)

Framing Statistical Evidence

A proposal to build a new ballpark in Seattle, Washington, yielded a wide range of statistical arguments. All of the following statements are reasonably faithful to the same facts.

How would you describe the costs of the ballpark if you opposed the proposal? If you supported the proposal?

Framing Statistical Evidence

The ballpark would be paid for by raising the sales tax from 8.2 % to 8.3% during a twenty year period.

The sales tax increase is one-tenth of one percent. This increase represents an average of $7.50 per person

per year- about the price of a movie ticket. This increase represents $750 per five-person family

over the twenty year period of the tax. For a family building a new home in the Seattle area, this

tax will increase building costs by $200. This is a $250 million tax increase for the residents of the

Seattle area.

Moving your audience: Ethos

Be knowledgeable about your issue

Be fair- show that you understand and empathize with other points of view

Build a bridge to your audience- ground your argument in shared values and assumptions

Pathos: the appeal to beliefs and emotions

Use concrete language to increase the liveliness, interest level, and personality of your writing- example p. 113

Use specific examples and illustrations- they provide evidence and emotional resonance- can bring to life an abstract point

Use narratives- true or hypothetical- effective attention grabbers- ex. Page 39

Pathos

A word about narratives- if it is too private, too sentimental, or too dramatic, it can harm ethos.

Use words, metaphors, or analogies with appropriate connotations- was the city council’s decision “bold and decisive” or “haughty and autocratic”?

Kairos: The timeliness of arguments

“right time,” “season,” or “opportunity” Kairos reminds us that a rhetorical situation

is not stable and fixed, but evolves as events unfold or as audiences experience the psychological ebbs and flows of attention and care.

Being attuned to kairos will help you “read” your audience and rhetorical situation

Audience-based reasons

Enhance logos because they are built on underlying assumptions (warrants) that the audience is likely to accept. They also enhance ethos and pathos by helping the writer identify with the audience, entering into their beliefs and values.

Questions for analyzing your audience

Who is your audience? How much does your audience know or care about

your issue? What is your audience’s current attitude toward your

issue? What will be your audience’s likely objections to your

argument? What values, beliefs, or assumptions about the world

do you and your audience share?

Responding to Alternative Views

Listen to unfair & fair summaries- p.128 What makes the first summary unfair? In the unfair summary, what strategies does

the writer use to make the opposing view seem weak and flawed? In the fair summary, how is the opposing view made strong and clear?

Avoid ad hominem argument

Strategies for rebuttal

Deny the truth of the data (if you have reasons to doubt)

Cite counterexamples Cast doubt on representativeness of examples Cast doubt on relevancy Call into question the credibility of an authority Question the way statistical data was produced or

interpreted

Conceding to opposing views

Although it may seem that you weaken your own position by conceding to an opposing argument, you may actually strengthen it by increasing your credibility and gaining your audience’s goodwill. Conceding to one part of an argument does not mean that you won’t refute other parts of that argument.

Conceding to opposing views

Once you make a concession, your task is then to show the benefits of your argument still outweigh the costs.