Today’s Goals

Peer review the theses from your classical argument essay

Practice strategies for addressing final problems in the class debate

Group Activity: Classical Argument Planning In your unit 4 group

Share the theses and forecasting you brought in for your classical argument essays and answer the questions below for each student (note: you may wish to divide larger groups into two subgroups for this activity)

1. For each student’s thesis, evaluate the thesis on the criteria we have discussed in class:

a) Clarity: How many clauses are in the thesis? Are there any unnecessary words or phrases? Is there any ambiguity or use of vague referents?

b) Credibility: How objective is the student’s thesis? Does it utilize 1st, 2nd,or 3rd person?

c) Originality: How , revolutionary, or unique does the student’s thesis seem? Does this idea seem like something you might read in a regular newspaper or magazine publication? Have you ever seen this idea articulated before?

d) Arguable: How contentious is the student’s idea? How many members of your group would agree with this idea before seeing any evidence?

e) Qualification: Is the thesis too strongly stated? Does it allow for possible exceptions? Does it use adverbs or auxiliary verbs as qualifiers?

2. For each student’s forecasting, how might each of the rhetorical appeals be used? (Try to identify one or more rhetorical appeals for each supporting point)

3. Finally, create a revised or improved thesis based on these criteria and the suggestions of your group mates. Attempt to incorporate your forecasting elements in a ‘because’ clause at the end of the thesis.

Group Activity: Example Final Problems from Previous Debates

In your unit 4 groups

Examine the final problems from past debates and plan a counterargument to each one.

There are 4 examples in total. We will proceed through them one at a time as a class. Make sure your response is written out and have someone from your group ready to share your answer.

1. Final Problem - Euthanasia

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of Tom

Tom was your regular, everyday IT guy. He had a wife, a 5 year old son, and a steady job doing tech support. Unfortunately, Tom’s job didn’t offer healthcare, so he paid for Obamacare for himself and his family. It never bothered Tom though; he was generally regarded as a nice and caring person, and he frequently volunteered for charities like March of Dimes.

That all changed one night when Tom was driving home with his family from the movies. A drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into Tom’s car, instantly killing his wife and son and giving Tom severe injuries as well.

Tom lived through the experience but remained in a coma after the car crash. The doctors say that due to his severe brain trauma, it is not very likely he will wake up. They estimated about a 1% chance he could recover from the coma although if he does he will likely regain his full facilities.

It has been three months since the crash. Tom is still deep in the coma. At this point, many hospitals would be considering taking him off life support with permission of his next of kin. Unfortunately, Tom has no more living relatives, no other emergency contacts other than his wife, and no one with power of attorney over him. His steep medical bills for round the clock intensive care have already gone into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This has already gone far over his insurance maximums, but neither the doctors nor the hospital are sure what to do.

How long should Tom be kept alive on life support? How long should the government be responsible for paying his medical expenses? Who should be the one to decide when or if to terminate Tom’s care? And finally, what are the ethical and moral implications of the government being in charge of Tom’s fate?

2. Final Problem- Ebola Protocols

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of Maria, a 20 year old FIU student, basketball player, and physical therapy major

A week or two ago, Maria went back to Ecuador to visit her family. She stayed there for 3 days and returned to Miami the following week.

Unbeknownst to Maria, she was exposed to Ebola by a tourist in Ecuador from South Africa.

During the second week of December, right in the middle of finals week, Maria developed severe flu like symptoms and went to the clinic. After a detailed analysis, they determined she was positive for Ebola.

Worse yet, Maria has had physical contact with several people, including: her boyfriend, the women’s basketball team (she is a player), and several patients in her physical therapy class.

Now, in the busiest week of the semester, the university is faced with the dilemma: what protocols should be taken to prevent the spread of the disease? Should the whole university be shut down or just the people Maria was known to be in contact with?

Keep in mind that shutting down the university will cost millions of dollars, delay students’ graduation, and create hundreds of logistics problems that may cause certain classes or departments of the university to have to be shut down.

(Maria has been quarantined and hospitalized)

3. Final Problem- Drinking Age

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of Nathan

Nathan was born 18 years ago but with a disease called progeria

Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, causes the subject to age at a rapid rate. The average life expectancy of progeria patients is 13 years old, but some may live into their mid 20s.

In Nathan’s particular case, he currently has the physical characteristics of someone in their 50s

Nathan graduated high school at the age of 17 and had been working part time at a grocery since. One weekend, while going out with his friends, Nathan imbibed alcohol, got drunk, and committed several acts of vandalism.

Although being charged separately for vandalism, the prosecuting attorney must decide whether or not to also charge Nathan with underage drinking, a situation for which there is no legal precedent. This additional charge could increase Nathan’s sentence to 3 or 4 years, a duration he may not live through.

Should Nathan be charged with underage drinking even though he has the body of someone much older? Or does his lack of mental development still qualify him as minor? Should his unique condition and limited life expectancy be taken into consideration as well?

4. Final Problem-Police Conduct

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of officer Barry

Barry is a regular police officer with no marks on his record until one day he pulled over a car for making an illegal turn.

What happens next is uncertain: Barry claims the driver attempted to assault him and he responded by tasing the driver, which led the man to have a heart attack and be hospitalized. The driver claims he did no such thing and that the tasing was completely unwarranted.

More than 10 people saw the crime, but the witnesses are evenly divided as to who started the altercation, 5 saying Officer Barry tased the man for no reason and 5 saying the driver instigated an altercation. No recorded footage of the event can be found.

Should Officer Barry be punished for his treatment of the man which led to hospitalization and nearly $100,000 in medical bills? How should we determine Officer Barry’s guilt when it is the officer’s word against that of the driver?

Homework

Journals due by 5/1 to mailbox in the English Department (4th floor of DM building)

Classical Argument Final Draft due to Turnitin.com by midnight 5/1

Journal Entry 29 Focus: CA Source Evaluation 2

Find the second source you will use for your classical argument essay

Read and analyze the source.

Sum up the argument it makes or find its thesis statement and write it here

Identify the source as supporting your view, supporting an opposing view, or providing neutral background information

Finally, play the Believing and Doubting Game to find the strongest and weakest elements of the source.