Writing the Argumentative Essay By Caryl Bishop

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Writing the Argumentative Essay

• By Caryl Bishop

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Argumentation

• . . . the art of influencing others, through the
  medium of reasoned discourse, to believe or act
  as we wish them to believe or act.

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Structure of Argument

• Claim
• Proposition
• Support
• Evidence
• Motivational Appeals
• Warrant
• Assumption(s) that have been taken for granted

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Features of Argumentation

• Writer
• Develop your own ETHOS or borrow from established
  authority
• Audience
• Know your audience and be sensitive to their
  views
• Text
• Use the language to make your point, but be
  careful not to misuse language

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The Writer

• Ethos
• Your own
• You must look like you know what youre talking
  about
• Educate yourself on the issue(s) before writing
• Borrow from authority
• Be sure to give appropriate credit where due

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The Audience

• Who is your audience?
• Qualities you should presume of your audience
• Assume they are as knowledgeable about your topic
  as you are.
• Assume they are aware of common knowledge.
• Assume they could be fundamentally opposed to
  your argument and be sensitive to their
  prejudices
• Dont Alienate Your Audience

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The Text

• Argue from logic and reason
• Do NOT base your entire argument on
• Emotion
• Religious Conviction
• Tradition
• Avoid fallacious logic
• There are a multitude of formal errors in logic,
  known as FALLACIES

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Some Common Fallacies

• Hasty Generalization
• Faulty Use of Authority
• Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
• False Analogy
• Ad Hominem
• False Dilemma
• Slippery Slope

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Hasty Generalization

• Black or White thinking
• Prejudice
• Drawing Hasty Conclusions
• Insufficient Evidence

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Faulty Use of Authority

• Misuse of a source
• Misquoting
• Fitting the quotation to your own needs
• If four out of five dentists prefer Colgate,
  dont use the one dentist who prefers Crest as
  your authority!

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Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

• After this, therefore because of this
• Faulty Cause and Effect Reasoning

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False Analogy

• Faulty Connection Between Two Things Being
  Compared

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Ad Hominem

• Against the Man
• Attacking the person rather than attacking an
  issue.
• If you dont like this administrations policies,
  and want to see them changed, dont attack the
  President, address the issues you want changed.

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False Dilemma

• Black or White Fallacy
• There are only two alternatives, no room for
  compromise and no grey areas.
• Nearly every issue has at least two sides, and
  somewhere, someone has determined that the OTHER
  side is the only legitimate approach.
• Nothing is black and white there are shades of
  grey everywhere!

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Slippery Slope

• The assumption that A will inevitably lead to
  B
• Then B will inevitably lead to C
• And so on
• And so on

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More Common Fallacies

• Begging the Question
• The Straw Man Fallacy
• Two Wrongs Make a Right
• Non-Sequitur
• Ad Populum
• Appeal to Tradition
• Faulty Emotional Appeal

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Begging the Question

• The statement being argued actually assumes the
  issue has already been proven true.
• An argument that assumes itself

Circular Reasoning
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Straw Man Fallacy

• Set up a slightly different problem and attack
  it, rather than the problem at issue
• Diverts attention away from the real issue
• Wag the Dog

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Two Wrongs Make A Right

• But all my friends are doing it
• Diverts attention away from the question at issue

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Non-Sequitur

• It does not follow
• Erroneous Cause and Effect Reasoning
• Uses irrelevant information to back of a claim

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Ad Populum

• Appeals to the prejudices of the people
• Appeals to popular opinion
• Appeals to what you believe your teacher wants to
  hear

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Appeal to Tradition

• But weve always done it that way before
• Just because it has always been that way doesnt
  make it right

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Faulty Emotional Appeals

• Dont base your whole claim on an appeal to
  emotion
• Dont use emotional appeals that are
• Irrelevant to the argument
• Draw attention away from the real issue
• Appear to conceal another purpose

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Adapted from Elements of Argument A Text and
Reader By Annette T. Rottengberg