The Classical Argument

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The Classical Argument
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The Introduction

• Warms up the audience.
• Establishes good will and rapport with readers.
• Announces general theme or thesis of argument.

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The Narration

• Summarizes relevant background material
• Provides any information audience needs to know
  about the environment and circumstances that
  produce the argument
• Sets up the stakes whats at risk in this
  question.

4
The Confirmation

• Lays out in a logical order (usually strongest to
  weakest or most obvious to most subtle) the
  claims that support the thesis, providing
  evidence for each claim.

5
The Refutation and Concession

• Looks at opposing viewpoints to the writers
  claims.
• Anticipates objections from the audience.
• Allows as much of the opposing viewpoints as
  possible without weakening the thesis.

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Summation

• Provides a strong conclusion.
• Amplifies the force of the argument
• Shows readers that this solution is the best at
  meeting the circumstances.

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Strategies for Developing Each Section of Argument

• Introduction has three jobs
• To capture audiences interest
• use a focusing anecdote or quotation
• use a shocking statistic
• restate a problem or controversy in a new
  way
• Establish perception of you as a writer
• Set out your point of view

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Narration Strategies

• Establish a context for your argument
• You need to explain the situation to which your
  argument is responding
• Include relevant background information, history,
  statistics, and so on that affect it.
• Language that you use will give audience a
  picture of you.

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Confirmation Strategies

• Allows you to explain why you believe in your
  thesis.
• It takes up several supporting claims
  individually
• Develop each one by bringing in facts, examples,
  testimony, definitions, etc.
• It is important that you explain why evidence for
  each claim supports it and the larger thesis.
• This builds a chain of reasoning in support of
  your argument.

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Refutation and Concession Strategies

• Difficult because you need to think of reasons
  why your argument wont work.
• This, however, can be the strongest part of an
  argument.
• When you show audience that you have anticipated
  potential opposition and objections, you have an
  answer for them
• Allows you to defuse the audiences ability to
  oppose you and persuade them to accept your point
  of view.
• If there are places where you agree with your
  opposition, conceding their points creates
  goodwill and respect without weakening your
  thesis.

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Conclusion

• It is tempting to just restate claims and thesis,
  but this does not give a sense of momentum or
  closure to your argument.
• Instead, try to hearken back to the narration and
  issues.
• Remind readers whats at stake here.
• Try to show why your thesis provides the best
  solution to the issue being faced this gives an
  impression of the rightness and importance of
  your argument and suggests its larger
  significance or long-range impact.
• Gives the readers a psychological sense of
  closure the argument winds up instead of
  breaking off.

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Rhetorical Fallacies

• Rhetorical Fallacies do not allow for open
  two-way exchange of ideas.
• They distract readers with various appeals
  instead of using sound reasoning.
• They can be divided into three categories
• Emotional fallacies unfair appeal to audiences
  emotions
• Ethical fallacies unreasonably advance the
  writers own authority or character
• Logical fallacies depend upon faulty logic.

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Emotional Fallacies

• Sentimental Appeals
• Red Herrings
• Scare Tactics
• Bandwagon Appeals
• Slippery Slope arguments
• Either/Or Choices
• False Need Arguments

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Sentimental Appeals

• Use emotion to distract the audience from the
  facts.
• Example
• The thousand baby seals killed in the Exxon
  Valdez oil spill have shown us that oil is not a
  reliable source of energy.

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Red Herrings

• Use misleading or unrelated evidence to support a
  conclusion.
• Example
• That painting is worthless because I dont
  recognize the artist.

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Scare Tactics

• Try to frighten people into agreeing with the
  arguer by threatening them or predicting
  unrealistically dire consequences.
• Example
• If you dont support the partys tax plan, you
  and your family will be reduced to poverty.

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Bandwagon Appeals

• Encourage an audience to agree with the writer
  because everyone else is doing so.
• Example
• Paris Hilton carries a small dog in her purse, so
  you should buy a hairless Chihuahua and put it in
  your Louis Vuitton.

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Slippery Slope

• This argument suggests that one thing will lead
  to another, oftentimes with disastrous results.
• Example
• If you get a B in high school, you wont get into
  the college of your choice, and therefore will
  never have a meaningful career.

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Either/Or Choices

• Reduce complicated issues to only two possible
  courses of action.
• Example
• The patent office can either approve my generator
  design immediately or say goodbye forever to
  affordable energy.

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False Need

• These arguments create an unnecessary desire for
  things.
• Example
• You need an expensive car or people wont think
  you are cool.

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Ethical Fallacies

• False Authority
• Asks audiences to agree with the assertion of a
  writer based simply on his or her character or
  the authority of another person or institution
  who may not be fully qualified to offer that
  assertion.
• Example
• My high school teacher said it, so it must be
  true.

22
Using Authority Instead of Evidence

• This occurs when someone offers personal
  authority as proof.
• Example
• Trust me my best friend wouldnt do that.

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Guilt by Association

• Calls someones character into question by
  examining the character of that persons
  associates.
• Example
• Saras friend Amy robbed a bank therefore, Sara
  is a delinquent.

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Dogmatism

• Shuts down discussion by asserting that the
  writers beliefs are the only acceptable ones.
• Example
• Im sorry, but I think penguins are sea creatures
  and thats that.

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Moral Equivalence

• Compares minor problems with much more serious
  crimes (or vice versa).
• Example
• These mandatory seatbelt laws are fascist.

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Ad Hominum

• These arguments attack a persons character
  rather than the persons reasoning.
• Example
• Why should we think a candidate who recently
  divorced will keep her campaign promises.

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Strawperson

• These arguments set up and often dismantle easily
  refutable arguments in order to misrepresent an
  opponents argument in order to defeat him or
  her.
• Example
• We need to regulate access to handguns.
• My opponent believes that we should ignore the
  rights guaranteed to us as citizens of the United
  States by the Constitution. Unlike my opponent,
  I am a firm believer in the Constitution, and a
  proponent of freedom.

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Logical Fallacies

• Hasty Generalization
• Faulty Causality (or Post Hoc) arguments
• Non Sequitur (Latin for It doesnt follow)
• Equivocation
• Begging the Question
• Faulty Analogy
• Stacked Evidence

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Hasty Generalization

• Draws conclusions from scanty evidence.
• Example
• I wouldnt eat at that restaurant the only time
  I ate there, my entrée was undercooked.

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Faulty Causality

• These arguments confuse chronology with
  causation one event can occur after another
  without being caused by it.
• Example
• A year after the release of the violent
  shoot-em-up video game Annihilator, incidents of
  school violence tripled surely not a
  coincidence.

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Non Sequitur

• Latin for It does not follow.
• This is a statement that does not logically
  relate to what comes before it.
• An important logical step may be missing in such
  a claim.
• Example
• If those protestors really loved their country,
  they wouldnt question the government.

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Equivocation

• This is a half-truth.
• A statement that is partially correct but that
  purposefully obscures the entire truth.
• Example
• I did not have sexual relations with that
  woman.. President Bill Clinton.

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Begging the Question

• This occurs when the writer simply restates the
  claim in a different way such an argument is
  circular.
• Example
• His lies are evident from the untruthful nature
  of his statements.

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Faulty Analogy

• This is an inaccurate, inappropriate, or
  misleading comparison between two things.
• Example
• Letting prisoners out on early release is like
  absolving them of their crimes.

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Stacked Evidence

• This represents only one side of the issue, thus
  distorting the issue.
• Example
• Cats are superior to dogs because they are
  cleaner, cuter, and more independent.