Writing Argument and Persuasion - PowerPoint Presentation

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Writing Argument and Persuasion

English

II

What is an argument?

An argument can be any text – written, spoken, or visual – that expresses a point of view.

Sometimes

arguments can be blunt and aggressive

and are composed deliberately to change what people believe, think, or do.

At other times,

arguments may be subtle

, designed to convince yourself or others that specific facts are reliable or that certain views should be considered, or at least tolerated.

So, is everything

an argument?

Many would

argue

that – YES – all language is inherently persuasive.

In today’s world, you are faced with choices every day, from which brand of toothpaste to buy to which politician deserves your support.

Along with every choice you have to make, comes a flood of persuasive messages, all aimed at influencing your beliefs and actions.

What are the Elements of Persuasive Writing?

1. The

CLAIM

2. The

SUPPORT/EVIDENCE

3. The

CONCESSION

4. The

COUNTER-ARGUMENT

5. The

APPEALS

What is a Claim?

A claim is the writer’s

position

on a problem or issue.

A claim should be a

debatable

assertion that you aim to prove.

Note! In a writing prompt, a

claim

may also be referred to as a

position

or

thesis

.

What is the Support?

The support includes the

reasons

and

evidence

that help to justify and prove the claim.

What is a Concession?

A concession is an

acknowledgement of part of your

opponent's argument

as being valid.

Remember

that a concession is

not a

form of

weakness

.

In fact

a concession is a strength

as it

shows

that

you are

a reasonable person willing

to listen

and acknowledge

that there are more sides to an issue than yours

.

You

can’t ignore compelling opposing evidence

. You must address

strong arguments

on the other side; if you don’t, it looks like you are not well prepared

and have

not looked at the issue you are writing about from all perspectives.

What is a Counter-Argument?

A counter-argument is a brief argument that objects the claim “the other side” is likely to make.

Your counter-argument should always follow your concession

. After you acknowledge the opposing side, you immediately develop the strengths of your view and the weaknesses of theirs

.

What are Persuasive Appeals?

There are 3 key ways writers can

appeal

to their audience:

ETHOS – Ethical Appeals

– This refers to the writer’s character and presentation of “self”. It’s how the writer establishes trust, respect, and credibility with his/her audience.

LOGOS – Logical Appeals

– The use of facts, statistics, expert testimony, witnesses, scientific data, etc.

PATHOS – Emotional Appeals

– The use of words and images to evoke emotions such as fear, anger, empathy, jealousy, pity, love, etc.

Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?

Pathos – Who could argue with this?

Images of a lonely polar bear suffering as his arctic home melts away

He makes a long journey just to thank someone for buying a Nissan.

YOU

are saving the planet and the soon-to-be homeless polar bears

if you buy a Nissan

!

Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?

Ethos – Building our trust and admiration

The slogan: “One for One”

The Toms Company is promising us that for every pair of shoes

we

purchase, a pair is given to a child in need.

Here the company is establishing trust, respect, and integrity.

We admire what they are doing; ethos is a powerful tool.

Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?

Logos – Facts and Statistics

The viewer is overwhelmed with facts and statistics.

Numbers don’t lie.

What else makes an argument powerful?

To really support an argument, you must consider the larger picture, the global picture.

We’ll refer to this type of support as

GLOBAL EVIDENCE

.

What is Global Evidence?

Global evidence is when you use support for your argument by discussing

global impact

.

The types of GLOBAL EVIDENCE are

:

Personal

Political

Environmental

Moral

Social

Educational

Religious

Appearance

Economical

Civil Rights

Freedom

Health

Let’s go through an example Persuasive Essay.

Prompt:

Write an essay stating your position on which animal is the better pet: dogs or cats.

Claim

:

Dogs make better pets than cats because they have superior intelligence, they are highly trainable, and they can offer protection

and safety

in and out of the home.

Dogs make better pets than cats because they have

superior intelligence

, they are

highly trainable

, and they can

offer protection

and safety

in

and out of the home.

Evidence

to support our

REASONS

:

A dog’s superior intelligence allows him to serve valuable roles, such as search and rescue, visual guide, and bomb or drug detection.

Dogs have a higher social IQ and can be trained to perform tasks on command, tasks such as sit, come, stay, speak, shake, roll over, “high 5” and fetch.

A dog can protect the home by barking when strangers approach the home or knock on the door. A dog may also offer a sense of security when walking and jogging with their owners.

Dogs

make better pets than cats because they have

superior intelligence

, they are

highly trainable

, and they can

offer protection

and safety

in

and out of the home.

Our concession

:

Cat lovers will argue that cats are loving and loyal pets that offer their owners more personal freedom because of a cat’s independent nature and low-maintenance lifestyle.

Our Counter-argument:

What the cat lovers fail to point out is no one

really

“owns” a cat. Cats, by nature, are only affectionate on

their

terms; they are temperamental, they do not adjust well to change, they typically hate to ride in the car, and when cat “owners” are away from home, enjoying their carefree lifestyle, their precious feline will offer no security whatsoever should an intruder come calling because she will be hiding under the bed.

Dogs make better pets than cats because they have

superior intelligence

, they are

highly trainable

, and they can

offer protection and safety

in and out of the home.

What

GLOBAL EVIDENCE

can we use to support our personal opinion that dogs make better pets than cats?

Personal

Political

Environmental

Moral

Social

Educational

Religious

Appearance

Economical

Civil Rights

Freedom

Health

Now You Practice!

Read

:

Many schools require all students to perform some type of community service such as working in nursing

homes, hospitals, food banks, or animal shelters.

Think

:

Think about how you would feel if you were required to perform a community service.

Write

: Write

an essay

stating your position on whether students should or should not be required to perform

community service. Defend your

claim with

several

reasons

. Develop those reasons

with

detailed supporting

evidence.