A Review of Rhetoric: From Persuasion to Identification

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/625/01/ (Online Writing Lab- Purdue

University)
Rhetoric can refer to just the persuasive qualities of language. The ancient Greek
philosopher Aristotle strongly influenced how people have traditionally viewed
rhetoric. Aristotle defined rhetoric as an ability, in each particular case, to see the
available means of persuasion (Aristotle Rhetoric I.1.2, Kennedy 37). Since then,
Aristotles definition of rhetoric has been reduced in many situations to mean simply
persuasion. At its best, this simplification of rhetoric has led to a long tradition of
people associating rhetoric with politicians, lawyers, or other occupations noted for
persuasive speaking. At its worst, the simplification of rhetoric has led people to
assume that rhetoric is merely something that manipulative people use to get what
they want (usually regardless of moral or ethical concerns).
However, over the last century or so, the academic definition and use of rhetoric
has evolved to include any situation in which people consciously communicate with
each other. In brief, individual people tend to perceive and understand just about
everything differently from one another (this difference varies to a lesser or greater
degree depending on the situation, of course). This expanded perception has led a
number of more contemporary rhetorical philosophers to suggest that rhetoric deals
with more than just persuasion. Instead of just persuasion, rhetoric is the set of
methods people use to identify with each otherto encourage each other to
understand things from one anothers perspectives (see Burke 25). From
interpersonal relationships to international peace treaties, the capacity to
understand or modify anothers perspective is one of the most vital abilities that
humans have. Hence, understanding rhetoric in terms of identification helps us
better communicate and evaluate all such situations.
Rhetorical Situations
Understanding and being able to analyze rhetorical situations can help contribute to
strong, audience-focused, and organized writing. The PowerPoint presentation in the
Media box above is suitable for any classroom and any writing task. The resource
below explains in more detail how to analyze rhetorical situations.
Understanding Rhetoric
Writing instructors and many other professionals who study language use the
phrase rhetorical situation. This term refers to any set of circumstances that
involves at least one person using some sort of communication to modify
the perspective of at least one other person. But many people are unfamiliar
with the word rhetoric. For many people, rhetoric may imply speech that is
simply persuasive. For others, rhetoric may imply something more negative like
trickery or even lying. So to appreciate the benefits of understanding what
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rhetorical situations are, we must first have a more complete understanding of what
rhetoric itself is.

In brief, rhetoric is any communication used to modify the perspectives of

others. But this is a very broad definition that calls for more explanation.
The OWLs Introduction to Rhetoric vidcast explains more what rhetoric is and
how rhetoric relates to writing. This vidcast defines rhetoric as primarily an
awareness of the language choices we make. It gives a brief history of the
origins of rhetoric in ancient Greece. And it briefly discusses the benefits of how
understanding rhetoric can help people write more convincingly. The vidcast
provides an excellent primer to some basic ideas of rhetoric.
A more in-depth primer to rhetoric can be found in the online video In Defense of
Rhetoric: No Longer Just for Liars. This video dispels some widely held
misconceptions about rhetoric and emphasizes that, An education of rhetoric
enables communicators in any facet of any field to create and assess
messages effectively. This video should be particularly helpful to anyone who is
unaware of how crucial rhetoric is to effective communication.
In Defense of Rhetoric: No Longer Just for Liars is a 14-minunte video created by
graduate students in the MA in Professional Communication program at Clemson
University, and you are free to copy, distribute, and transmit the video with the
understanding: 1) that you will attribute the work to its authors; 2) that you will not
use the work for commercial purposes; and 3) that you may not alter, transform, or
build upon this work.
Listening to the above podcast and watching the above video should help anyone
using this resource to better understand the basics of rhetoric and rhetorical
situations.
A Review of Rhetoric: From Persuasion to Identification
Just as the vidcast and video above imply, rhetoric can refer to just the persuasive
qualities of language. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle strongly influenced
how people have traditionally viewed rhetoric. Aristotle defined rhetoric as an
ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion
(Aristotle Rhetoric I.1.2, Kennedy 37). Since then, Aristotles definition of rhetoric
has been reduced in many situations to mean simply persuasion. At its best, this
simplification of rhetoric has led to a long tradition of people associating rhetoric
with politicians, lawyers, or other occupations noted for persuasive speaking. At its
worst, the simplification of rhetoric has led people to assume that rhetoric is merely
something that manipulative people use to get what they want (usually regardless
of moral or ethical concerns).
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However, over the last century or so, the academic definition and use of rhetoric
has evolved to include any situation in which people consciously
communicate with each other. In brief, individual people tend to perceive and
understand just about everything differently from one another (this difference
varies to a lesser or greater degree depending on the situation, of course). This
expanded perception has led a number of more contemporary rhetorical
philosophers to suggest that rhetoric deals with more than just persuasion. Instead
of just persuasion, rhetoric is the set of methods people use to identify with
each otherto encourage each other to understand things from one
anothers perspectives (see Burke 25). From interpersonal relationships to
international peace treaties, the capacity to understand or modify
anothers perspective is one of the most vital abilities that humans have.
Hence, understanding rhetoric in terms of identification helps us better
communicate and evaluate all such situations.
Elements of Rhetorical Situations
Summary:
This presentation is designed to introduce your students to a variety of factors
that contribute to strong, well-organized writing. This presentation is suitable
for the beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in
any class.
There is no one singular rhetorical situation that applies to all instances of
communication. Rather, all human efforts to communicate occur within
innumerable individual rhetorical situations that are particular to those
specific moments of communication.
Also, an awareness of rhetorical situations can help in both composition and
analysis. In the textbook Writing Today, Johnson-Sheehan and Paine recommend,
Before you start writing any text, you should first gain an understanding
of your rhetorical situation (12). For this reason, the rest of this resource will
focus on understanding rhetorical situations more in terms of analysis. Once
you know how to identify and analyze the elements of rhetorical situations,
you will be better able to produce writing that meets your audiences needs, fits the
specific setting you write in, and conveys your intended message and purpose.
Each individual rhetorical situation shares five basic elements with all other
rhetorical situations:
A text (i.e., an actual instance or piece of communication)
An author (i.e., someone who uses communication)
An audience (i.e., a recipient of communication)
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Purposes (i.e., the varied reasons both authors and audiences communicate)
A setting (i.e., the time, place, and environment surrounding a moment of
communication)
These five terms are updated versions of similar terms that the ancient Greek
thinker Aristotle articulated over two thousand years ago. While Aristotles terms
may be familiar to many people, his terminology more directly applied to the
specific needs and concerns of his day. This resource uses more current terminology
to more accurately identify the kinds of rhetorical situations we may encounter
today. But since Aristotles work in rhetoric has been so influential, below is a brief
discussion of Aristotles terms and how they relate to the terms in this resource
(text, author, audience, purposes, and setting).

Aristotle's Rhetorical Situation

Summary:
This presentation is designed to introduce your students to a variety of factors that
contribute to strong, well-organized writing. This presentation is suitable for the
beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in any
class.
Rhetorical Concepts
Many people have heard of the rhetorical concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos even
if they do not necessarily know what they fully mean. These three terms, along with
kairos and telos, were used by Aristotle to help explain how rhetoric functions. In
ancient Greece, these terms corresponded with basic components that all rhetorical
situations have.
Logos
Logos is frequently translated as some variation of logic or reasoning, but it
originally referred to the actual content of a speech and how it was organized.
Today, many people may discuss the logos qualities of a text to refer to how strong
the logic or reasoning of the text is. But logos more closely refers to the structure
and content of the text itself. In this resource, logos means text.
Ethos
Ethos is frequently translated as some variation of credibility or trustworthiness,
but it originally referred to the elements of a speech that reflected on the particular
character of the speaker or the speechs author. Today, many people may discuss
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ethos qualities of a text to refer to how well authors portray themselves. But ethos
more closely refers to an authors perspective more generally. In this resource,
ethos means author.
Pathos
Pathos is frequently translated as some variation of emotional appeal, but it
originally referred to the elements of a speech that appealed to any of an
audiences sensibilities. Today, many people may discuss the pathos qualities of a
text to refer to how well an author appeals to an audiences emotions. Pathos as
emotion is often contrasted with logos as reason. But this is a limited
understanding of both pathos and logos; pathos more closely refers to an
audiences perspective more generally. In this resource, pathos means audience.
Telos
Telos is a term Aristotle used to explain the particular purpose or attitude of a
speech. Not many people use this term today in reference to rhetorical situations;
nonetheless, it is instructive to know that early rhetorical thinkers like Aristotle
actually placed much emphasis on speakers having a clear telos. But audiences can
also have purposes of their own that differ from a speakers purpose. In this
resource, telos means purpose.
Kairos
Kairos is a term that refers to the elements of a speech that acknowledge and draw
support from the particular setting, time, and place that a speech occurs. Though
not as commonly known as logos, ethos, and pathos, the term kairos has been
receiving wider renewed attention among teachers of composition since the mid1980s. Although kairos may be well known among writing instructors, the term
setting more succinctly and clearly identifies this concept for contemporary
readers. In this resource, kairos means setting.
Current Elements of Rhetorical Situations
All of these terms (text, author, audience, purpose, and setting) are fairly loose in
their definitions and all of them affect each other. Also, all of these terms have
specific qualities that affect the ways that they interact with the other terms. Below,
youll find basic definitions of each term, a brief discussion of the qualities of each
term, and then finally, a series of examples illustrating various rhetorical situations.
Purposes
Summary:
This presentation is designed to introduce your students to a variety of factors that
contribute to strong, well-organized writing. This presentation is suitable for the
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beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in any

class.
Authors and audiences both have a wide range of purposes for communicating. The
importance of purpose in rhetorical situations cannot be overstated. It is the varied
purposes of a rhetorical situation that determine how an author communicates a
text and how audiences receive a text. Rhetorical situations rarely have only one
purpose. Authors and audiences tend to bring their own purposes (and often
multiple purposes each) to a rhetorical situation, and these purposes may conflict or
complement each other depending on the efforts of both authors and audiences.
Authors purposes
In the textbook Writing Today, Johnson-Sheehan and Paine discuss purpose more
specifically in terms of the author of a text. They suggest that most texts written in
college or in the workplace often fill one of two broader purposes: to be informative
or to be persuasive. Under each of these two broad purposes, they identify a host of
more specific purposes. The following table is not exhaustive; authors could easily
have purposes that are not listed on this table.

Table: Author Purposes

Informative
Persuasive
to inform
to persuade
to describe
to convince
to define
to influence
to review
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to argue
to notify
to recommend
to instruct
to change
to advise
to advocate
to announce
to urge
to explain
to defend
to demonstrate
to justify

to illustrate
to support
(Johnson-Sheehan & Paine 17)
Audiences purposes
Authors purposes tend to be almost exclusive active if only because authors
conscientiously create texts for specific audiences. But audiences purposes may
range from more passive purpose to more active purposes.
Table: Audience Purposes
More Passive Purposes
More Active Purposes
to receive notice
to examine
to feel reassured
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to quantify
to feel a sense of unity
to assess
to be entertained
to make informed decisions
to receive instruction
to interpret
to enjoy
to evaluate
to hear advice
to judge
to be inspired

to resist change
to review
to criticize
to understand
to ridicule
to learn
to disprove

The Role of Purposes

Authors and audiences purposes in communicating determine the basic rationale
behind other decisions both authors and audiences make (such as what to write or
speak about, or whom to listen to, or what medium to use, or what setting to read
in, among others). An authors purpose in communicating could be to instruct,
persuade, inform, entertain, educate, startle, excite, sadden, enlighten, punish,
console, or many, many others. Like authors, audiences have varied purposes for
reading, listening to, or otherwise appreciating pieces of communication. Audiences
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may seek to be instructed, persuaded, informed, entertained, educated, startled,

excited, saddened, enlightened, punished, consoled, or many, many others.
Authors and audiences purposes are only limited to what authors and audiences
want to accomplish in their moments of communication. There are as many
purposes for communicating as there are words to describe those purposes.
Attitude
Attitude is related to purpose and is a much-overlooked element of rhetorical
situations. But attitude affects a great deal of how a rhetorical situation unfolds.
Consider if an author communicates with a flippant attitude as opposed to a serious
attitude, or with drama as opposed to comedy, or calmly as opposed to excitedly.
Depending on authors purposes, audiences specific qualities, the nature of the
context, and other factors, any of these attitudes could either help or hinder authors
in their efforts to communicate depending on the other factors in any given
rhetorical situation. Like authors, audiences bring diverse attitudes to how they
appreciate different pieces of communication. The audiences attitude while
reading, listening, observing, or whatnot affects how they receive and process the
communication they receive.

Setting
Summary:
This presentation is designed to introduce your students to a variety of factors that
contribute to strong, well-organized writing. This presentation is suitable for the
beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in any
class.
Lastly, all rhetorical situations occur in specific settings or contexts or
environments. The specific constraints that affect a setting include the time of
author and audience, the place of author and audience, and the community or
conversation in which authors and/or audiences engage.
Time
Time in this sense refers to specific moments in history. It is fairly common
knowledge that different people communicate differently depending on the time in
which they live. Americans in the 1950s, overall, communicate differently than
Americans in the 2000s. Not that they necessarily speak a different language, but
these two groups of people have different assumptions about the world and how to
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communicate based on the era in which they live. Different moments in time can be
closer together and still affect the ways that people communicate. Certainly,
scientists discussed physics somewhat differently the year after Einstein published
his theory of relativity than they did the year before Einstein published his treatise.
Also, an author and audience may be located at different times in relation to one
another. Today, we appreciate Shakespeares Hamlet a bit differently than the
people who watched it when it first premiered four hundred years ago. A lot of
cultural norms have changed since then.
Place
Similarly, the specific places of authors and their audiences affect the ways that
texts are made and received. At a rally, the place may be the steps of a national
monument. In an academic conference or lecture hall or court case, the place is a
specific room. In other rhetorical situations, the place may be the pages of an
academic journal in which different authors respond to one another in essay form.
And, as mentioned about authors and audiences backgrounds, the places from
which audiences and authors emerge affect the ways that different texts are made
and received.
Community / Conversation
In various rhetorical situations, community or conversation can be used to refer
to the specific kinds of social interactions among authors and audiences. Outside of
speaking about rhetorical situations, community usually means specific groups of
people united by location and proximity like a neighborhood; conversation usually
refers to fairly intimate occasions of discussion among a small number of people.
But in regard to rhetorical situations, both of these terms can have much larger
meanings. In any given rhetorical situation, community and conversation can
refer to the people specifically involved in the act of communication. For instance,
consider Pablo Picasso who used cubism to challenge international notions of art at
the time he painted. Picasso was involved in a worldwide community of artists, art
critics, and other appreciators of art many of whom were actively engaged in an
extended conversation with differing assumptions about what art is and ought to
be. Sometimes, authors and audiences participate in the same community and
conversation, but in many instances, authors may communicate in one community
and conversation (again, think of Shakespeare four hundred years ago in England)
while audiences may participate in a different community and conversation (think of
scholars today in any other country in the world who discuss and debate the nature
of Shakespeares plays). The specific nature of authors communities and
conversations affect the ways that texts are made while the specific nature of
audiences communities and conversations affect the ways that texts are received
and appreciated.

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http://harvardhumanist.org/2012/06/14/the-freethinkers-political-textbooklogos-ethos-pathos/
Logos The Message
Logos is your rational argument: your key points, your supporting data, your
statistics, your analogies, your details. There are a number of ways you can improve
your Logos:

One sentence pitch. Create a one-sentence pitch which encapsulates the

core of your argument. If you cant capture the main thrust your argument in
one sentence its probably too complicated.
Three point outline. Outline the key points of your arguments as simply and
clearly as possible. Three points is best more and your audience will
struggle to retain them.
Analogy and Metaphor. A pithy analogy or metaphor can make an argument
stand out. Its best if a single metaphor can be extended throughout the
pitch.
Statistic + Story. For each point, identify one supporting statistic and one
illustrative story. Never a story without a statistic, never a statistic without a
story. Prof. Gary Orren

Ethos The Messenger

Ethos is your demonstration that you are a likable, trustworthy authority on the
given subject, and that you are worth listening to and hearing out. It is also your
demonstration that you share values with your audience.

Establish your Authority and Credibility. This neednt be a formal position of

authority (although use one if you have it). You can gain authority through
skills, experiences, association with authority figures or institutions, and use
of data, arguments or stories that have credibility themselves.
Liking. Consider the level of positivity and negativity in your message, humor
(particularly self-deprecating humor), body-language (smiling, open
expressions), your tone (not condescending, know-it-all), how well you listen
etc.
Listening. Find a way to demonstrate that you have listened to your audience.
This affects your ethos because it shows that you care about what they have
to say. Quote a member of the audience; mention you know they like a
particular thing; demonstrate youve read their mission statement;
acknowledge one of their main points against your proposal. Listen actively:
ask questions; nod; keep eye contact; paraphrase the audiences words.
Humor. Make jokes! Humor is surprisingly versatile, and can work in almost
any context if sensitively applied. A joke which embodies or illustrates a point
is best. Jokes at your own expense demonstrate comfort and can therefore
authority and credibility, surprisingly.
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Pathos The Audience

Pathos is the art of engaging your audience and their emotions, motivating them to
care about the issue you bring before them. Effective use of Pathos also includes
demonstrations that you understand and care about the audience.

Personalize. Find ways to personalize your proposal. Show how it affects

specific individuals in concrete ways. Telling one personal story adds power to
a broad statistic: Let me tell you about Bob, who lost his job when he
revealed he was an atheist
Emote. Demonstrate your own emotional commitment to the idea you are
promoting. One way to do this is find a reading or story which moves you,
and read it during your talk. People will pick up on your own demonstration of
feeling. Or, express your feelings through your vocal tone and body language.
Similarity. Find ways to demonstrate your similarity to your audience: I too
was raised in a Christian home; We are both from London; As Red Sox
fans, we understand; Were all skeptics here; As a fellow Harvard
graduate; We atheists have all faced discrimination. Similarities relevant to
the persuasive case are to be preferred.
Commitment. People wish to be seen as acting consistently with their public
commitments. Use this to your advantage. Either get the audience to make a
commitment during your pitch Will you promise to consider my proposal?
or reference public commitments they have already made: Your own
mission statement says; You stated publicly that; Youre always
saying we should consider

Using these techniques you will craft a more balanced, more persuasive
presentation which is more likely to sway others to your side!
Aristotelian Appeals: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos
Whenever you read an argument you must ask yourself, Is this persuasive? If so,
why? And to whom? There are many ways to appeal to an audience. Among them
are appealing to logos, ethos, and pathos. These appeals are identifiable in almost
all arguments.
To Appeal to LOGOS
(logic, reasoning)

To Develop or Appeal to
ETHOS
(character, ethics)

To Appeal to PATHOS
(emotion)

: the argument itself; the reasoning the author : how an author builds
: words or passages an author uses to
uses; logical evidence
credibility & trustworthiness activate emotions
Types of LOGOS Appeals

Theories / scientific facts

Ways to Develop ETHOS

Authors profession /

Types of PATHOS Appeals

Emotionally loaded language

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Indicated meanings or reasons

(because)
Literal or historical analogies
Definitions
Factual data & statistics
Quotations
Citations from experts & authorities
Informed opinions
Examples (real life examples)
Personal anecdotes

background
Authors publication
Appearing sincere, fair
minded, knowledgeable
Conceding to
opposition where
appropriate
Morally / ethically
likeable
Appropriate language
for audience and
subject
Appropriate vocabulary
Correct grammar
Professional format

Effect on Audience

Effect on Audience

Vivid descriptions
Emotional examples
Anecdotes, testimonies, or
narratives about emotional
experiences or events
Figurative language
Emotional tone (humor, sarcasm,
disappointment, excitement, etc.)

Effect on Audience

Evokes a cognitive, rational response. ReadersHelps reader to see the authorEvokes

as
an emotional response.
get a sense of, Oh, that makes sense or Hmm,
reliable, trustworthy, competent,
Persuasion by emotion.
that really doesnt prove anything.
and credible. The reader might
(usually evoking fear, sympathy,
respect the author or his/her empathy, anger,)
views.

How to Talk About It

How to Talk About It

How to Talk About It

The author appeals to logos by defining relevant

Through his use of scientific When referencing 9/11, the author is
terms and then supports his claim with numerous
terminology, the author buildsappealing to pathos. Here, he is eliciting
citations from authorities.
his ethos by demonstrating both sadness and anger from his readers.
expertise.
The authors use of statistics and expert testimony
The authors description of the child with
are very convincing logos appeals.
The authors ethos is effectively
cancer was a very persuasive appeal to
developed as readers see thatpathos.
he
is sympathetic to the struggles
minorities face.

Introducing the Aristotelian Appeals:

Advertisement Activity
Alicia Upano

Time: 50-75 minutes

Materials: Logos, Ethos, Pathos Handout, advertisement overheads or online
commercial, follow-up HW assignment on a visual or written text
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Overview: First, introduce students to the Aristotelian appeals. Then, have

students recognize and discuss the different appeals in three
appropriate advertisements. Next, assign group work where students
create their own advertisements and share with the class. Last, assign
additional work where students must do a rhetorical analysis or either
a visual or written text.
Warm-up: 5-15 minutes
1.

Give students background information on the appeals.

a.

Remind students that our focus is on what a text does, not on what it says.
When performing rhetorical analyses of arguments, we look at what
moves an author makes in hopes of persuading his claims.

b.
Write on the board Aristotelian Appeals. Ask, What word/name can we pull
from this term?
c.

Give background: In Ancient Greece, Aristotle (our father of rhetoric)

studied the art of persuasion and found that the ways all rhetors appeal to
their audiences can be categorized in three ways.

d.

Write on the board Logos, Ethos, Pathos. Elicit student responses to guess
what these different appeals are (think roots: logos/logic; ethos/ethics;
pathos/sympathy)

e.

Have students brainstorm and call out how might rhetors appeal to an
audience using logos. Ethos? Pathos? Jot down their answers on the board.
Also consider showing this short video (6 minutes or so) explaining the
Aristotelian appeals. Its a bit corny (made for middle school students), but it
gets the job done. This can be used in addition to or in replacement of your
introduction.

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?
viewkey=8e6ffede7cf8b4825fe3
Introduce the Aristotelian Appeals using the Handout and Overheads: 1015 minutes
1.

Pass out the Logos, Ethos, Pathos handout. Go over the handout with the
class. Point out the language that is used when talking about the appeals.

2.

When appropriate, make comments connecting back to the email activity.

See the examples below for help.

a.
In writing a persuasive email to the instructor, how did the
student appeal to logos?
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b.

c.

3.

i.

Reasoning: x happened, so it was impossible to be in class

ii.

Doctors note / death certificate

iii.

Letter from coach

Ethos?
i.

Apologize / take responsibility

ii.

Greet professor professionally / speak respectfully

iii.

Assure your proactive, hardworking, willing to do what it takes

Pathos?
i.

Tell a sad story of what happened

ii.

Tell a sad story of what will happen if you fail

iii.

Plead for forgiveness

Show different advertisements (overheads or commercials) and discuss how

each appeals to the audience. You can take time here discussing the visual
texts argument and audience. Make sure students use academic language
to analyze and discuss the ad (see the examples on the handout).
a.

Talk about the ads rhetorically

i.
audience?)

What is the ad DOING (what rhetorical appeal? To what

ii.

How is the ad DOING it? (describe whats going on)

iii.

Is it effective? (use analytical term)

In-class Activities for Creating Ads using Ethos/Pathos/Logos

1)

Three Large Groups Creating an Ad

Divide the class into three large groups (8-9 students each). Do one of the
following.
a)

Assign each group the task of creating an ad for A) ethos, B) pathos,

or C) logos. This activity is most effective if you use the same
company, say Nike, for the whole class. This way they can see how
very different the same product can be promoted depending

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on which rhetorical appeal is emphasized. Groups share in class

and/or write something up as homework.
b)

2)

Assign each group the task of creating an ad where they must

persuade their audience using ALL three of the appeals. This can help
to emphasize the idea that most arguments utilize a balance of ethos,
pathos, and logos when attempting to convince their audience. Assign
various or the same company or let students choose. Groups share in
class and/or write something up as homework.

Several Small Groups Creating an Ad

Ask your class to get into groups of three and assign each group to one box in
the chart below. Groups share in class and/or write something up as
homework.
UPS

Coca Cola

Nike

Ethos

Group A

Pathos

Logos

Regardless of which group size you choose, you will then need to assign the
type of ad they will be creating:
a)

Magazine Ad
You may want to bring in blank overhead sheets and markers to allow
each group to create a layout of what their magazine page would look
like.

b)

Television Commercial
Your students can describe their proposed commercial frame by frame,
or get up together as a group and narrate/act it out that class or the
next.

3)

Give a Pitch to a Company

A third option can be either an in-class or take home assignment and it
can also be done in groups or individually. The students, pretending
they are advertising executives, will write a sales pitch to a
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company with a proposed advertisement. They need to use persuasive

language and all three rhetorical appeals when describing not just
what their advertisement will be, but also how it will work. For
example: (to Nike executives) The ad will never actually use the
word Nike but instead, will have your signature swoosh at
the bottom of the image. We believe that because your company is
so well-known and has firmly built up its ethos that using both Nike
and the swoosh seems redundant. The ever presence of the swoosh
will represent your companys strong foundation.

Out -of-class Writing Assignments for Analyzing Ads using

Ethos/Pathos/Logos
1)

Analyze a Magazine Ad
Students find an ad online, print it out, and write a one page rhetorical
analysis focusing on how the ad appeals to logos, ethos, and/or pathos.

2)

Analyze Your own Advertisement

Students draw or write-up an advertisement (either created in class
with their groups or on their own at home). Then, students write a one
page analysis of their advertisement focusing on how it appeals to
logos, ethos, and/or pathos.

3)

Analyze a Written Text

Students are assigned to read a pre-selected short text at home and
write a one page analysis describing how the author appeals to logos,
pathos, and/or ethos.

A Quick Guide to Rhetorical Analyses

http://condor.depaul.edu/writing/writers/Types_of_Writing/rhetanalysis.htm
l
Eric I., former Writing Center tutor
Please keep in mind that these are only general guidelines; always defer to your
professor's specifications for a given assignment. If you have any questions about
the content represented here, please contact the Writing Centers so that we can
address them for you.
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If you have been asked to do a rhetorical analysis of a text, you have been asked to
critically examine the text and uncover the inner-workings of the rhetorics at work
in the text. Your goal is to understand the purpose the author(s) had in writing the
text and what kind of effect the author(s) wanted to produce in the readers. But
beyond simply identifying the intended goals and effects of a text, you need to
understand how those goals and effects are achieved. The three most basic
concepts of a rhetorical analysis are ethos, pathos, and logos. These Ancient Greek
concepts were introduced by Aristotle as the three means of persuasion. While
these are considered the main forms of rhetoric, they are not the only forms of
rhetoric but are a good place to start from.
Ethos: The authors credibility; the authors authority. Ethos relates to the character
of the author and what makes the author a reputable source about a given subject.
Go to an example of an ethos-based site, and an explanation of what it is (from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).
Pathos: The emotions of the reader. Pathos relates to the way authors appeal to
their readers emotions.
Logos: The logical appeal that an author makes. Logos refers to the use of logical
reasoning in creating an argument, whether through the use of statistical
information or logical claims that bear on the validity of the argument itself.
Writing the Rhetorical Analysis
In general, the introduction of a rhetorical analysis will include a summary or
description of the text as well as any necessary context that your reader will need
to understand your rhetorical analysis. Such context may include biographical
information about the author(s), for example.
When writing a rhetorical analysis, there are a few ways to approach the text. Here
are two examples of how you can approach a rhetorical analysisthere are many
other approaches but these might be helpful to start with:
Summarize the main argument.
Break the argument down into smaller pieces.
Identify each major point/detail that builds up to the main
thesis/argument.
or
Identify thesis/main argument
Identify theme of main argument
Find sections that match the theme of the main argument
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In either approach above, you will be analyzing the way that the author constructed
the main argument and any supporting details. You can then identify each use of
ethos, pathos, and logos and any other rhetorical devices (otherwise known as
tropes).
Your writing style in a rhetorical analysis should be highly academic and precise.
The strength of a rhetorical analysis relies on the way you write the analysis. You
should use a formal toneyour reader should get the impression that you know
what you are talking about. Your analysis should follow a logical organization that
will be easy to follow for your reader. Discuss the text in a logical orderif you are
breaking the text down into smaller parts, discuss them in order. In this case, you
would start small and build up to the larger thesis. If you are starting with the big
picture first, find common themes or threads throughout the text and discuss them
together.
Some guiding questions when writing a rhetorical analysis
What is the main argument (or arguments) in the text?
What kind of organizational structure does the author use? Is the main argument
stated early on? In the middle? At the end? What does this tell you about the rest of
the text?
Who is the intended or perceived audience?
How does the writing style in the text make the piece more appealing to the
intended or perceived audience?
Does the author establish herself as an expert on the subject of the text? If so, how?

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on desires, nosalgia, sense of adventure,

horror, disgust, affection, humor,
http://www.slideshare.net/dianaknoll/logos-ethos-and-pathos-inadvertising
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFcCFEeOEeg

Example: I have a dream speech *speech attached

Summary:
This presentation is designed to introduce your students to a variety of factors that
contribute to strong, well-organized writing. This presentation is suitable for the
beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in any
class.
Example 1: I Have a Dream Speech
A lot of what was covered above may still seem abstract and complicated. To
illustrate how diverse kinds of texts have their own rhetorical situations, consider
the following examples.
First, consider Dr. Martin Luther Kings famous I Have a Dream speech. Because
this speech is famous, it should be very easy to identify the basic elements of its
particular rhetorical situation.
Text
The text in question is a 17-minute speech written and delivered by Dr. King. The
basic medium of the text was an oral speech that was broadcast by both
loudspeakers at the event and over radio and television. Dr. King drew on years of
training as a minister and public speaker to deliver the speech. He also drew on his
extensive education and the tumultuous history of racial prejudices and civil rights
in the US. Audiences at the time either heard his speech in person or over radio or
television broadcasts. Part of the speech near the end was improvised around the
repeated phrase I have a dream.
Author
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most iconic leader of the American Civil Rights
Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He was an African-American Baptist minister
and prominent civil rights activist who campaigned to end segregation and racial
discrimination. He gained inspiration from Howard Thurman and Mahatma Gandhi,
and he drew extensively from a deep, rich cultural tradition of African-American
Christian spiritualism.
Audience

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The audiences for I Have a Dream are extraordinarily varied. In one sense, the
audience consisted of the 200,000 or so people who listened to Dr. King in person.
But Dr. King also overtly appealed to lawmakers and citizens everywhere in America
at the time of his speech. There were also millions of people who heard his speech
over radio and television at the time. And many more millions people since 1963
have heard recordings of the speech in video, audio, or digital form.
Purposes
Dr. Kings immediate purposes appear to have been to convince Americans across
the country to embrace racial equality and to further strengthen the resolve of
those already involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Audiences purposes are not as
easily summarized. Some at the time may have sought to be inspired by Dr. King.
Opponents to racial equality who heard his speech may have listened for the
purpose of seeking to find ways to further argue against racial equality. Audiences
since then may have used the speech to educate or to advocate for other social
justice issues.
Setting
The initial setting for the speech was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, DC on August 28, 1963. The immediate community and conversation
for the speech was the ongoing Civil Rights Movement that had gained particular
momentum with the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, which Dr. King helped direct.
But the enduring nature of Dr. Kings speech has broadened the setting to include
many countries and many people who have since read or listened to his speech.
Certainly, people listening to his speech for the first time today in America are
experiencing a different mix of cultural attitudes toward race than as present in
America in 1963.
Other Analysis
Dr. Kings speech is an example of a rhetorical situation that is much bigger than its
initial text and audience. Not many rhetorical situations are as far reaching in scope
as Dr. Kings I Have a Dream speech.

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Fallacies
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fallacies/
This handout discusses common logical fallacies that you may encounter in your
own writing or the writing of others. The handout provides definitions, examples,
and tips on avoiding these fallacies.
Arguments
Most academic writing tasks require you to make an argumentthat is, to present
reasons for a particular claim or interpretation you are putting forward. You may
have been told that you need to make your arguments more logical or stronger. And
you may have worried that you simply arent a logical person or wondered what it
means for an argument to be strong. Learning to make the best arguments you can
is an ongoing process, but it isnt impossible: Being logical is something anyone
can do, with practice.
Each argument you make is composed of premises (this is a term for statements
that express your reasons or evidence) that are arranged in the right way to support
your conclusion (the main claim or interpretation you are offering). You can make
your arguments stronger by using good premises (ones you have good reason to
believe are both true and relevant to the issue at hand), making sure your premises
provide good support for your conclusion (and not some other conclusion, or no
conclusion at all), checking that you have addressed the most important or relevant
aspects of the issue (that is, that your premises and conclusion focus on what is
really important to the issue), and not making claims that are so strong or sweeping
that you cant really support them.
You also need to be sure that you present all of your ideas in an orderly fashion that
readers can follow. See our handouts on argument and organization for some tips
that will improve your arguments.
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This handout describes some ways in which arguments often fail to do the things
listed above; these failings are called fallacies. If youre having trouble developing
your argument, check to see if a fallacy is part of the problem.
It is particularly easy to slip up and commit a fallacy when you have strong feelings
about your topicif a conclusion seems obvious to you, youre more likely to just
assume that it is true and to be careless with your evidence. To help you see how
people commonly make this mistake, this handout uses a number of controversial
political examplesarguments about subjects like abortion, gun control, the death
penalty, gay marriage, euthanasia, and pornography. The purpose of this handout,
though, is not to argue for any particular position on any of these issues; rather, it is
to illustrate weak reasoning, which can happen in pretty much any kind of
argument. Please be aware that the claims in these examples are just made-up
illustrationsthey havent been researched, and you shouldnt use them as
evidence in your own writing.

WHAT ARE FALLACIES?

Fallacies are defects that weaken arguments. By learning to look for them in your
own and others writing, you can strengthen your ability to evaluate the arguments
you make, read, and hear. It is important to realize two things about fallacies: first,
fallacious arguments are very, very common and can be quite persuasive, at least
to the casual reader or listener. You can find dozens of examples of fallacious
reasoning in newspapers, advertisements, and other sources. Second, it is
sometimes hard to evaluate whether an argument is fallacious. An argument might
be very weak, somewhat weak, somewhat strong, or very strong. An argument that
has several stages or parts might have some strong sections and some weak ones.
The goal of this handout, then, is not to teach you how to label arguments as
fallacious or fallacy-free, but to help you look critically at your own arguments and
move them away from the weak and toward the strong end of the continuum.
SO WHAT DO FALLACIES LOOK LIKE?
For each fallacy listed, there is a definition or explanation, an example, and a tip on
how to avoid committing the fallacy in your own arguments.
Hasty generalization
Definition: Making assumptions about a whole group or range of cases based on a
sample that is inadequate (usually because it is atypical or too small). Stereotypes
about people (librarians are shy and smart, wealthy people are snobs, etc.) are
a common example of the principle underlying hasty generalization.
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Example: My roommate said her philosophy class was hard, and the one Im in is
hard, too. All philosophy classes must be hard! Two peoples experiences are, in
this case, not enough on which to base a conclusion.
Tip: Ask yourself what kind of sample youre using: Are you relying on the opinions
or experiences of just a few people, or your own experience in just a few situations?
If so, consider whether you need more evidence, or perhaps a less sweeping
conclusion. (Notice that in the example, the more modest conclusion Some
philosophy classes are hard for some students would not be a hasty
generalization.)
Missing the point
Definition: The premises of an argument do support a particular conclusionbut not
the conclusion that the arguer actually draws.
Example: The seriousness of a punishment should match the seriousness of the
crime. Right now, the punishment for drunk driving may simply be a fine. But drunk
driving is a very serious crime that can kill innocent people. So the death penalty
should be the punishment for drunk driving. The argument actually supports
several conclusionsThe punishment for drunk driving should be very serious, in
particularbut it doesnt support the claim that the death penalty, specifically, is
warranted.
Tip: Separate your premises from your conclusion. Looking at the premises, ask
yourself what conclusion an objective person would reach after reading them.
Looking at your conclusion, ask yourself what kind of evidence would be required to
support such a conclusion, and then see if youve actually given that evidence.
Missing the point often occurs when a sweeping or extreme conclusion is being
drawn, so be especially careful if you know youre claiming something big.
Post hoc (also called false cause)
This fallacy gets its name from the Latin phrase post hoc, ergo propter hoc, which
translates as after this, therefore because of this.
Definition: Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B. Of course,
sometimes one event really does cause another one that comes laterfor example,
if I register for a class, and my name later appears on the roll, its true that the first
event caused the one that came later. But sometimes two events that seem related
in time arent really related as cause and event. That is, correlation isnt the same
thing as causation.
Examples: President Jones raised taxes, and then the rate of violent crime went up.
Jones is responsible for the rise in crime. The increase in taxes might or might not
be one factor in the rising crime rates, but the argument hasnt shown us that one
caused the other.
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Tip: To avoid the post hoc fallacy, the arguer would need to give us some
explanation of the process by which the tax increase is supposed to have produced
higher crime rates. And thats what you should do to avoid committing this fallacy: If
you say that A causes B, you should have something more to say about how A
caused B than just that A came first and B came later.
Slippery slope
Definition: The arguer claims that a sort of chain reaction, usually ending in some
dire consequence, will take place, but theres really not enough evidence for that
assumption. The arguer asserts that if we take even one step onto the slippery
slope, we will end up sliding all the way to the bottom; he or she assumes we cant
stop partway down the hill.
Example: Animal experimentation reduces our respect for life. If we dont respect
life, we are likely to be more and more tolerant of violent acts like war and murder.
Soon our society will become a battlefield in which everyone constantly fears for
their lives. It will be the end of civilization. To prevent this terrible consequence, we
should make animal experimentation illegal right now. Since animal
experimentation has been legal for some time and civilization has not yet ended, it
seems particularly clear that this chain of events wont necessarily take place. Even
if we believe that experimenting on animals reduces respect for life, and loss of
respect for life makes us more tolerant of violence, that may be the spot on the
hillside at which things stopwe may not slide all the way down to the end of
civilization. And so we have not yet been given sufficient reason to accept the
arguers conclusion that we must make animal experimentation illegal right now.

Like post hoc, slippery slope can be a tricky fallacy to identify, since sometimes a
chain of events really can be predicted to follow from a certain action. Heres an
example that doesnt seem fallacious: If I fail English 101, I wont be able to
graduate. If I dont graduate, I probably wont be able to get a good job, and I may
very well end up doing temp work or flipping burgers for the next year.
Tip: Check your argument for chains of consequences, where you say if A, then B,
and if B, then C, and so forth. Make sure these chains are reasonable.
Weak analogy
Definition: Many arguments rely on an analogy between two or more objects, ideas,
or situations. If the two things that are being compared arent really alike in the
relevant respects, the analogy is a weak one, and the argument that relies on it
commits the fallacy of weak analogy.
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Example: Guns are like hammerstheyre both tools with metal parts that could be
used to kill someone. And yet it would be ridiculous to restrict the purchase of
hammersso restrictions on purchasing guns are equally ridiculous. While guns
and hammers do share certain features, these features (having metal parts, being
tools, and being potentially useful for violence) are not the ones at stake in deciding
whether to restrict guns. Rather, we restrict guns because they can easily be used
to kill large numbers of people at a distance. This is a feature hammers do not share
it would be hard to kill a crowd with a hammer. Thus, the analogy is weak, and so
is the argument based on it.
If you think about it, you can make an analogy of some kind between almost any
two things in the world: My paper is like a mud puddle because they both get
bigger when it rains (I work more when Im stuck inside) and theyre both kind of
murky. So the mere fact that you can draw an analogy between two things doesnt
prove much, by itself.
Arguments by analogy are often used in discussing abortionarguers frequently
compare fetuses with adult human beings, and then argue that treatment that
would violate the rights of an adult human being also violates the rights of fetuses.
Whether these arguments are good or not depends on the strength of the analogy:
do adult humans and fetuses share the properties that give adult humans rights? If
the property that matters is having a human genetic code or the potential for a life
full of human experiences, adult humans and fetuses do share that property, so the
argument and the analogy are strong; if the property is being self-aware, rational, or
able to survive on ones own, adult humans and fetuses dont share it, and the
analogy is weak.
Tip: Identify what properties are important to the claim youre making, and see
whether the two things youre comparing both share those properties.
Appeal to authority
Definition: Often we add strength to our arguments by referring to respected
sources or authorities and explaining their positions on the issues were discussing.
If, however, we try to get readers to agree with us simply by impressing them with a
famous name or by appealing to a supposed authority who really isnt much of an
expert, we commit the fallacy of appeal to authority.
Example: We should abolish the death penalty. Many respected people, such as
actor Guy Handsome, have publicly stated their opposition to it. While Guy
Handsome may be an authority on matters having to do with acting, theres no
particular reason why anyone should be moved by his political opinionshe is
probably no more of an authority on the death penalty than the person writing the
paper.

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Tip: There are two easy ways to avoid committing appeal to authority: First, make
sure that the authorities you cite are experts on the subject youre discussing.
Second, rather than just saying Dr. Authority believes X, so we should believe it,
too, try to explain the reasoning or evidence that the authority used to arrive at his
or her opinion. That way, your readers have more to go on than a persons
reputation. It also helps to choose authorities who are perceived as fairly neutral or
reasonable, rather than people who will be perceived as biased.
Ad populum
Definition: The Latin name of this fallacy means to the people. There are several
versions of the ad populum fallacy, but what they all have in common is that in
them, the arguer takes advantage of the desire most people have to be liked and to
fit in with others and uses that desire to try to get the audience to accept his or her
argument. One of the most common versions is the bandwagon fallacy, in which the
arguer tries to convince the audience to do or believe something because everyone
else (supposedly) does.
Example: Gay marriages are just immoral. 70% of Americans think so! While the
opinion of most Americans might be relevant in determining what laws we should
have, it certainly doesnt determine what is moral or immoral: there was a time
where a substantial number of Americans were in favor of segregation, but their
opinion was not evidence that segregation was moral. The arguer is trying to get us
to agree with the conclusion by appealing to our desire to fit in with other
Americans.
Tip: Make sure that you arent recommending that your readers believe your
conclusion because everyone else believes it, all the cool people believe it, people
will like you better if you believe it, and so forth. Keep in mind that the popular
opinion is not always the right one.
Ad hominem and tu quoque
Definitions: Like the appeal to authority and ad populum fallacies, the ad hominem
(against the person) and tu quoque (you, too!) fallacies focus our attention on
people rather than on arguments or evidence. In both of these arguments, the
conclusion is usually You shouldnt believe So-and-Sos argument. The reason for
not believing So-and-So is that So-and-So is either a bad person (ad hominem) or a
hypocrite (tu quoque). In an ad hominem argument, the arguer attacks his or her
opponent instead of the opponents argument.

Examples: Andrea Dworkin has written several books arguing that pornography
harms women. But Dworkin is just ugly and bitter, so why should we listen to her?
Dworkins appearance and character, which the arguer has characterized so
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ungenerously, have nothing to do with the strength of her argument, so using them
as evidence is fallacious.
In a tu quoque argument, the arguer points out that the opponent has actually done
the thing he or she is arguing against, and so the opponents argument shouldnt be
listened to. Heres an example: imagine that your parents have explained to you
why you shouldnt smoke, and theyve given a lot of good reasonsthe damage to
your health, the cost, and so forth. You reply, I wont accept your argument,
because you used to smoke when you were my age. You did it, too! The fact that
your parents have done the thing they are condemning has no bearing on the
premises they put forward in their argument (smoking harms your health and is
very expensive), so your response is fallacious.
Tip: Be sure to stay focused on your opponents reasoning, rather than on their
personal character. (The exception to this is, of course, if you are making an
argument about someones characterif your conclusion is President Jones is an
untrustworthy person, premises about her untrustworthy acts are relevant, not
fallacious.)
Appeal to pity
Definition: The appeal to pity takes place when an arguer tries to get people to
accept a conclusion by making them feel sorry for someone.
Examples: I know the exam is graded based on performance, but you should give
me an A. My cat has been sick, my car broke down, and Ive had a cold, so it was
really hard for me to study! The conclusion here is You should give me an A. But
the criteria for getting an A have to do with learning and applying the material from
the course; the principle the arguer wants us to accept (people who have a hard
week deserve As) is clearly unacceptable. The information the arguer has given
might feel relevant and might even get the audience to consider the conclusion
but the information isnt logically relevant, and so the argument is fallacious. Heres
another example: Its wrong to tax corporationsthink of all the money they give
to charity, and of the costs they already pay to run their businesses!
Tip: Make sure that you arent simply trying to get your audience to agree with you
by making them feel sorry for someone.
Appeal to ignorance
Definition: In the appeal to ignorance, the arguer basically says, Look, theres no
conclusive evidence on the issue at hand. Therefore, you should accept my
conclusion on this issue.
Example: People have been trying for centuries to prove that God exists. But no
one has yet been able to prove it. Therefore, God does not exist. Heres an
opposing argument that commits the same fallacy: People have been trying for
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years to prove that God does not exist. But no one has yet been able to prove it.
Therefore, God exists. In each case, the arguer tries to use the lack of evidence as
support for a positive claim about the truth of a conclusion. There is one situation in
which doing this is not fallacious: if qualified researchers have used well-thought-out
methods to search for something for a long time, they havent found it, and its the
kind of thing people ought to be able to find, then the fact that they havent found it
constitutes some evidence that it doesnt exist.
Tip: Look closely at arguments where you point out a lack of evidence and then
draw a conclusion from that lack of evidence.
Straw man
Definition: One way of making our own arguments stronger is to anticipate and
respond in advance to the arguments that an opponent might make. In the straw
man fallacy, the arguer sets up a weak version of the opponents position and tries
to score points by knocking it down. But just as being able to knock down a straw
man (like a scarecrow) isnt very impressive, defeating a watered-down version of
your opponents argument isnt very impressive either.
Example: Feminists want to ban all pornography and punish everyone who looks at
it! But such harsh measures are surely inappropriate, so the feminists are wrong:
porn and its fans should be left in peace. The feminist argument is made weak by
being overstated. In fact, most feminists do not propose an outright ban on porn
or any punishment for those who merely view it or approve of it; often, they propose
some restrictions on particular things like child porn, or propose to allow people who
are hurt by porn to sue publishers and producersnot viewersfor damages. So the
arguer hasnt really scored any points; he or she has just committed a fallacy.
Tip: Be charitable to your opponents. State their arguments as strongly, accurately,
and sympathetically as possible. If you can knock down even the best version of an
opponents argument, then youve really accomplished something.
Red herring
Definition: Partway through an argument, the arguer goes off on a tangent, raising a
side issue that distracts the audience from whats really at stake. Often, the arguer
never returns to the original issue.
Example: Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do. After all,
classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting along
well. Lets try our premise-conclusion outlining to see whats wrong with this
argument:
Premise: Classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting
along well.
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Conclusion: Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do.
When we lay it out this way, its pretty obvious that the arguer went off on a
tangentthe fact that something helps people get along doesnt necessarily make
it more fair; fairness and justice sometimes require us to do things that cause
conflict. But the audience may feel like the issue of teachers and students agreeing
is important and be distracted from the fact that the arguer has not given any
evidence as to why a curve would be fair.
Tip: Try laying your premises and conclusion out in an outline-like form. How many
issues do you see being raised in your argument? Can you explain how each
premise supports the conclusion?
False dichotomy
Definition: In false dichotomy, the arguer sets up the situation so it looks like there
are only two choices. The arguer then eliminates one of the choices, so it seems
that we are left with only one option: the one the arguer wanted us to pick in the
first place. But often there are really many different options, not just twoand if we
thought about them all, we might not be so quick to pick the one the arguer
recommends.
Example: Caldwell Hall is in bad shape. Either we tear it down and put up a new
building, or we continue to risk students safety. Obviously we shouldnt risk
anyones safety, so we must tear the building down. The argument neglects to
mention the possibility that we might repair the building or find some way to protect
students from the risks in questionfor example, if only a few rooms are in bad
shape, perhaps we shouldnt hold classes in those rooms.
Tip: Examine your own arguments: if youre saying that we have to choose between
just two options, is that really so? Or are there other alternatives you havent
mentioned? If there are other alternatives, dont just ignore themexplain why
they, too, should be ruled out. Although theres no formal name for it, assuming that
there are only three options, four options, etc. when really there are more is similar
to false dichotomy and should also be avoided.
Begging the question
Definition: A complicated fallacy; it comes in several forms and can be harder to
detect than many of the other fallacies weve discussed. Basically, an argument
that begs the question asks the reader to simply accept the conclusion without
providing real evidence; the argument either relies on a premise that says the same
thing as the conclusion (which you might hear referred to as being circular or
circular reasoning), or simply ignores an important (but questionable) assumption
that the argument rests on. Sometimes people use the phrase beg the question as
a sort of general criticism of arguments, to mean that an arguer hasnt given very
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good reasons for a conclusion, but thats not the meaning were going to discuss
here.
Examples: Active euthanasia is morally acceptable. It is a decent, ethical thing to
help another human being escape suffering through death. Lets lay this out in
premise-conclusion form:
Premise: It is a decent, ethical thing to help another human being escape suffering
through death.
Conclusion: Active euthanasia is morally acceptable.
If we translate the premise, well see that the arguer has really just said the same
thing twice: decent, ethical means pretty much the same thing as morally
acceptable, and help another human being escape suffering through death
means something pretty similar to active euthanasia. So the premise basically
says, active euthanasia is morally acceptable, just like the conclusion does. The
arguer hasnt yet given us any real reasons why euthanasia is acceptable; instead,
she has left us asking well, really, why do you think active euthanasia is
acceptable? Her argument begs (that is, evades) the real question.
Heres a second example of begging the question, in which a dubious premise which
is needed to make the argument valid is completely ignored: Murder is morally
wrong. So active euthanasia is morally wrong. The premise that gets left out is
active euthanasia is murder. And that is a debatable premiseagain, the
argument begs or evades the question of whether active euthanasia is murder by
simply not stating the premise. The arguer is hoping well just focus on the
uncontroversial premise, Murder is morally wrong, and not notice what is being
assumed.
Tip: One way to try to avoid begging the question is to write out your premises and
conclusion in a short, outline-like form. See if you notice any gaps, any steps that
are required to move from one premise to the next or from the premises to the
conclusion. Write down the statements that would fill those gaps. If the statements
are controversial and youve just glossed over them, you might be begging the
question. Next, check to see whether any of your premises basically says the same
thing as the conclusion (but in different words). If so, youre probably begging the
question. The moral of the story: you cant just assume or use as uncontroversial
evidence the very thing youre trying to prove.
Equivocation
Definition: Equivocation is sliding between two or more different meanings of a
single word or phrase that is important to the argument.
Example: Giving money to charity is the right thing to do. So charities have a right
to our money. The equivocation here is on the word right: right can mean both
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something that is correct or good (as in I got the right answers on the test) and
something to which someone has a claim (as in everyone has a right to life).
Sometimes an arguer will deliberately, sneakily equivocate, often on words like
freedom, justice, rights, and so forth; other times, the equivocation is a
mistake or misunderstanding. Either way, its important that you use the main
terms of your argument consistently.
Tip: Identify the most important words and phrases in your argument and ask
yourself whether they could have more than one meaning. If they could, be sure
you arent slipping and sliding between those meanings.

Try to spot the fallacies in the following passage

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fallacies/sample-arguments-withfallacies/fallacy-adjunct/
SAMPLE ARGUMENT
The feminist argument that pornography is harmful has no merit and should not be
discussed in college courses. I read Playboy magazine, and I dont see how it
could be harmful. Feminists might criticize me for looking at porn, but they
shouldnt talk; they obviously look at it, too, or they couldnt criticize it. Many
important people, including the Presidents, writers, and entertainers who have been
interviewed by the magazine and the women who pose in it, apparently agree.
Scientific studies so far have not proved that pornography is harmful, so it must not
be harmful. Besides, to be harmful, pornography would either have to harm the men
who read it or the women who pose in it, and since they both choose these
activities, they must not be harmful. Feminists should take a lesson from my parents
they dont like loud music and wont have it in their house, but they dont go
around saying its harmful to everyone or trying to prevent others from listening to
it. Ever since feminists began attacking our popular culture, the moral foundation of
our society has been weakened; the divorce rate, for example, continues to rise. If
feminists would just cease their hysterical opposition to sex, perhaps relationships
in our society would improve. If feminists insist, instead, on banning porn, men will
have no freedom and no pleasure left, and large numbers of women will be jobless
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and will have to work as prostitutes to support themselves. In light of these

consequences, feminists shouldnt be surprised if their protests are met with
violence. Truly, the feminist argument is baseless.
The fallacious arguments; the explanation below each one in bold and italics
The feminist argument that pornography is harmful has no merit and should not be
discussed in college courses.
This is the overall conclusion. Should not be discussed in college courses =
unrelated to the arguments that follow, so this is missing the point.

I read Playboy magazine, and I dont see how it could be harmful.

I read it=ad populum, I dont see how=appeal to ignorance; also, hasty
generalization to Playboy (as opposed to other porn) and on arguers own
experience.

Feminists might criticize me for looking at porn, but they shouldnt talk; they
obviously look at it, too, or they couldnt criticize it.
Tu quoque; equivocation on look at (reading something to critique it is different
from reading it regularly for pleasure).
Many important people, including the Presidents, writers, and entertainers who have
been interviewed by the magazine and the women who pose in it, apparently agree.
Ad populum and appeal to authority.

Scientific studies so far have not proved that pornography is harmful, so it must not
be harmful.
Appeal to ignorance.

Besides, to be harmful, pornography would either have to harm the men who read it
or the women who pose in it and since they both choose these activities, they must
not be harmful.
False dichotomy (women who dont pose could still be harmed); unsupported
assumption that people cannot be harmed by activities they have chosen.

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Feminists should take a lesson from my parentsthey dont like loud music and
wont have it in their house, but they dont go around saying its harmful to
everyone or trying to prevent others from listening to it.
Weak analogy.

Ever since feminists began attacking our popular culture, the moral foundation of
our society has been weakened; the divorce rate, for example, continues to rise.
Post hoc; divorce rate=red herring.

If feminists would just cease their hysterical opposition to sex, perhaps relationships
in our society would improve.
Opposition to sex=straw man; hysterical=ad hominem.

If feminists insist, instead, on banning porn, men will have no freedom and no
pleasure left, and large numbers of women will be jobless and will have to work as
prostitutes to support themselves.
Appeal to pity; slippery slope; did anyone actually suggest a ban?
In light of these consequences, feminists shouldnt be surprised if their protests are
met with violence. Truly, the feminist argument is baseless.
Ad baculum: A fallacy we didnt discuss, in which the arguer basically says, If you
dont agree with my conclusion, bad things will happen to you. And saying the
feminist argument is baseless begs the questionthis is not additional evidence,
but the exact claim the writer is hoping to establish (with baseless in place of has
no merit).

FALLACY LITE
The feminist argument that pornography is harmful lacks adequate support.
This conclusion is a little less sweeping than the argument has no merit, which
makes it easier to support. It also avoids getting into other issues like what should
be taught in college.

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First, the feminist argument typically alleges that pornography increases mens
willingness to rape women, or at least to think of them only as sex objects.
This sentence points out exactly which part of the argument is being discussed,
which helps keep the reader oriented.

But this argument ignores the fact that the print pornography industry alone earns
more money each year than the entire legitimate bookselling industry. For that to
be true, there must be many, many men and women who read pornography
regularly. And yet crime statistics suggest that not many men rape women.
This section of the argument does appeal to what most people do, but not in the
same way as the bandwagon or hasty generalization did. The author doesnt
assume that his or her personal experience is necessarily relevant or generalize
from a few people he or she knows; instead, he or she refers to crime statistics.

Furthermore, most men today believe in womens equality, as a study by Dr.

Knowitall and her research group at the Institute on the Status of Women
demonstrates.
If Dr. Knowitall is a reliable source, this is a legitimate use of authority, not an
appeal to authority or bandwagon.

Feminists acknowledge that scientific studies have failed to show that porn harms
women. If there had been only a few such studies, or if we had reason to believe
they were unreliable, we should conclude that nothing has yet been shown about
whether porn harms women. But I think that when reliable studies have repeatedly
failed to show a relationship, that fact constitutes some evidence that the
relationship doesnt exist. So it seems unlikely that porn is harming women in the
way the feminist argument alleges.
This section of the argument avoids the appeal to ignorance and instead talks
directly about what we should do when studies dont show anything conclusively.

In the absence of positive evidence from studies, we have to rely on common sense.
Can people distinguish between the sometimes-degrading scenarios they see in
porn and real life? I believe they can. I think pornography is a lot like television and
moviesit presents images that, while they certainly do have some impact on us,
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we all realize are nothing more than fiction. Young children may have difficulty
distinguishing between fantasy and reality, but they are not often exposed to
pornography. Men and women who look at porn should know better than to think
that it gives a realistic picture of sexual relationships between men and women.
This section of the argument uses a fairly strong analogy between porn and other
types of media, like TV and movies. The more relevant traits two things share, the
stronger an analogy between them is likely to be.

If porn cannot be shown to harm women as a class by making them more

vulnerable to sexual violence or causing men to think of them as inferior, how else
might it be harmful?
This sentence assumes there are several possible ways, instead of setting up a false
dichotomy.

Feminists have often argued that the porn industry is harmful to the women who
work within itthat many of them are abused and exploited. I agree with them that
if an industry is mistreating people, it needs to be reformed, and they are doing a
public service by pointing out such abuses.
By discussing areas of agreement with opponents, the arguer avoids ad hominems
and shows that she is not fanatically devoted to proving that her position is right
about everything and that feminists are wrong about everything.

But what sort of reform are feminists proposing?

Again, this question is open and doesnt set up a false dichotomy.

One suggestion I know about has been made by Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea
Dworkin, who argue that there should be a civil rights statute that allows anyone
who has been harmed by porn to seek civil damages from pornographers.
This is a fairly accurate characterization of the opponents position, not a straw
man; again, the author attributes ideas to specific peopleMacKinnon and Dworkin
rather than making assumptions about what all feminists believe.

My concern about this proposal is that although it will not legally be censorship,
since the law would not empower the government to stop anyone from producing
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material based on the ideas it contains, the civil rights statute will have the same
effect as censorship. Pornographers may be so afraid of facing lawsuits that many of
them will stop producing pornand a situation where people are afraid to put
forward certain kinds of writing or pictures because they will face legal
consequences seems to violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the first amendment.
This might be considered a slippery slope, as the arguer is predicting dire
consequences that might or might not follow from something. But notice that the
prediction is qualified by may (as opposed to will) and many (as opposed to
all), and that the consequences predicted are not especially far-fetched.

Porn, like books, may express certain ideas about men, women, and sex, and those
ideas may have political ramificationsbut just as controversial books are
protected, porn should be. It may even do more good than harm by provoking
thoughtful discussion and debate about men, women, and sexuality.
A fallacy-free argument isnt necessarily a great one, of course: there are a number
of obvious and plausible objections to the argument weve just given. The strength
of an argument depends not just on avoiding fallacies, but also on the truth of the
premises, the completeness of the authors knowledge, the quality of the evidence
used, and so forth.

Developing Strong Thesis Statements

The thesis statement or main claim must be debatable
An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing must begin with a debatable thesis
or claim. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably
have differing opinions on. If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon
or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people.

Example of a non-debatable thesis statement:

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Pollution is bad for the environment.

This thesis statement is not debatable. First, the word pollution means that
something is bad or negative in some way. Further, all studies agree that pollution is
a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it will have or the scope of the
problem. No one could reasonably argue that pollution is good.
Example of a debatable thesis statement:
At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on limiting
pollution.
This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree
with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's
money. Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education.
Still others could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to
limit pollution.
Another example of a debatable thesis statement:
America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars.
In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals.
Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private
automobiles is the most effective strategy.
The thesis needs to be narrow
Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming at the start, generally
the narrower the thesis the more effective your argument will be. Your thesis or
claim must be supported by evidence. The broader your claim is, the more evidence
you will need to convince readers that your position is right.
Example of a thesis that is too broad:
Drug use is detrimental to society.
There are several reasons this statement is too broad to argue. First, what is
included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about illegal drug use,
recreational drug use (which might include alcohol and cigarettes), or all uses of
medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental? Is drug use
causing deaths (and is the author equating deaths from overdoses and deaths from
drug related violence)? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the
economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the author
referring only to America or to the global population? Does the author make any
distinction between the effects on children and adults? There are just too many
questions that the claim leaves open. The author could not cover all of the topics
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listed above, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to
debate.

Example of a narrow or focused thesis:

Illegal drug use is detrimental because it encourages gang violence.
In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the
detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more
manageable topic.
We could narrow each debatable thesis from the previous examples in the
following way:
Narrowed debatable thesis 1:
At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on helping
upgrade business to clean technologies, researching renewable energy
sources, and planting more trees in order to control or eliminate pollution.
This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of
money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.
Narrowed debatable thesis 2:
America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars
because it would allow most citizens to contribute to national efforts and
care about the outcome.
This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus
of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate
focus.
Qualifiers such as "typically," "generally," "usually," or "on average" also help
to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to
the rule.
Types of claims
Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to
approach your topic, in other words what type of claim you want to make, is one
way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.
Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of
something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example:

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What some people refer to as global warming is actually nothing more than normal,
long-term cycles of climate change.
Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event
caused another thing or event to occur. Example:
The popularity of SUV's in America has caused pollution to increase.

Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether
we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Example:
Global warming is the most pressing challenge facing the world today.
Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a
certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example:
Instead of drilling for oil in Alaska we should be focusing on ways to reduce oil
consumption, such as researching renewable energy sources.
Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you
use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic,
your audience, and the context of your paper. You might want to think about where
you imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the
biggest difference in viewpoints might be. Even if you start with one type of claim
you probably will be using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim
you choose to utilize it is key to identify the controversy or debate you are
addressing and to define your position early on in the paper.
Using Research and Evidence
What type of evidence should I use?
There are two types of evidence.
First hand research is research you have conducted yourself such as interviews,
experiments, surveys, or personal experience and anecdotes.
Second hand research is research you are getting from various texts that has
been supplied and compiled by others such as books, periodicals, and Web sites.
Regardless of what type of sources you use, they must be credible. In other words,
your sources must be reliable, accurate, and trustworthy.
How do I know if a source is credible?
You can ask the following questions to determine if a source is credible.

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Who is the author? Credible sources are written by authors respected in their
fields of study. Responsible, credible authors will cite their sources so that you can
check the accuracy of and support for what they've written. (This is also a good way
to find more sources for your own research.)
How recent is the source? The choice to seek recent sources depends on your
topic. While sources on the American Civil War may be decades old and still contain
accurate information, sources on information technologies, or other areas that are
experiencing rapid changes, need to be much more current.

What is the author's purpose? When deciding which sources to use, you should
take the purpose or point of view of the author into consideration. Is the author
presenting a neutral, objective view of a topic? Or is the author advocating one
specific view of a topic? Who is funding the research or writing of this source? A
source written from a particular point of view may be credible; however, you need
to be careful that your sources don't limit your coverage of a topic to one side of a
debate.
What type of sources does your audience value? If you are writing for a
professional or academic audience, they may value peer-reviewed journals as the
most credible sources of information. If you are writing for a group of residents in
your hometown, they might be more comfortable with mainstream sources, such as
Time or Newsweek. A younger audience may be more accepting of information
found on the Internet than an older audience might be.
Be especially careful when evaluating Internet sources! Never use Web sites where
an author cannot be determined, unless the site is associated with a reputable
institution such as a respected university, a credible media outlet, government
program or department, or well-known non-governmental organizations. Beware of
using sites like Wikipedia, which are collaboratively developed by users. Because
anyone can add or change content, the validity of information on such sites may not
meet the standards for academic research.
Organizing Your Argument
How can I effectively present my argument?
Use an organizational structure that arranges the argument in a way that will make
sense to the reader. The Toulmin Method of logic is a common and easy to use
formula for organizing an argument.
The basic format for the Toulmin Method is as follows.
Claim: The overall thesis the writer will argue for.

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Data: Evidence gathered to support the claim.

Warrant (also referred to as a bridge): Explanation of why or how the data
supports the claim, the underlying assumption that connects your data to your
claim.
Backing (also referred to as the foundation): Additional logic or reasoning that
may be necessary to support the warrant.
Counterclaim: A claim that negates or disagrees with the thesis/claim.
Rebuttal: Evidence that negates or disagrees with the counterclaim.

Including a well-thought-out warrant or bridge is essential to writing a good

argumentative essay or paper. If you present data to your audience without
explaining how it supports your thesis your readers may not make a connection
between the two or they may draw different conclusions.
Don't avoid the opposing side of an argument. Instead, include the opposing side as
a counterclaim. Find out what the other side is saying and respond to it within your
own argument. This is important so that the audience is not swayed by weak, but
unrefuted, arguments. Including counterclaims allows you to find common ground
with more of your readers. It also makes you look more credible because you appear
to be knowledgeable about the entirety of the debate rather than just being biased
or uniformed. You may want to include several counterclaims to show that you have
thoroughly researched the topic.
Example:
Claim: Hybrid cars are an effective strategy to fight pollution.
Data1: Driving a private car is a typical citizen's most air polluting activity.
Warrant 1: Because cars are the largest source of private, as opposed to industry
produced, air pollution switching to hybrid cars should have an impact on fighting
pollution.
Data 2: Each vehicle produced is going to stay on the road for roughly 12 to 15
years.
Warrant 2: Cars generally have a long lifespan, meaning that a decision to switch to
a hybrid car will make a long-term impact on pollution levels.
Data 3: Hybrid cars combine a gasoline engine with a battery-powered electric
motor.

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Warrant 3: This combination of technologies means that less pollution is produced.

According to ineedtoknow.org "the hybrid engine of the Prius, made by Toyota,
produces 90 percent fewer harmful emissions than a comparable gasoline engine."
Counterclaim: Instead of focusing on cars, which still encourages a culture of
driving even if it cuts down on pollution, the nation should focus on building and
encouraging use of mass transit systems.
Rebuttal: While mass transit is an environmentally sound idea that should be
encouraged, it is not feasible in many rural and suburban areas, or for people who
must commute to work; thus hybrid cars are a better solution for much of the
nation's population.
Using Rhetorical Strategies for Persuasion
There are three types of rhetorical appeals, or persuasive strategies, used in
arguments to support claims and respond to opposing arguments. A good argument
will generally use a combination of all three appeals to make its case.

Logos
Logos or the appeal to reason relies on logic or reason. Logos often depends on the
use of inductive or deductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning takes a specific representative case or facts and then draws
generalizations or conclusions from them. Inductive reasoning must be based on a
sufficient amount of reliable evidence. In other words, the facts you draw on must
fairly represent the larger situation or population. Example:
Fair trade agreements have raised the quality of life for coffee producers,
so fair trade agreements could be used to help other farmers as well.
In this example the specific case of fair trade agreements with coffee producers is
being used as the starting point for the claim. Because these agreements have
worked the author concludes that it could work for other farmers as well.
Deductive reasoning begins with a generalization and then applies it to a specific
case. The generalization you start with must have been based on a sufficient
amount of reliable evidence. Example:
Genetically modified seeds have caused poverty, hunger, and a decline in
bio-diversity everywhere they have been introduced, so there is no reason
the same thing will not occur when genetically modified corn seeds are
introduced in Mexico.

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In this example the author starts with a large claim, that genetically modified seeds
have been problematic everywhere, and from this draws the more localized or
specific conclusion that Mexico will be affected in the same way.
Avoid Logical Fallacies
These are some common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your
argument. Also, watch out for these slips in other people's arguments.
Slippery slope: This is a conclusion based on the premise that if A happens, then
eventually through a series of small steps, through B, C,..., X, Y, Z will happen, too,
basically equating A and Z. So, if we don't want Z to occur A must not be allowed to
occur either. Example:
If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the environment eventually
the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban Hummers.
In this example the author is equating banning Hummers with banning all cars,
which is not the same thing.
Hasty Generalization: This is a conclusion based on insufficient or biased
evidence. In other words, you are rushing to a conclusion before you have all the
relevant facts. Example:

Even though it's only the first day, I can tell this is going to be a boring
course.
In this example the author is basing their evaluation of the entire course on only
one class, and on the first day which is notoriously boring and full of housekeeping
tasks for most courses. To make a fair and reasonable evaluation the author must
attend several classes, and possibly even examine the textbook, talk to the
professor, or talk to others who have previously finished the course in order to have
sufficient evidence to base a conclusion on.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc: This is a conclusion that assumes that if 'A' occurred
after 'B' then 'B' must have caused 'A.' Example:
I drank bottled water and now I am sick, so the water must have made me
sick.
In this example the author assumes that if one event chronologically follows another
the first event must have caused the second. But the illness could have been
caused by the burrito the night before, a flu bug that had been working on the body
for days, or a chemical spill across campus. There is no reason, without more
evidence, to assume the water caused the person to be sick.
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Genetic Fallacy: A conclusion is based on an argument that the origins of a

person, idea, institute, or theory determine its character, nature, or worth. Example:
The Volkswagen Beetle is an evil car because it was originally designed by
Hitler's army.
In this example the author is equating the character of a car with the character of
the people who built the car.
Begging the Claim: The conclusion that the writer should prove is validated
within the claim. Example:
Filthy and polluting coal should be banned.
Arguing that coal pollutes the earth and thus should be banned would be logical.
But the very conclusion that should be proved, that coal causes enough pollution to
warrant banning its use, is already assumed in the claim by referring to it as "filthy
and polluting."
Circular Argument: This restates the argument rather than actually proving it.
Example:
George Bush is a good communicator because he speaks effectively.
In this example the conclusion that Bush is a "good communicator" and the
evidence used to prove it "he speaks effectively" are basically the same idea.
Specific evidence such as using everyday language, breaking down complex
problems, or illustrating his points with humorous stories would be needed to prove
either half of the sentence.
Either/or: This is a conclusion that oversimplifies the argument by reducing it to
only two sides or choices. Example:

We can either stop using cars or destroy the earth.

In this example where two choices are presented as the only options, yet the author
ignores a range of choices in between such as developing cleaner technology, car
sharing systems for necessities and emergencies, or better community planning to
discourage daily driving.
Ad hominem: This is an attack on the character of a person rather than their
opinions or arguments. Example:
Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all dirty, lazy
hippies.

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In this example the author doesn't even name particular strategies Green Peace has
suggested, much less evaluate those strategies on their merits. Instead, the author
attacks the characters of the individuals in the group.
Ad populum: This is an emotional appeal that speaks to positive (such as
patriotism, religion, democracy) or negative (such as terrorism or fascism) concepts
rather than the real issue at hand. Example:
If you were a true American you would support the rights of people to
choose whatever vehicle they want.
In this example the author equates being a "true American," a concept that people
want to be associated with, particularly in a time of war, with allowing people to buy
any vehicle they want even though there is no inherent connection between the
two.
Red Herring: This is a diversionary tactic that avoids the key issues, often by
avoiding opposing arguments rather than addressing them. Example:
The level of mercury in seafood may be unsafe, but what will fishers do to
support their families.
In this example the author switches the discussion away from the safety of the food
and talks instead about an economic issue, the livelihood of those catching fish.
While one issue may effect the other, it does not mean we should ignore possible
safety issues because of possible economic consequences to a few individuals.
Ethos
Ethos or the ethical appeal is based on the character, credibility, or reliability of the
writer. There are many ways to establish good character and credibility as an
author:
Use only credible, reliable sources to build your argument and cite those sources
properly.
Respect the reader by stating the opposing position accurately.
Establish common ground with your audience. Most of the time, this can be done by
acknowledging values and beliefs shared by those on both sides of the argument.
If appropriate for the assignment, disclose why you are interested in this topic or
what personal experiences you have had with the topic.
Organize your argument in a logical, easy to follow manner. You can use the Toulmin
method of logic or a simple pattern such as chronological order, most general to
most detailed example, earliest to most recent example, etc.

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Proofread the argument. Too many careless grammar mistakes cast doubt on your
character as a writer.
Pathos
Pathos, or emotional appeal, appeals to an audience's needs, values, and emotional
sensibilities.
Argument emphasizes reason, but used properly there is often a place for emotion
as well. Emotional appeals can use sources such as interviews and individual stories
to paint a more legitimate and moving picture of reality or illuminate the truth. For
example, telling the story of a single child who has been abused may make for a
more persuasive argument than simply the number of children abused each year
because it would give a human face to the numbers.
Only use an emotional appeal if it truly supports the claim you are making, not as a
way to distract from the real issues of debate. An argument should never use
emotion to misrepresent the topic or frighten people.
Logic in Argumentative Writing
This handout is designed to help writers develop and use logical arguments in
writing. This handout helps writers analyze the arguments of others and generate
their own arguments. However, it is important to remember that logic is only one
aspect of a successful argument. Non-logical arguments, statements that cannot be
logically proven or disproved, are important in argumentative writingsuch as
appeals to emotions or values. Illogical arguments, on the other hand, are false and
must be avoided.
Logic is a formal system of analysis that helps writers invent, demonstrate, and
prove arguments. It works by testing propositions against one another to determine
their accuracy. People often think they are using logic when they avoid emotion or
make arguments based on their common sense, such as "Everyone should look out
for their own self-interests" or "People have the right to be free." However,
unemotional or common sense statements are not always equivalent to logical
statements. To be logical, a proposition must be tested within a logical sequence.
The most famous logical sequence, called the syllogism, was developed by the
Greek philosopher Aristotle. His most famous syllogism is:
Premise 1: All men are mortal.
Premise 2: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

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In this sequence, premise 2 is tested against premise 1 to reach the logical

conclusion. Within this system, if both premises are considered valid, there is no
other logical conclusion than determining that Socrates is a mortal.
Argumentative Essays
What is an argumentative essay?
The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the student to
investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a
position on the topic in a concise manner.
Please note: Some confusion may occur between the argumentative essay and the
expository essay. These two genres are similar, but the argumentative essay differs
from the expository essay in the amount of pre-writing (invention) and research
involved. The argumentative essay is commonly assigned as a capstone or final
project in first year writing or advanced composition courses and involves lengthy,
detailed research. Expository essays involve less research and are shorter in length.
Expository essays are often used for in-class writing exercises or tests, such as the
GED or GRE.
Argumentative essay assignments generally call for extensive research of literature
or previously published material. Argumentative assignments may also require
empirical research where the student collects data through interviews, surveys,
observations, or experiments. Detailed research allows the student to learn about
the topic and to understand different points of view regarding the topic so that
she/he may choose a position and support it with the evidence collected during
research. Regardless of the amount or type of research involved, argumentative
essays must establish a clear thesis and follow sound reasoning.
The structure of the argumentative essay is held together by the following.
A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first
paragraph of the essay.
In the first paragraph of an argument essay, students should set the context by
reviewing the topic in a general way. Next the author should explain why the topic is
important (exigence) or why readers should care about the issue. Lastly, students
should present the thesis statement. It is essential that this thesis statement be
appropriately narrowed to follow the guidelines set forth in the assignment. If the
student does not master this portion of the essay, it will be quite difficult to
compose an effective or persuasive essay.
Clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and
conclusion.

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Transitions are the mortar that holds the foundation of the essay together. Without
logical progression of thought, the reader is unable to follow the essays argument,
and the structure will collapse. Transitions should wrap up the idea from the
previous section and introduce the idea that is to follow in the next section.

Body paragraphs that include evidential support.

Each paragraph should be limited to the discussion of one general idea. This will
allow for clarity and direction throughout the essay. In addition, such conciseness
creates an ease of readability for ones audience. It is important to note that each
paragraph in the body of the essay must have some logical connection to the thesis
statement in the opening paragraph. Some paragraphs will directly support the
thesis statement with evidence collected during research. It is also important to
explain how and why the evidence supports the thesis (warrant).
However, argumentative essays should also consider and explain differing points of
view regarding the topic. Depending on the length of the assignment, students
should dedicate one or two paragraphs of an argumentative essay to discussing
conflicting opinions on the topic. Rather than explaining how these differing
opinions are wrong outright, students should note how opinions that do not align
with their thesis might not be well informed or how they might be out of date.
Evidential support (whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal).
The argumentative essay requires well-researched, accurate, detailed, and current
information to support the thesis statement and consider other points of view. Some
factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal evidence should support the thesis.
However, students must consider multiple points of view when collecting evidence.
As noted in the paragraph above, a successful and well-rounded argumentative
essay will also discuss opinions not aligning with the thesis. It is unethical to exclude
evidence that may not support the thesis. It is not the students job to point out how
other positions are wrong outright, but rather to explain how other positions may
not be well informed or up to date on the topic.
A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in
light of the evidence provided.
It is at this point of the essay that students may begin to struggle. This is the
portion of the essay that will leave the most immediate impression on the mind of
the reader. Therefore, it must be effective and logical. Do not introduce any new
information into the conclusion; rather, synthesize the information presented in the
body of the essay. Restate why the topic is important, review the main points, and
review your thesis. You may also want to include a short discussion of more
research that should be completed in light of your work.
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A complete argument
Perhaps it is helpful to think of an essay in terms of a conversation or debate with a
classmate. If I were to discuss the cause of World War II and its current effect on
those who lived through the tumultuous time, there would be a beginning, middle,
and end to the conversation. In fact, if I were to end the argument in the middle of
my second point, questions would arise concerning the current effects on those who
lived through the conflict. Therefore, the argumentative essay must be complete,
and logically so, leaving no doubt as to its intent or argument.
The five-paragraph essay
A common method for writing an argumentative essay is the five-paragraph
approach. This is, however, by no means the only formula for writing such essays. If
it sounds straightforward, that is because it is; in fact, the method consists of (a) an
introductory paragraph (b) three evidentiary body paragraphs that may include
discussion of opposing views and (c) a conclusion.
Longer argumentative essays
Complex issues and detailed research call for complex and detailed essays.
Argumentative essays discussing a number of research sources or empirical
research will most certainly be longer than five paragraphs. Authors may have to
discuss the context surrounding the topic, sources of information and their
credibility, as well as a number of different opinions on the issue before concluding
the essay. Many of these factors will be determined by the assignment.
http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/ela_pdf/ELA%20Lesson%203%20-%20Dec
%202012.pdf

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream

Delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest
demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames
of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their
captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains
of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of
poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later,
the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an
exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful
condition.
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In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects
of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration
of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was
to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white
men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory
note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred
obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has
come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe
that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And
so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches
of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of
Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing
drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is
the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path
of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial
injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality
for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This
sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is
an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end,
but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and
will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as
usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is
granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the
foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm
threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful
place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst
for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever
conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow
our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must
rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not
lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as
evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is
tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is
inextricably bound to our freedom.
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We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be
satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the
unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our
bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's
basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as
long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by
signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in
Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which
to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls
down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you
have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by
the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have
been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that
unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go
back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the
slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can
and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of
its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with
the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into
an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

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I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its
governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification"
-- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join
hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and
mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked
places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all
flesh shall see it together."2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of
hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation
into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work
together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up
for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able
to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
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From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words
of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

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