Answer

Key
Human rights, American style
Questions
[All answers must be written in complete sentences or paragraphs]

1. In ONE paragraph of no more than 100 words, identify the writers main claim and the
premises which support this claim. (4 Marks)
Ronald Mason in his article titled Human Rights, American style, published in Sunday
Gleaner on June 21, 2015 claims that the US has no grounds on which to judge Jamaicas
human rights record, no right to insist that Jamaica changes its laws and customs
especially in relation to human rights or to dictate how the country should deal with the
matter of homosexuality. In support of this claim, Mason asserts that Jamaicas human
rights record is much better than that of the US and that Jamaicas human rights laws
and customs were created by the ancestors of the Americans. [99 words]
2. Identify the predominant type of argument deployed in the passage and explain your
answer. (3 Marks)
Mason uses inductive argumentation throughout the article. This is evident in his use of
specific examples to support his claim, which is a probable one. These examples which
aimed to prove that the US is in no position to dictate to Jamaica include the case of
Kalief Browder in New York, that of Michael Brown from Ferguson, James Baldwin and
the women and men who died in Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston.
3. Identify with appropriate examples the type(s) of evidence presented in the passage. (3
Marks)
The writer depends mainly on the use examples of real life situations to support his
claim. These examples are integrated throughout the article, starting in paragraph 2
with the case of Kalief Browder. Other examples include the Dylan Roof incident and
the Oklahoma city bombing. Additionally, he presents an anecdote of James Baldwins
life story as support.

1 Prepared by Daidrah Smith & Harold McDermott, October 2016| University of Technology,
Jamaica

4. In ONE paragraph of no more than 90 words analyse whether the evidence presented is
credible and valid. (4 Marks)
The evidence presented may be considered credible for two main reasons. Firstly, the
authors qualification and experience as an attorney and Supreme Court mediator, as
well as his position as a talk show host suggest that he is a knowledgeable person who
has the authority to speak on the issue of human rights. Secondly, the evidence used is
trustworthy as the examples are real life cases that have made the news, and can be
easily verified. The evidence overall is valid as all the examples are relevant to the claim.
[90 words]

5. In ONE paragraph of no more than 100 words analyse whether the evidence presented
is current and sufficient and comment on the reliability of the source. (4 Marks)
The evidence is mostly current as, all the evidence, with the exception of the James
Balwin case, is within a 5 year timespan from the date of the article. The author pulls
evidence from 2010, 2013 and as current as 2015, and although the Baldwin example is
from 1924, it would still help to reinforce his point. The evidence seems sufficient to
prove the claim that the US should not judge Jamaicas human rights records as all
examples relevantly support that claim. Ronald Mason is a reliable source since he is
commenting on information within his area of expertise. [99 words]
6. In ONE paragraph of no more than 100 words, comment with appropriate examples on
the type(s) of rhetorical appeals used in the passage. (4 Marks).
Mason relies on strong logos and pathos appeals in the deployment of his argument.
These two rhetorical appeals are almost equally used in the article; however, logos
appears to be a bit more prominent than pathos. Logos is evident in the use of the
examples of Americans whose human rights were violated and not protected by the
country. Pathos appeal is evident in the way in which the author presents the examples.
His use of statements such as He was NEVER brought to trial, and the nine
slaughtered clearly shows the authors use of emotive language. [94 words]

2 Prepared by Daidrah Smith & Harold McDermott, October 2016| University of Technology,
Jamaica

7. In ONE paragraph of no more than 75 words, comment on the soundness of the

argument presented in the passage. (5 Marks)
The argument is sound to an extent because the evidence is verifiably true and logically
linked to the conclusion that America is hypocritical about human rights abuse and
hence has no right to dictate policy to Jamaica. Nevertheless, one mentioned failure of
the American judicial system and cases of criminality over which the government has no
control are insufficient to disqualify America from commenting on human rights policy
in Jamaica. [70 words]

3 Prepared by Daidrah Smith & Harold McDermott, October 2016| University of Technology,
Jamaica