essay paper

Rhetoric, Persuasion, Argumentation:

The Argumentative Essay

Mignette Dorsey Engl 1302

What is Rhetoric?

• Rhetoric is the ancient art of argumentation and discourse. When we write or speak to convince others of what we believe, we are "rhetors." When we analyze the way rhetoric works, we are "rhetoricians." The earliest known studies of rhetoric come from the Golden Age, when philosophers of ancient Greece discussed logos, ethos, and pathos.

Carson-Newman University https://web.cn.edu/.../resource rhet.html

What is Rhetoric? • Rhetoric / Persuasion is not only written

discourse. Marketing experts use rhetoric for the purpose of persuading audiences to pay attention to what they are selling. See Google>advertisements>images

• Architects use rhetoric in building design. Consider the message conveyed if a student services building in a college had no student advisors to help students register, only computers.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

• Argument is our most important form of communication because it involves persuasion to help convince someone our point of view is valid. In argumentation, we try to prove or defend our position, our claim.

• What argument is not: 1. yelling 2. cursing 3. disrespecting 4. insulting 5. rudeness 6. Irrationality 7. Sarcasm 8. Name calling

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS (Ch. 12 of Discovering a Voice and Part 3 of The Handbook)

• Purpose: To persuade someone to take a certain action or to think or feel a specific way. Approaches:

1. Logical appeals based on facts and reasoning (logos). - Example: using statistics to argue for stricter jail

sentences for drunk drivers 2. Emotional appeals based on vivid description and

details (pathos) - Example: showing blood-stained clothing of victim of a

drunk driver 3. Ethical appeals – emphasizes the credibility of the

writer, their authority (ethos). Relying on right vs. wrong in a moral sense supported by powerful examples. Marketing uses people with strong credibility to sell products.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

Introduction • In an arguing essay, lead up to your thesis statement using an

anecdote or illustration, definition, historical background info. • The thesis statement must be debatable, an opinion with

which someone can disagree. • Topic sentences and Body Paragraphs In your body paragraphs, the supporting ideas that support your topic sentences can do one or more of the following: 1. Quote informed sources 2. Consider logical consequences 3. Include illustrations, anecdotes, definitions, etc.

The Opposing POV

Acknowledge opposing viewpoints -This paragraph often appears just before the Conclusion. To establish credibility, first acknowledge the validity of the argument that is opposite your own. Then you must refute this viewpoint, pointing out its limitations, its fallacies. Then move to your conclusion.

The Conclusion The conclusion of an arguing essay should restate

the thesis statement, and then offer a call to action, a call to agreement, appropriate quotation, or personal insight.

For online help: Functions of the Conclusion http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/comp1/conclude.htm Or Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab:

www.purdue.edu/owl

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

After you receive the topic of an argument/argumentative essay, do the following, 1. Brainstorm in the form of a T-chart by writing Pro/Agree on the left and Con/Against on the right. 2. Write down every point you can think of about the topic. 3. Eliminate arguments that appear weak and insupportable 4. Combine arguments that seem repetitive. 5. Decide on whether you will argue the “Pro” position or the “Con” position. (Tip: Argue for the side with the strongest arguments.)

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

Once you have settled on the 3 points you will argue: 1. State the thesis statement: topic+opinion+3

reasons (or details) related to that opinion. Then further outline your essay by devising topic sentences taken from your 3 reasons/details.

2. Find out as much as you can about your topic before you write. (independent research & reading)

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS 3. Choose evidence that supports your thesis statement. (facts, statistics, statements from authorities) 4. Anticipate/consider opposing points of view (and acknowledge them). Find some common ground (find a way to agree with the opposing view to be perceived as fair). Then REFUTE. 5. Maintain a reasonable tone. (no exclamation marks, no

sentences in all capital letters) 6. Organize your essay so that it presents your position as

effectively as possible. 7. If your essay quotes outside sources, you must include

an in-text citation as well as a Works Cited page (last page of the essay). The Works Cited page lists all the sources you quoted or paraphrased in alphabetical order.

Arguing Through Art “Editorial Cartoons”

What’s the argument?