ENGL1133 Essay #1: Critical Response

Argument Structure: Support

All claims have to be supported. Provide support that gives substance and legitimacy to the claim.

Support can come in various forms, the three main groups are:

Evidence: authorities, testimonies, facts, statistics

Examples: allusions, anecdotes, illustrations, scenarios

Appeals: to logic, emotion, character, value, need

1) Evidence:

Evidence is the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or

valid (Oxford Dictionary). Merely mentioning evidence or simply providing a fact is not enough. Arguers

must explain the relevance of the evidence.

Weak use of evidence

Today, we are too self-centered. Most families no longer sit down to eat together, preferring instead to

eat on the go while rushing to the next appointment (Gleick 148). Everything is about what we want.

This is a weak example of evidence because the evidence is not related to the claim. What does the

claim about self-centeredness have to do with families eating together? The writer doesn't explain the

connection.

The same evidence can be used to support the same claim, but only with the addition of a clear

connection between claim and evidence, and some analysis of the evidence cited (“Using Evidence”).

Stronger use of evidence

Today, Americans are too self-centered. Even our families don't matter as much anymore as they once

did. Other people and activities take precedence. In fact, the evidence shows that most American

families no longer eat together, preferring instead to eat on the go while rushing to the next

appointment (Gleick 148). Sit-down meals are a time to share and connect with others; however, that

connection has become less valued, as families begin to prize individual activities over shared time,

promoting self-centeredness over group identity.

This is a far better example, as the evidence is more smoothly integrated into the text, the link between

the claim and the evidence is strengthened, and the evidence itself is analyzed to provide support for

the claim (“Using Evidence”).

2) Authorities:

Authorities are experts who offer specialized knowledge. These sources are used in rguments to give

credibility to a writer’s claim.

Example:

Sherry Turkle, director of the Initiative on Technology and Self at MIT, opens her PBS “Digital Nation”

interview with a spot-on account of the young generation’s sentiment towards texting versus calling. It

is undeniable that the majority of young people today would rather send a text message than pick up

the phone and actually have an audible conversation with another person, whatever the motive. Turkle

proposes this virtual network of friends gives “the illusion of companionship without the demands of

friendship” because “the real demands of friendship, of intimacy, are complicated” (426).

3) Testimony:

Testimony is an eyewitness or firsthand account. Ed Bell’s essay on light pollution opens with his own

testimony.

Example:

The moon is gently orange with a thin, star white bottom; its dark top disappears into the blackness

surrounding it. Thirty-seven miles north, in town, it lacked the magically dull glow it has here eleven

miles south of the store.

4) Facts:

Facts are agreed-upon bits of knowledge that do not require further support in an argument. This is not

to say that facts cannot be disputed; they often are. But when arguers use a fact, they assume that is

carries its own support.

Example:

Even scientists who are most opposed to the idea of animal passion acknowledge that many creatures

experience “Primary emotions”- feelings such as aggression and fear that are instinctive and require no

conscious thought. A laboratory rat that has never encountered a cat, for example, will still freeze if it is

exposed to the smell of this predator.

5) Statistics

Statistics are figures drawn from surveys, experimentation, and data analysis.

Example:

About 1983-1984 the unemployment rate was at its highest point of 10%, however, it has decreased

over the years by 2007 it was about below the 4% mark. The correspondence between the shadow

economy and unemployment rate is about 0.90, which shows the “structural link” between the two. By

looking at this chart one could say that the way the economy decades ago there weren’t as many jobs as

there are now. The economy has become more advanced in everything which has also decreased the

unemployment rate.

6) Anecdote

Anecdotes are short accounts of a particular event or incident. They often are given in the form of a

brief story that supports an argument. An anecdote is told by the arguer as though he or she ib an

objective reporter of events.

7) Illustrations:

Illustrations are graphic descriptions or representations of an idea. An illustration is a description

created to explain sensory information. Illustrations make ideas more concrete and generalizations

more specific and detailed.

Example:

At eight o'clock Wednesday evening I passed through Union Square. It was packed with refugees.

Thousands of them had gone to bed on the grass. Government tents had been set up, supper was being

cooked, and the refugees were lining up for free meals.

8) Scenarios

Scenarios are fictional or hypothetical examples. An imagined sequence of events

9) Appeals

Appeals are a major form of support in argumentation. Appeals require the arguer to create a

connection between audience and the topic. Appeals call on the reader’s sense of logic, emotion,

character, value, or need. The writer must create the bridge between the topic and the audience.

Advertisements are probably the most abundant example of appeals, although they are sometimes the

least honest. They create a connection between a product and the audience.

Other Elements of Argument

Counterargument

Counterarguments refute claims or positions opposed to those that the writer or speaker is forwarding.

In academic argument, simply projecting one’s opinion in not enough; good arguers must also engage

what others believe, and even take on opposing viewpoints. Good arguers must counterargue. They

must explain how other positions opposed to their own are somehow wrong. Perhaps other positions

are unethical, unreasonable, logically flawed, or impractical. Whatever their shortcomings, opposing

viewpoints must be addressed head-on.

Concession

Concession involves acknowledging or granting value to an opposing claim. Arguers who simply ignore,

dismiss, or explain away ideas that challenge their own are simplifying arguments instead of dealing

with complexities. Conceding certain points and qualifying others are important strategies for

strengthening an argument. Some opposing points have value, and good arguers acknowledge those

points by conceding them.

Qualifiers

Qualifiers focus on the arguer’s (You own) claims. They acknowledge the limits of those claims. By

qualifying his or her position the arguer acknowledges its limitations. We often qualify our claims in

everyday conversation: “I’m not saying that all politicians are bad, but many of them seem to distort the

truth.

Qualifiers prevent arguers from making claims that are too extreme. Qualifiers also show up as words

and phrases that make statements seem less rigid. Words such as perhaps, seems, maybe, could, and

might qualify argumentative claims and can make an argument appear more careful.

While qualifiers are valuable tools for argument, we should be careful not to over-qualify points so that

our arguments do not lose their intensity

References

“Evidence.” Oxford dictionaries Online. Oxford University Press, 2013. Oxforddictionaries.com. Web. 6

March 2013

“Using Evidence,” Writing Tutorial Services. Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning Indiana

University Bloomington, 11 October 2010. Web 6 March 2013