2. • For your participation points for the day:
• Please write 1-2 paragraphs (8-15 sentences) about Mary Wollstonecraft’s A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman. You can write a brief summary, your
impressions on the introduction, or anything that indicates that you have read
and comprehend the material.
• Writing about how you did not understand the material is not acceptable
• Use legible penmanship and include your name and the date on your paper
• Please bring your papers to the front when completed
Take Out a Pen and Paper
3. • Use a semi colon when using a title and subtitle in an attributive tag
– Example: In Allison Davis’s new book, Howard the Duck: An Inspiration to All, she
explores the relationship between a community and their heroic mascot.
• Avoid multiple negatives
– Use affirmative forms rather than several negatives
– Example:
• Unclear: Less attention is given to children with no visible signs of neglect, but these children
who experience emotional neglect cannot be ignored.
• Clearer: More attention is given to children who have visible signs of neglect, but those children
children who are neglected emotionally should not be ignored.
Mechanics Tips
4. • Avoid unclear pronoun references
– Be sure the pronouns you use refer clearly to a noun in the current or previous sentence
– Example:
• Unclear: He promised the people of the community that he would never litter again, but he
promised more than he could deliver.
• Clearer: Jason “The Litter Bandit” Noble promised the people of the community that he would
never litter again, but he promised more than he could deliver.
• Unclear: The scientists were paid to lie about the results of their research. They wrote about the
the scandal and submitted it to all the major newspapers in the country.
• Clearer: The scientists were paid to lie about the results of their research. Undercover reporters
Lisa Todd and Mary Walnut wrote about the scandal and submitted it to all the major
newspapers in the country.
Mechanics Tips (Cont.)
5. • Written during the Enlightenment period
– Emphasis on reason
• In insisting on the rationality of woman, Wollstonecraft
drew out the radically egalitarian implications behind
the Enlightenment project
• Written to argue against those who believe women
should only receive a domestic education and the
popular “conduct books” of the time
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
6. • What was the central theme of Wollstonecraft’s argument?
• Who was she arguing with?
• What are some of the reasons Wollstonecraft uses to support her argument?
• In her opinion, who’s fault is it that women are denied an education? Do you
agree?
• Do you feel this argument is logically constructed?
• Does Wollstonecraft appeal to her audience's emotion or logic?
Wollstonecraft and Argument
7. • A Vindication of the Rights of woman was well received after its publication. After
Wollstonecraft’s death, however, her husband published a biography on her
personal life. This revealed that she had been involved in love affairs, mothered
an illegitimate child, and attempted suicide. After these intimate facts about her
life were revealed, society rejected Wollstonecraft and her work and the piece did
not see a reemergence until the nineteenth century.
– Why did Wollstonecraft lose credibility?
– Did these facts about Wollstonecraft’s personal life change her argument?
– How do our personal beliefs influence the way we view an argument?
– Do you think Wollstonecraft kept these facts about her life a secret on purpose?
In-Class Discussion
9. • What comes to mind when you hear the word
“argument”?
• How would you define argument?
What is an Argument?
10. • An exchange of diverging or opposite views
• A reason or set of reasons given with the aim
of persuading others than an action or idea is
right or wrong
• A statement or series of statements for or
against something
• A discussion in which people express different
opinions on something
• BUT there is no universally agreed upon
definition of argument
Argument
11. • A quarrel or fight
• Academically and professionally
speaking argument does not
imply anger
• Argument should be a creative
and productive activity in which
we engage in a conversation
with those we respect
Argument is not…
12. • A debate with winners and losers
• Although debate is a form of argument, academic
and debate have very little in common
• The popular practice of debate in politics and as a
scholastic extracurricular activity promotes the idea that
argument has a winner and a loser
• The goal of argument in academic writing is not to win a
game, but to find and promote the best belief or course
of action
Argument is not…
13. • Simply having an opinion on a topic or course of
action
• A successful argument must be supported by
reason and research
• Passion is helpful when constructing an
argument, but without proof and reason it is of
no value to the academic community or your
cause
Argument is not…
14. • Explicit argument- directly states its controversial claim and supports it with
reason and evidence
– Very direct and concrete
– As a process and procedure
• Implicit argument- indirectly creates an argument to persuade others to take a
certain point of view
– Often used in poems, photos, and cartoons
– The reader or viewer must decide what the author is trying to convey
Arguments can be explicit or implicit
15. Implicit Argument Example
• What argument is this
cartoon making?
• Why is it implicit?
• Do you agree or disagree?
16. • Was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman an implicit or explicit argument?
• What was the controversial claim?
• What reasons and evidence supported this claim?
Class Discussion
17. • Argument requires justification of its claim
• Argument is both a process and a product
• Argument combines truth-seeking and persuasion
Defining Features of an Argument
18. • A set of two or more conflicting assertations
• The attempt to resolve the conflict through an appeal to reason
An argument must have…
19. • Wife: Don’t forget that we are going to Petersburg this Saturday to spend the
weekend with my parents
• Husband: Don’t you remember? I told you I am going to Ian’s bachelor party
this Saturday in Chicago.
• Wife: No, I don’t remember you telling me that. You never told me that!
• Husband: Well, I did tell you– several times! I reminded you just two days ago
before I left for work.
– What are the conflicting assertions?
– Who is attempting to resolve the conflict through an appeal to reason?
Example Argument:
20. • An arguer is obligated to clarify and support the reasons presented
– This will require the reader or other arguer to reexamine and clarify their assumptions
• Without this clarification and reexamination the argument falls short and may
deteriorate into a quarrel
– Example: If the Wife simply threw her hands in the air and stormed out of the room
without resolving the conflict, she would not be arguing but quarreling
Justification of Its Claim
21. • Husband: I also told you after I received the invitation four weeks ago. It has
been on the calendar for a whole month!
• Wife: (goes and gets calendar) I do not see any Bachelor party marked on this
calendar.
• Husband: Are you sure? (checks calendar) …O.K. maybe I forgot to write it on
this calendar, but it has been in the calendar on my phone and I know I told you
about it a few times.
– How did Husband clarify and support his claim?
– How did Wife clarify and reexamine her assumptions?
– What do you think the outcome of this argument will be? Why?
Example Argument (Cont.)
22. • Listening to other points of views causes a person to reexamine their own beliefs
to justify assumptions they have taken for granted
• As an arguer begins to clarify their own position on an issue, they also begin to
clarify their listener’s (or reader’s) position on that same issue
• Helps a arguer accommodate their listener’s views by:
– Adjusting their own position
– Developing reasons that appeal to their listener’s values
Assumptions and Beliefs
23. • Wife: If I have told you once, I have told you one hundred times. If you have
plans put them on the calendar. Especially for weekends. If I had known you
busy I would have told them we couldn’t make it. But, now they are expecting
You are coming with me to Petersburg.
• Husband: Just because I don’t write it down doesn’t mean I can’t go. This is
really important to Ian. I am a groomsman in his wedding next month. I have to
go. You know I love visiting with your parents, but this is something I cannot
– How is Husband making Wife reexamine her own beliefs on this issue?
– Is he appealing to her values with his argument?
– How has the new information changed how you feel about this conflict?
Example Argument (Cont.)
24. • Argument as a process:
– When two or more parties seek the best solution to a question or problem
• Argument as a product:
– Each product is any person’s contribution to the conversation at any given moment
A process and a product
25. • Wife: My sister is bringing the new baby to Petersburg and I wanted to meet her.
I don’t feel comfortable driving all the way across the state by myself. Especially
since I am seven months pregnant. I want you to come with me to spend the
weekend with my family. It is really important to me.
• Husband: How about I leave the party early on Sunday morning? I can pick you
up, then we can drive to Petersburg. We will be there in time for lunch with your
parents and your sister.
• Wife: Then we have to turn around and drive back! What if you left the party
Saturday night instead? We would not arrive at Petersburg until after dinner, but
we would be there for breakfast in the morning.
– What are some solutions presented through the process of argument?
– What are some products of this argument?
Example Argument (Cont.)
26. • Truth seeking- discovering truths and facts about the topic or idea
– Addresses the subject matter
• Persuasion-convincing the audience/listener/reader to reexamine or change their
beliefs or understanding
– Discovering what your audience believes and values
– What evidence will you need to persuade you audience?
Truth seeking and persuasion
27. • Husband: I can’t leave the party early. We have tickets to a show at
11:00PM.
• Wife: A show? What show?
• Husband: A band Ian is really into is playing in Chicago. I have never
heard of them, but we are going to see them.
• Wife: Why do you need to go to the show? I think you should just go
out for dinner and drinks and then come home. You don’t even care
about that band.
– Who is truth seeking in this argument?
– How is Wife using persuasion in this argument?
– How can Husband persuade Wife to let him see the band? What evidence or
reason might he employ?
Example Argument (Cont.)
28. • Break into groups and answer the following questions:
• Consider the introduction to A Vindication of the Rights
of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft.
– What reason or evidence did she use to validate her claim
that women are entitled to an education?
– How was her argument controversial? What societal values
was she trying to change?
– What aspects of her argument were truth seeking?
– How was Wollstonecraft using persuasion in her argument?
Break into groups
29. • Journals due to Blackboard by midnight 9/11
• Tuesday 9/13
– No assignment
– Get a head start on reading Sleepy Hollow
• Thursday 9/15
– Have read first half of Sleepy Hollow
– Sleepy Hollow Quiz Today!
DUE NEXT WEEK:
