ENG 112 lecture notes for module 7

1.  Everyone look at the image on pg. 156. Can you
tell what issue motivates this group? What clues in
the picture tell you? What concerns might have led
to this position? What type of event?
 Both in and out of class you will hear
Controversial and Debatable Issues: Health Care,
Immigration, Gun Legislation, to name a few.
 Taking a Stand yourself will help you understand
and clarify what you believe.
 Where do we see writing that “Takes a Stand” –
otherwise known as Persuasion and Argument?

2.  Editorials and Letters to the Editors in Newspapers
and Magazines. What is the difference in those two?
 Columns by Professional Writers in Op-Ed pages (?)
both in Print and on the Web.
 Political commercials, Partisan blogs, web pages, etc…
 Business Proposals and Feasibility Reports
 Letters of Application (for what or whom is one
“Taking a Stand” in that kind of letter?
 See “Why Taking a Stand Matters” pg. 157: In college
Courses, In the Workplace, and In your Community.
On the Midterm exam I will ask you to list examples
beyond what are in the book.

3.  1. Make a Claim: State your opinion in the form of a
Claim (your Thesis), avoiding “I think” or “I believe”.
Examples:
 “Congress should pass Immigration reform because
our system is broken.”
 or
 “Campaign finance laws should be changed because
too much money is in politics.”
 or
 “Instead of continuing its reliance on fossil fuels, the
United States should increase its use of renewable
energy.”
 See Wadsworth pg. 123 “Close-Up Developing An
Argumentative Thesis”

4.  Types of Claims:
 Claims of Fact: substantiation. What happened?
How is this defined? Something is or isn’t, etc…
 Claims of Cause: claims that make a “causal chain”
or “Link” between two or more events, outcomes,
and/or choices.
 Claims of Value: of what value is something? Is it
“good” or “bad”? How do we decide what “good
and bad” are?
 Claims of Policy: what should our future course of
action be? How should we proceed?

5.  2. Reasons: why are you making this or these claim(s): use logical reasoning to support your Claim.
Ask yourself, “Would a reasonable person agree or disagree with me?” Why, if so? Try to understand all sides
of an issue.

 3. Evidence: Research and Observations to support your Claim: as we’ve
discussed before, evidence should be from a variety of sources, should be relevant to the
topic, and as “Objective” as possible (or an acknowledgement of “Bias” if necessary.
 4. Try to Enlist the Reader’s Trust: appeal to *Warrants: generally
held assumptions that can be “Common Ground” in reaching your audience. Consider
and Respect what your target audience probably thinks and feels. Another term for this
is “Answering the Opposition” – where you acknowledge opposing views and directly
address them.
 See this quote from the chapter
… respect – yours for the views of readers who will, in turn, respect your
opinion, even if they don’t agree with it. You convey – and gain – respect
when you anticipate readers’ objections or counterarguments, demonstrate
knowledge of these alternate views, and present evidence that addresses
others’ concerns as it strengthens your argument “ (Kennedy, Kennedy, and
Muth 165).

6.  Read the two Argumentative Essays and
answer questions 1-3 on pgs. 161 and 163.
 Facing the Challenge: the major challenge
facing writers is to gather enough relevant
evidence to support their positions.
 Without such evidence you’ll convince only
those who already agree with you.
 Be aware of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos.

7.  Logos means Logic. As we’ve discussed before,
all Arguments should be grounded in Logic.
Test your “theories” with a syllogistic
statement to see if they are valid.
 Refer back to Chapter 9 Wadsworth for
Inductive and Deductive Logic as well as
Logical Fallacies.

8.  What is Pathos? It means Emotion. Emotion can be
a powerful tool in using Persuasion/Argument.
 It can affect people in ways that can cause them to
take action.
 Emotion can be used with respect as long as it’s
still grounded in Logic.
 You won’t persuade readers by “ranting
emotionally” about an issue without having a
Logical basis.
 Many powerful people in history have used
emotional appeals to sway large numbers of
people, both for good and evil. Any examples?

9.  What is Ethos? “Ethics” are what motivate us
to take a stand in the first place. Ethics “guide”
us and shape our beliefs.
 Are Ethics universal?
 How can they be
 Cultural?