This document provides instructions and examples for students to complete their final paper for the Hero/Advocate unit. It outlines the requirements for a 5-page MLA paper on either a historical hero or advocating for an issue. For a hero paper, students must describe the hero's life events and consequences of their accomplishments. For an advocacy paper, students should describe the issue, how it affects people, potential solutions, and consequences. The document provides examples and quotes about Hunter S. Thompson to illustrate aspects of an advocacy paper. It concludes by wishing students good luck on their final essays and warning against logical fallacies.

1. HERO/ADVOCATE
UNIT
Hero/Advocate Essay: Details
Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade—
Review
Examples: Topic Generation
Non-Fiction Rough Draft: Editing/
Peer Review

2. Hero/ Advocate Unit
DETAILS: LAST PAPER!!!!!!!!
Using the same template we
used for our other
assignments (MAJOR), word-
processed, 5-page, 6 source
MLA style paper-- based
either on a “Hero” (a person
who is well documented, and
has historical significance—
but is not without
controversy), or for you to be
an “advocate” of an
issue,either pro/con.

3. Hero/ Advocate Unit
DUE: 7995 -- April 22 (Last Day of Class) 7766—April 27 (Last Day of
Class) … 100 Points … Minimum Word Count: 1000.
Hero
Describe: Deeds
Evaluate:
Consequences
Advocate
Describe: Issue
Evaluate:
Pros/ Cons

4. Hero/ Advocate Unit
HERO: Describe: Early—Mid—Late Life; Influences; Defining Moments
(When did our Hero decide to commit to the task they are known for?
When did our Hero accomplish their task(s)?) Consequences: How has
the accomplishment changed the field they contributed to? Is the
accomplishment still relevant?
ADVOCATE: Describe: The issue you are taking on; how does it affect
people? How many people? What is the fallout from this issue (cost of
lives, cost in $$)? What solutions are people looking at, and what
achievements have been made? Is there a solution? What are (or were)
the barriers to the solution? What is the consequence of the issue being
solved (not solved)?

5. Hero/ Advocate Unit
Examples: Hunter S. Thompson: Interview on anniversary of 9/11:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TowJkhpRaxo
9/11 Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9RJJ66MDaY&feature=relmfu
9/11 Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kilZ9M6UITk&feature=relmfu
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson
Hunter Thompson’s “masterpiece” is considered by most to be a
humorist: “Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas” , a drug addled road trip to
the lurid canvas of Las Vegas, a journalist whose vision was cemented
into our culture with his “gonzo” viewpoint.

6. Hero/ Advocate Unit
Hunter discusses his pet subject, (and one he wrote most passionately
about): politics. His books “Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail”,
“Generation of Swine”, and myriad other writings. Films have been
made about him, but have emphasized the “druggy, crazy” aspect of
Thompson.
Notable Quotes: "While Tom Wolfe mastered the technique of being a fly
on the wall, Thompson mastered the art of being a fly in the ointment.“
• In a letter to William Kennedy, Thompson confided that he was "coming
to view the free enterprise system as the single greatest evil in the history
of human savagery“.
• "I'm never sure which one people expect me to be. Very often, they
conflict — most often, as a matter of fact. ...I'm leading a normal life and
right along side me there is this myth, and it is growing and mushrooming
and getting more and more warped. When I get invited to, say, speak at
universities, I'm not sure if they are inviting Duke or Thompson. I'm not
sure who to be."

7. Hero/ Advocate Unit
Examples: “He told me 25 years ago that he would feel real trapped if he
didn't know that he could commit suicide at any moment. I don't know if
that is brave or stupid or what, but it was inevitable. I think that the truth of
what rings through all his writing is that he meant what he said. If that is
entertainment to you, well, that's OK. If you think that it enlightened you,
well, that's even better. If you wonder if he's gone to Heaven or Hell, rest
assured he will check out them both, find out which one Richard Milhous
Nixon went to — and go there. He could never stand being bored. But there
must be Football too — and Peacocks..."[37]
While the Washington Post was lamenting Nixon's "lonely and depressed"
state after being forced from the White House, Hunter wrote that '[i]f there
were any such thing as true justice in this world, his [Nixon's] rancid carcass
would be somewhere down around Easter Island right now, in the belly of a
hammerhead shark.' [29

8. Hero/ Advocate Unit
After Nixon's death in 1994, Thompson famously described him in Rolling
Stone as a man who "could shake your hand and stab you in the back at the
same time" and said "his casket [should] have been launched into one of
those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los
Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. [He]
was an evil man—evil in a way that only those who believe in the physical
reality of the Devil can understand it.”
Hunter was a contradiction, a rebel, an iconoclast, and a searing voice that
spoke against the power structures, and authoritarian mindset. The “myth”
of the “druggy” Thompson, was true, but was not what will ultimately last as
his legacy.

9. Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade
Explicit arguments: “Discrimination at Large” (p.198)
Jennifer Coleman tries to persuade people to change attitudes towards
heavy people; “such harassment should not be tolerated or perpetuated
by anyone who is sensitive and reasonable.”
Implicit arguments: “OK So I’m Fat”(p. 201)
He tries to persuade by humor, using his perceptions about the “superior
attitude” of thin people: not to reform his readers’ opinions or behavior.

10. Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade
Logos: Logic
Pathos: Emotional appeal
Ethos: Ethics, or credibility or authority of the writer

11. Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade
Avoiding Logical Fallacies: (p. 419)
Appeal to false authority
Appeal to fear
Appeal to pity
Bandwagon Appeal
Begging the Question (circular reasoning)
False analogy: false cause: false dilemma
Hasty generalization
Personal (“ad hominem”)
Unqualified generalization
Slippery slope (domino theory)

12. Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade
Illustrations from the Text (p. 412)
 In the introduction: help readers see that there is a problem.
 Make sure you support your claims with plenty of evidence, analyzed
fully.
 Anticipate your opponent’s objections, and counter them.
 Clarify your view as you provide reasons and analysis
 Offer a concession to your opponent that doesn’t undermine your
argument and then use it as a way to strengthen your position.
 Use sound reasoning and avoid logical fallacies

13. Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade
 How do you appeal to your audience?
 What is the problem? What is the thesis?
 What are the supporting points?
 What are the strengths of the argument?
 Anticipate, and refute objections?
 What are the weaknesses? Any logical fallacies?
 Does the ending bring closure to the essay?

14. Good luck! Finish your Non-Fiction
essay, and let’s wrap this semester UP!

15. …And don’t fall for any of the usual
tricks by faulty reasoning… 