Make a copy of this assignment, title it: 2019 Ch 1-4 Vocab Your Name
NOTES
Chapter 1 SLIDES
Can an argument really be any text that expresses a point of view?
What kinds of arguments—if any—might be made by the following items?
• a Boston Red Sox cap
• a Livestrong bracelet
• the “explicit lyrics” label on a best-selling rock CD
• the health warning on a package of cigarettes
• a belated birthday card
• a Rolex watch
Arguments about the past- Forensic Arguments
Court cases,
investigations
Arguments about the future- Deliberative Arguments
Proposals,
bills,
regulations
Arguments about the Present- Epideitic or Ceremonial Arguments
Eulogies,
graduation speeches
What common experiences—if any—do the following objects,
brand names, and symbols evoke, and for what audiences in particular?
What sorts of appeals do they make: to pathos, ethos, or logos?
• a USDA organic label
PRACTICE
A. A USDA organic label
A USDA organic label appeals to consumers that buy food, so the audience is everyone that cares about what they eat. The label makes the “organic” characteristic of the food credible, as it has earned the label from the US Department of Agriculture. This label signifies that the food is healthy. The food does not contain antibiotics, preservatives, etc. The label appeals to them emotions of consumers if they are buying food for their families and it also appeals to consumer’s logic because they know that organic food is healthier than non-organic food. However, organic food is also more expensive.
B. the golden arches
C. the Sean John label as seen on its Web site
D. a can of Coca-Cola
E. Sleeping Beauty’s castle on the Disney logo
F. Oprah Winfrey
G. the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
H. Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site
I. an AIDS ribbon
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
The Rhetorical Situation
Chapter 2 PATHOS
Emotional appeals (appeals to pathos) are powerful tools for influencing what people think and believe. We all make decisions—even including the most important ones—based on our feelings.
-Argument is primarily a form of reasoned inquiry
-What is the role of emotion in a responsible argument?
-distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate emotion can be difficult, since that distinction is determined by the rhetorical situation, especially the audience
-Determining appropriate and inappropriate emotion requires judgment, and agreement is never guaranteed.
-reason v/s emotion
Building Bridges
"I tell the class, “I am legally blind.” There is a pause, a collective intake of breath. I feel them look away uncertainly and then look back. After all, I just said I couldn’t see. Or did I?"
Sustain An Argument
make logical claims stronger or more memorable
photographs
other images
add power to arguments
For Example:
HUMOR
What is the difference between Humor and Ridicule?
How does Humor work?
To what specific emotions do the following slogans, sales pitches, and maxims appeal?
• “Just do it.” (ad for Nike)
• “Think different.” (ad for Apple computers)
• “Reach out and touch someone.” (ad for AT&T)
• “Yes we can!” (2008 presidential campaign slogan for Barack
Obama)
• “Country first.” (2008 presidential campaign slogan for John McCain)
• “By any means necessary.” (rallying cry from Malcolm X)
• “Have it your way.” (slogan for Burger King)
• “You can trust your car to the man who wears the star.” (slogan for Texaco)
• “It’s everywhere you want to be.” (slogan for Visa)
• “Know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing!” (tag line for Calvin Klein jeans)
• “Don’t mess with Texas!” (antilitter campaign slogan)
• “Because You’re Worth It” (ad for L’Oreal)
CHAPTER 3
-Aristotle says in the Rhetoric that the most important of the three proofs (logical, pathetic, ethical) is the argument based on character:
if the audience does not trust the orator, all else is in vain.
-Ethos is context specific; context determines an argument’s success
---the idea that good and honorable people can seek to change their self-presentation for different audiences without
lying or misrepresenting themselves.
---the idea that, say, Kim Kardashian has a more credible ethos than a senator or governor in the right context—for example, a cosmetics advertisement
-good writers and speakers MUST develop a variety of voices for different rhetorical contexts
-good writers and speakers MUST have confidence in their own authority
DIFFERENT VOICES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES:
emails to family members,
job applications,
research papers,
speeches to peers
Respond
1. Consider the ethos of these public figures.
Then describe one or two products that might benefit from their endorsements as well as several that would not.
• Cat Deeley—emcee of So You Think You Can Dance
• Margaret Cho—comedian
• Johnny Depp—actor
• Lady Gaga—singer and songwriter
• Bill O’Reilly—TV news commentator
• Marge Simpson—sensible wife and mother on The Simpsons
• Jon Stewart—host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central
CHAPTER 4
Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos
-evidence, facts, testimony, statistics—real numbers, real facts, and no more opinions and feelings
-Using evidence responsibly is complicated
-Must critique facts as well as opinions, questioning surveys and statistical evidence, and uncovering assumptions
that lie behind enthymemes.
--An enthymeme (Greek: ἐνθύμημα, enthumēma), is a rhetorical syllogism (a three-part deductive argument) used in oratorical practice. Originally theorized by Aristotle, there are four types of enthymeme, at least two of which are described in Aristotle's work.
--Aristotle referred to the enthymeme as "the body of proof," "the strongest of rhetorical proofs...a kind of syllogism"
--For example, the factual claim that the Bayer company used to use in its aspirin advertising: “Nothing works better than Bayer.”
It’s a fact: no aspirin works better than Bayer aspirin.
But it’s a fact that conceals the important point that other aspirins work equally well.
Certain propositions are not arguable:
-the square root of 100 is 10
-Canada borders the United States
-Jane Austen wrote in English
We do not argue about these claims because we accept them as commonplaces: they are, for most purposes, facts.
But other "facts" are arguable
-Christopher Columbus discovered America
-William Shakespeare wrote all the plays attributed to him
-clear-cutting in the rain forest has little environmental impact
At some point in the not-too-distant past, these last three facts were commonplaces, at least to certain audiences.
But now they are arguable propositions: reasonable people could dispute the claims and offer other evidence in support of counterarguments.
Further, how we interpret statistics, or how we argue we should respond to statistics, can remind us that numbers and facts are rarely whole arguments in themselves.
Instead, numbers are usually data points that we can use in particular rhetorical situations at particular times.
Respond (page 60):
Discuss whether the following statements are examples of hard evidence
[inartistic] or constructed arguments [artistic].
Not all cases are clear-cut.
1. Drunk drivers are involved in more than 50 percent of traffic deaths.
2. DNA tests of skin found under the victim’s fingernails suggest that the defendant was responsible for the assault.
3. A psychologist testified that teenage violence could not be blamed on video games.
4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
5. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
6. Air bags ought to be removed from vehicles because they can kill young children and small-framed adults.
