Examining Appeals and Evaluating Arguments

Analyzing a Text and Evaluating Arguments

Questions for Analysis (Hacker p. 66)

• PURPOSE: What’s the thesis of the article? What is the author’s point in writing the article? • STRUCTURE: How is the text organized? What are the main ideas and how do they relate to the thesis and to each other? • AUDIENCE: Who is the audience?

Questions for Analysis • What strategies does the author use to achieve the purpose? How does he/she try to persuade the audience that his/her argument is valid? • What types of evidence does the author use to support his/her thesis? How good is this evidence? Is it observation, inference, or a combination of both? • Point of view, tone, metaphor, context

Questions for Analysis • Does the author include opposing views? Does he/she respond to them effectively? • Does the author leave any questions unanswered? • Does the author use faulty reasoning or unfair arguments?

Logical Fallacies • Deaths from overdoses in Metropolis have doubled in the past three years. Therefore, more Americans than ever are dying from drug abuse. • Hasty Generalization

Logical Fallacies • Politicians are corrupt. • Asian students are exceptionally intelligent. • Stereotypes

Logical Fallacies • If we can put humans on the moon, we should be able to find a cure for the common cold.

• False analogy (Both are scientific endeavors, but other than that they have little in common.)

Logical Fallacies • Evidence: In a recent survey, 923 of 1,115 students questioned say they would subscribe to wireless Internet access. • Conclusion: The majority of students on our campus would subscribe to wireless Internet access if it were available.

• Is the evidence sufficient? • Is the evidence representative? • Is the evidence relevant?

Logical Fallacies • Since Governor Cho took office, unemployment of minorities in the state has decreased by 7 percent. Governor Cho should be applauded for reducing unemployment among minorities. • False cause and affect assumption

Logical Fallacies • Our current war against drugs has not worked. Either we should legalize drugs or we should turn the drug war over to our armed forces and let them fight it. • Either… or fallacy

Logical Fallacies • Violent crime is increasing. • Therefore, we should vigorously enforce the death penalty.

• Argument with a missing claim

Logical Fallacies • Mary loves good food; therefore, she will be an excellent chef.

• Non sequitur (“does not follow”)

Logical Fallacies • The police do not give speeding tickets to people driving less than five miles per hour over the limit. Sam is driving fiftynine miles per hour in a fifty-five-mileper-hour zone. Therefore, the police will not give Sam a speeding ticket. • Argument with a questionable premise

• All members of our club ran in this year’s Boston Marathon. Jay ran in this year’s Boston Marathon. Therefore, Jay is a member of our club. • Conclusion does not follow • All members of our club ran in this year’s Boston Marathon. Jay is a member of our club. Therefore, Jay ran in this year’s Boston Marathon.

Emotional appeals: can be fair and unfair • Is it anti-American to be against having a retail giant set up shop in one’s community? Some people would say so. On the other hand, if you board up Main Street, what’s left of America?

Emotional appeals: • This progressive proposal to build a ski resort in the state park has been carefully researched by Western Trust, the largest bank in the state; furthermore, it is favored by a majority of the local merchants. The only opposition comes from narrow-minded, do-gooder environmentalists who care more about trees than they do about people; one of their leaders was actually arrested for disturbing the peace several years ago.

How fairly does the writer deal with opposing views? • Does the writer fairly handle the opposition? Does he/she concede points when necessary and counter others in a civil spirit? Does he/she quote opposing views fairly and accurately and not take words out of context?

Opposing Views • Washington, DC, residents are lobbying for statehood. Giving a city such as the District of Columbia the status of a state would be unfair. • Straw man fallacy

Misleading Quotes • ORIGINAL: • Johnson’s History of the American West is riddled with inaccuracies and astonishing in its blatantly racist description of the Indian wars. (B. Smith, reviewer) • QUOTE • According to B. Smith, Johnson’s History of the American West is “astonishing in its… description of the Indian wars.”

Even if you don’t see logical fallacies… • Do you see any possible opposing ideas/views that the author has overlooked? Do you have any questions that the author doesn’t answer?