Chapter 16

Chapter 16 talks about what counts as evidence. Evidence is probably one of the most important parts of supporting a claim. Outside evidence can only help your argument. The more evidence you have, the easier it is for someone to believe your claim.  To make your evidence more persuasive, try and relate it to the right time and place of your argument.  There is first hand evidence that you as the individual can conduct. You can make your own observations and come up with your hypothesis about a certain claim. Another great way to get first hand evidence is to conduct an interview.  If you ask an expert about a certain topic, you will make your claim stronger by going to an expert in the field.  A third way is to do surveys and questionnaires. It gives you a good mindset for what other individuals believe about the topic you are trying to make a claim for.

The chapter also touches on second hand evidence and research. This would be searching your library databases for information from reliable sources.  A subject directory would be also under second hand evidence. This would be search engines on the internet like Google and Yahoo.

The last part of the chapter talks about considering audiences and using your evidence effectively. Before presenting your information, you should look into the type of audience you are presenting to so you do not throw in too many big words that the audience may not understand.

This chapter can relate to real world things by relating it to the upcoming election. People go around house to house asking who you are going to vote for to get a gauge of who might win that state or district. This would fall under the surveying category.

Chapter 13 Style in Arguments

            I decided to write about chapter 13 in Everything’s an Argument. This chapter is about style in argument. The vocabulary you choose for your argument helps define its style. You words should match up to the tone you want to use. For example, the use of slang can bring an argument alive, or it could confuse older readers who are not up to par with the new lingo of the younger generation. Varying your sentence length and content can keep readers interested in your work. Punctuation in your arguments is very important also. It will give the reader a feeling of your tone. The use of metaphors and similes keep the reader interested because it draws comparisons from outside sources. You can quickly get away from your main topic while still having the chance to go back to it after your comparison is done.

            I decided to focus on punctuation in argument. The use of punctuation is very important to get your tone and message across. The use of a semicolon will allow you to keep the sentence going and bring in a different point for your argument. The use of question marks can make the reader back pedal mentally. If you keep hammering questions at the reader, it will force the reader to give your argument some thought and answer the questions for themselves.

            For example, if you use question marks in your arguments, then you force the reader to think about the question a little bit. If you show an ad poster with an injured animal, and it is for donating for animal healthcare and food, it may say “What will you do?” This makes you feel bad if you do not help out and donate to the foundation.

Arguments of Definition

Arguments of Definition

            This entire chapter discusses how certain terms have multiple definitions to different people. Certain words can be debated of what the true meaning is. For example, the chapter talks about what the definition of patriotism is. It gives an excerpt from a speech by Barack Obama in 2008 that gave his definition of patriotism. This was in response to a magazine article that questioned his patriotism. Later on in the chapter, it talks about how you can formulate a claim and the definition of a claim. Before you come up with a proper definition, you must do some research on the word to have a legitimate claim.

            I chose to go in detail on different kinds of definitions. There is a formal definition, which is a definition found out of a dictionary. Operational definitions are definitions created by the situation at hand. There is a definition by example, which is when you consider a category, like classic movies, and then compare all other old movies to see if it is also considered a classic movie. For example, if you consider The Wizard of Oz a classic movie, then every other movie must be compared to it and then proper put into the category. Another problem with definitions is when the Supreme Court is debating on a term for a court case. One person may believe one thing while the other person may believe something completely different. I think that the word American can have multiple definitions. Some people may only consider Americans to be people born in the country, while others may see it as all U.S. citizens. Then another group can say, an American is someone living in the country. This word can have many different meanings and there is no true definition.

Blog Post Jan 23-30

 

In this blog post I decided to choose a section from chapter 4 of Everything’s an Argument. I chose to write about providing logical structures for arguments. These types of arguments do not focus on cultural assumptions, but rather use more of a logical approach that is sometimes self evident.  The first argument is based on degree. It is a very common type of argument and is usually barely noticeable.  An example from the book is saying that it is better to have a conventional war than have a nuclear war.

Another type of argument would be the use of analogies. This is used to by explaining one idea by comparing it to another.  This can be as simple as a metaphor or simile that gets the point across. Arguments from precedent are very similar to using analogies because they do compare two things. For example the book says “ …If motorists in most other states can pump their own gas safely, surely the state of Oregon can trust its own drivers to be as capable. It’s time for Oregon to permit self-service gas stations”.  This argument says that if other Americans can pump gas, surely people from Oregon can too. Other forms of precedents deal with issues of time. For example, if a court rules a certain way for a criminal for a certain crime, then it usually sets a precedent for the same punishment later on.  The picture uses logos to show all the ways smoking can harm/kill you.

Blog Post Jan 11-18

For this blog post I have chosen to write about types of claims from chapter 2 of Inventing Arguments. In the section, it discusses three different types of claims that can be made. First off, it talks about claims of facts. This claim argues that a certain condition exists, has existed, or will exist. Although fact certainly means truth, there are still facts that are being disputed to this day. An example from the book is that the Roman Empire influenced all of Europe. This may be true, but you will need supporting evidence to validate your claim.

The second claim is one of value. This is when you make a statement and argue whether it is good, bad, or unreasonable. This is mainly just your opinion, but to validate your claim, you must have supporting evidence to help. In the chapter, it uses the example saying that the Packers are not a very good team this year. That is your opinion on the matter and you must work off of that. Follow it up by saying they are not very good because they have a bad defense.

The third type of claim is policy. Claims of policy call for a particular change in attitude, behavior, policy, or approach. For example, in the book it says that we should get out of class early. That would alter the policy that says we must be in class for a set amount of time of day. This claim may contradict certain rules or procedures in order for your claim to work.

In our everyday lives we use all these claims to try and persuade other people to believe what we are saying. Likewise, the people you are talking to may have their own view on the matter.