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Instructor Notes For Everything's An Argument
Instructor Notes For Everything's An Argument
Everythings an Argument
with Readings
Instructors Notes
Everythings an Argument
with Readings
Fourth Edition
Andrea A. Lunsford
John J. Ruszkiewicz
Keith Walters
Prepared by John Kinkade, Jodi Egerton,
and Taryne Hallett
Contents
Introduction xiii
Everything Is an Argument 1
Arguments from the Heart Pathos 7
Arguments Based on Character Ethos 10
Arguments Based on Facts and Reason Logos 15
Thinking Rhetorically 18
Structuring Arguments 21
Arguments of Fact 25
Arguments of Definition 28
Evaluations 32
Causal Arguments 35
Proposals 38
Style in Arguments 41
Humor in Arguments 44
Visual Arguments 47
Presenting Arguments 49
What Counts as Evidence 51
Fallacies of Argument 53
Intellectual Property, Academic Integrity, and Avoiding
Plagiarism 56
19. Evaluating and Using Sources 58
20. Documenting Sources 60
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Introduction
The title of this text Everythings an Argument is more than just a
snappy phrase. It represents our conviction that all language, whether
written or spoken, visual or textual, is motivated. Because language is
a human activity and because humans exist in a complex world of
goals, purposes, and activities, language cannot be anything but motivated. In the words of Kenneth Burke, whose work has been central
to the conception of this text, language is a form of symbolic action:
it gets things done in the world, acting on people and situations. The
weak version of this argument claims simply that language has effects
in the world or that people use language to accomplish ends; most of
us would have no difficulty accepting that proposition.
But we hold to the strong version of the argument, maintaining,
with Burke, that all language is inherently a form of argument. In this
formulation of the claim, people use language to create identification
between themselves and their audience. We cannot escape this naturally human function of language. The flip side of the argument that
all language is motivated is powerful, too: all language is open to interpretation and negotiation. Production and analysis of language in
this model require not just reason but also all the sensory faculties and
an awareness of the rhetors and the audiences history and experiences. Burkes definition of languages scope and power makes apparently simple activities chatting with friends, reading the newspaper, writing a note to yourself into scenes of argument and
identification. We are all wordlings, made of language as much as
users of it.
In A Grammar of Motives, Burke introduced the dramatistic pentad, a way of describing the human uses of language and the relationships among people, their language, and their world. The five
elements act, scene, agent, agency, purpose do not appear explicitly in this text, but the concepts remain important to us. The texts
focus on the ethical problems of language use reflects our sense that
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the writers stance isnt overtly stated. In the Response questions following each reading students may be asked to find and state the positions taken in the journalistic pieces, or they may be asked to redraft
an argument into academic essay format. Such exercises have a threefold purpose to test comprehension, to assist students in understanding the importance of style and tone in various genres, and to
give students practice in crafting academic prose. An additional value
of these exercises is that they incorporate ideas and conclusions already provided by the reading, thereby enabling students to focus
strictly on the craft of writing.
The chapter topics were chosen for their currency in public discourse and for their complexity. None of them can be considered a
simple pro/con question or a clear-cut issue of conventional conservative/liberal opposition. We expect one of the benefits of this variety
to be that the alliances among students in your classroom discussions
throughout the term will shift with the various topics, allowing students to both acquaint themselves with a broader range of ideas and
find commonality with a broader range of people than they might
otherwise. The readings within each chapter contribute to that complexity both by their content and by the variety of genres and media
represented.
The questions following the readings are quite varied, although
there is at least one writing assignment for nearly every reading. Many
questions require students to synthesize information from other readings in the same chapter. Most of the questions, except where stated
otherwise, are intended for individual responses. In addition, many of
them can provide focus for classroom discussion or small group
work.
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Instructors Notes
Everythings an Argument
with Readings
CHAPTER 1
Everything Is an Argument
This chapter asks students to think in new ways about the reading and
writing that they do in a variety of situations. Everythings an Argument presents an extended argument for the idea that all language is
a form of motivated action, an idea that may not make sense to many
first-year students. Even confident and experienced writers will find
new ideas in this chapter, and for many students these unfamiliar
ideas may make for something of a conceptual mess. Give yourself
and the students a few weeks to use the terminology, practice analyzing texts, and ask questions.
The most important lesson in this chapter is that all language and
even images can serve as argument. Some first-year students have difficulty understanding argument as anything but disagreement, and
getting them to accept the word as meaning making a point or reasoned inquiry can take some time. Students may also have some difficulty making the distinction between argument and persuasion. As
an in-class activity, you might ask your students to write a onesentence definition of one of the terms. Then have students read their
definitions aloud without identifying the term. The rest of the class
can try to guess which word is being defined and explain their
guesses.
A second important lesson in this chapter is that rhetorical situations vary widely, ranging from the obviously persuasive (the senators defense of Homeland Security to the irate C-SPAN caller) to the
poetic (Michael Lassells poem about a brothers death). Understanding how arguments change depending on contexts and even understanding the contexts themselves can be challenging for students.
Fortunately, even seemingly homogeneous classes usually are composed of students who carry different assumptions and who have varied cultural backgrounds and experiences. Have students practice
analyzing arguments in class, and theyll probably encounter a broad
range of knowledge, assumptions, and interpretations.
Stasis theory and the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos
are powerful tools for understanding and creating arguments, but it
may take students some time to sort them out. Students often rightly
perceive the difficulty of separating the three appeals and treating
them as distinct entities. In almost all rhetorical situations, the three
appeals overlap significantly, so that, for example, an effective logical
or emotional appeal builds a particular kind of ethos. They will also
quickly realize that it can be difficult to find pure examples of the
kinds of arguments that stasis theory introduces, but with work they
should be able to see that many authors move through one or more
stasis questions in making their arguments.
To help students understand stasis theory, you might consider
walking through an imaginary crime in class. If someone goes missing, for example, there is a question of fact. Did something happen to
this person? If a dead body is found, then investigators know that
something happened and try to define the event: was it suicide, an accident, or a murder? If they can define the crime as murder, they might
next evaluate it: was it murder in the first, second, or third degree?
When they have evaluated the severity of the crime, the investigators
or the judicial system makes a proposal about what to do next: should
the criminal be given a prison sentence of a limited number of years,
life imprisonment, or the death penalty?
Exercises
1. 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?
the embossed leather cover of a prayer book [An expensive
embossed leather cover might suggest that the text is
held in high regard, arguing that the text deserves respect and attention.]
a Boston Red Sox cap [The cap can assert a fans support
for a baseball team and affirm a sense of identity with
other fans, a city, even a region of the country. It could
also be a taunt to fans of other teams, particularly the
New York Yankees. It might also support the loyal tradition of Red Sox fans or celebrate their 2004 World Series
win.]
a Livestrong bracelet [The bracelet may argue that the
wearer is committed to cancer-research charities or to
fashionable trends.]
the label on a best-selling rap CD [A label affixed to the CD
might warn that the lyrics and themes in the album are
unsuitable for children. Some people might avoid the
CD for that reason, and others might select it because of
the adult content.]
the health warning on a pack of cigarettes [The warning describes potential consequences of smoking; some consumers might decide not to buy the cigarettes as a result,
and some might feel guilty about their purchase. This
warning might also serve as a good example of a strong
argument that nonetheless frequently fails to persuade.]
a belated birthday card [Such a card, often humorous, is
frequently a plea for forgiveness or understanding, arguing that the sender deserves credit for remembering
the birthday at all.]
the nutrition label on a can of soup [The label offers facts
about the product that readers may interpret as an argument for or against buying it. For example, the calories
or fat or sodium totals might be higher or lower than
those of competing products.]
the cover of a science fiction novel [The cover usually depicts a futuristic scene. The argument might be buy me
and learn more.]
a colored ribbon pinned to a shirt lapel [The ribbon may
suggest that the wearer holds certain values about politics or fashion.]
a Rolex watch [The watch might imply that the owner is
wealthy and tasteful enough to select a much admired,
highly refined product, or it might argue that the owner
wants to display his or her wealth as a mark of personal
distinction.]
2. This exercise would work well in class, perhaps as an introductory activity for the first day or two of the course. You might think
about saving the responses and returning them on the last day of
the class to show students how their understanding of argument
has changed.
3. This exercise introduces students to one method of categorizing
arguments. You could supplement this exercise by asking students to develop their own rhetorical taxonomy: how else might
they divide the world of argument?
4. What common experiences if any do the following objects,
brand names, and symbols evoke, and for what audiences in particular?
a USDA organic label [Associated with healthy, environmentally friendly, and perhaps fresher-tasting food; for
health-conscious consumers]
the Nike swoosh [Associated with athletes and athleticism, commercialization, coolness, foreign factories;
probably for youths and young adults, in particular, but
also for athletic older consumers]
the golden arches [Associated with fast and relatively
inexpensive food, convenience, efficiency, commercialism, American cultural imperialism, obesity; for children and families, perhaps travelers]
the Sean Jean label, as seen on its Web site [Associated with
urban style and hip-hop culture; for young, fashion-conscious consumers, particularly African Americans]
a can of Coca-Cola [Associated with refreshment, relaxation, tradition, the necessity of caffeine, holidays, even
U.S. power and cultural hegemony; for a worldwide audience]
4
The first chapter introduces many new concepts, and the i*Claim CDROM gives students the opportunity to practice applying the terminology they have learned. The first two tutorials complement this
chapter especially well.
Tutorial 1, Arguments Make Claims, offers students the chance to
practice interpreting written, spoken, and visual claims. If you are
able to play the CD in class, you might present the speeches by Lou
Gehrig, Jesse Jackson, and Christopher Reeve from the Arguments
section of the CD and ask students to explain the ethos of each
speaker. You might also ask them to compare and contrast the contexts and the claims of the speeches. (The first tutorial includes commentary on and questions about Gehrigs speech, so take students
through that tutorial before beginning the comparison exercise.)
CHAPTER 2
Exercises
1. To what specific feelings or emotions do the following slogans,
sales pitches, and maxims appeal?
Just do it. (ad for Nike) [Appeal to pleasure, boldness]
7
CHAPTER 3
Arguments Based on
Character Ethos
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.
This chapter presents two primary difficulties for students. First,
many students feel uncomfortable with the idea that ethos is contextspecific. They do not like the idea that good and honorable people
can seek to change their self-presentation for different audiences
without lying or misrepresenting themselves. Further, the idea that,
say, Jessica Simpson has a more credible ethos than a senator or governor in the right context for example, a cosmetics advertisement
bothers some students. Once they grasp the idea that context determines an arguments success, this idea that ethos can be elastic makes
more sense.
The second and more important difficulty is that some first-year
students find it a challenge to take on a voice they are not accustomed
to and call it their own. Many students simply do not have the writing
experience to believe that they have more than one voice or that they
could develop a variety of voices for different rhetorical contexts.
Some students will want to argue that adopting different voices is a
form of lying by creating characters that do not exist or by taking on
authority that is not theirs to claim.
Explain to students that the written voices they use in class, in
emails to family members, and in job applications, for example, already differ but that they are not necessarily false representations. Instead, each of these three kinds of writing attempts to create a
character who foregrounds certain elements of students interests and
expertise and backgrounds others.
10
Exercises
1. Consider the ethos of each of the following public figures. Then
describe one or two public arguments, campaigns, or products
that might benefit from their endorsements as well as several that
would not. [Answers will vary; some suggestions are provided.]
Oprah Winfrey TV celebrity [The popular host appeals
especially to women, but her appeal is probably as
broad as anyones in America; her caring, generous,
trustworthy demeanor means that she could sell almost
anything and could have serious political influence as
well.]
Ellen Degeneres comedian and talk-show host [The warm
and funny host has fairly broad appeal and could sell
many products, particularly to women; because of her
identification with gay rights, she might not be popular
with conservative audiences.]
Dick Cheney vice president [The long-time government
insider has great appeal in conservative circles; some
audiences especially Democratic and liberal ones
11
view him with great suspicion as wielding power behind the scenes; he could endorse products for older,
more conservative Americans.]
Katie Holmes actress [The sweet but feisty young actresss upcoming marriage to Tom Cruise might suggest
a certain strength of character; she might pitch stay in
school campaigns and sell clothing, fashion, and cosmetics to young women; she is not likely to be a
spokesperson for products aimed at older people.]
Colin Powell former secretary of state in the Bush administration [The highly respected military and political leader
has stature as a sober, mature, and experienced leader,
which might lead to selling insurance or investments;
he probably would not sell everyday consumer goods
like laundry detergent; he might be very successful as a
spokesperson for civic or educational initiatives.]
Al Sharpton civil rights activist and politician [The brash,
outspoken, left-wing leader is a strong advocate for liberal causes; he probably would be a good pitchman for
get out the vote, education, and African American issues, though he could be potentially divisive in many
contexts.]
Queen Latifah actress and rap artist [The funny, empathetic figure appeals especially to women; she has already sold makeup and pizza and been connected to
Wal-Mart.]
Dave Chapelle humorist and columnist [The edgy comedian includes plenty of pointed social and political
satire in his show, as well as some drug humor; he probably should not sell serious products like life insurance
but has enormous appeal to young audiences.]
Jeff Gordon NASCAR champion [The highly successful,
photogenic NASCAR racer is controversial because hes a
non-Southerner in a heavily Southern sport and because he looks less masculine than most NASCAR drivers;
he could (and does) sell many products such as milk,
Pepsi, and car-related products; he probably has little
clout in political campaigns but might work as a
spokesperson for worthy causes.]
Barbara Boxer U.S. senator from California [The outspoken
liberal senator seems to be a polarizing figure; she
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OTHER
TUTORIAL 03: SOURCES HAVE AN AGENDA
14
CHAPTER 4
15
Exercises
1. Discuss whether the following statements are examples of hard
evidence [inartistic] or rational appeals [artistic]. Not all cases
are clear-cut.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. [Artistic]
Drunk drivers are involved in more than 50 percent of traffic
deaths. [Inartistic; ask students to discuss how the word
involved works in this claim.]
DNA tests of skin found under the victims fingernails suggest
that the defendant was responsible for the assault. [Inartistic]
Polls suggest that a large majority of Americans favor a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. [Inartistic]
A psychologist testified that teenage violence could not be
blamed on computer games. [Inartistic]
Honey attracts more flies than vinegar. [Artistic]
History proves that cutting tax rates increases government rev-
16
enues because people work harder when they can keep more
of what they earn. [Both]
We have nothing to fear but fear itself. [Artistic]
Air bags ought to be removed from vehicles because they can
kill young children and small-framed adults. [Inartistic]
24. This chapter distinguishes between artistic and inartistic proofs:
the first relies on authorial invention (enthymemes, syllogisms,
analogies, and so on), and the second on specific pieces of evidence. Our experience has been that first-year writers are drawn
to the inartistic appeals out of a belief that nothing convinces like
hard evidence the facts that seem inarguable. You will need to
help your students see the effectiveness of artistic appeals, too.
We offer several excerpts that you could use to explore artistic appeals, but a quick look at any newspaper op-ed page will reveal
many more examples. As an introduction to Toulmin logic and as
evidence for the idea that artistic appeals can be effective, have
your students find the claims and reasons embedded in newspaper editorials. Student newspapers also offer, in our experience,
examples of ineffective artistic appeals. First-year writers are usually able to explain what has gone wrong in an unpersuasive
opinion piece, and you could profitably steer class discussion to
the authors use of evidence.
i claim: VISUALIZING ARGUMENT (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 06: ARGUMENTS USE LOGIC
Tutorial 6, Arguments Use Logic, on the i*Claim CD offers a thorough introduction to how arguments use logic or logical fallacies. Students are often especially interested in logical fallacies, and the
assignment in which they rewrite the headline for the shampoo ad
will help them think about why some people intentionally choose to
use logical fallacies. In what contexts is a fallacy more effective than a
rigorously argued logical claim?
The Arguments section is once again invaluable. Have students
sort the arguments for Appeals to Logos. They will quickly notice
that many of these arguments do not use logos as their primary appeal. In those cases, what role do facts and reason play? Ask your students to examine at least twelve of the sample arguments. Can they
generalize about the kinds of situations that benefit most from logical
appeals?
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CHAPTER 5
Thinking Rhetorically
This chapter puts together many principles from earlier chapters and
asks students to use those principles as analytical tools. (The next few
chapters emphasize how rhetoric can help them produce arguments.)
The rhetorical concepts that the book has introduced help students to
understand how and why people make the arguments that they do.
First-year writers, who bring a range of experiences and abilities to
the classroom, may know some of these concepts under different
names. Making a claim, for example, could be the equivalent of
writing a thesis. Giving an argument shape might be understood
as organizing. Students probably also can make sense of the differences between claims of value, emotion, character, and fact: they see
such claims every day, and learning to think rhetorically can be understood as a way of organizing and commenting on ideas that they
intuitively grasp. But once they can articulate these ideas, they can
think, read, and write more consciously and critically.
Encourage your students to explore their familiarity with these
concepts by asking them to name examples of each of the categories
of argument. Popular advertisements are a good tool for showing students the power of carefully crafted appeals; students have sometimes studied advertisements in psychology classes, and they come to
think of advertising as a series of tricks. But rhetorical analysis can
help them see advertising and therefore many other forms of discourse as communication that they can understand. And what they
can understand in others arguments they can apply to their own.
Exercises
1. Describe a persuasive moment you can recall from a speech, an
article, an editorial, an advertisement, or your personal experience. Alternatively, research one of the following famous moments of persuasion and then describe the circumstances of the
appeal: what the historical situation was, what issues were at
18
stake, what the purpose of the address was, and what made the
particular speech memorable.
Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address (1863) [The turning
point of the American Civil War, a reaffirmation of core
Union values]
Elizabeth Cady Stantons draft of the Declaration of Sentiments for the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) [A key statement of principles and arguments for womens rights]
Franklin Roosevelts inaugural address (1933) [An attempt by
a new president to give Americans hope during the
Great Depression]
Winston Churchills addresses to the British people during the
early stages of World War II (1940) [An attempt to rally a nation against a Nazi military onslaught threatening
Britain]
Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)
[An attempt to remind white Christian leaders of the religious roots of the civil rights movement and to defend
the principles of nonviolent civil disobedience]
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CHAPTER 6
Structuring Arguments
Toulmin logic can seem complicated at first so many concepts, so
many terms. But for reasons that we explain in the chapter, Toulmin
logic can also be a powerful as an analytic and productive tool. Our
experience has been that when first-year students commit themselves
to understanding and using the Toulmin framework, their writing improves noticeably. Students begin to make arguments that use evidence effectively, and they write papers that show greater sensitivity
to audience. The system holds students accountable for every part of
their argument, while forcing them to question the foundations and
assumptions underlying their claims.
But like any complicated system, Toulmin logic takes time to learn.
Do not expect your students to become comfortable with the concepts immediately. Instead, plan to introduce and review the various
elements of Toulmin argument over a period of weeks. This chapter
explains the system in a few pages, but the material is significantly
more complex than that of the previous chapters. Take your time
leading students through the idea of claims and reasons. These two
key elements might take a week to explain completely, especially if
you use real-world examples in which claims and reasons are not
made explicit. (Letters to the editor of any newspaper will illustrate
the problems of making clear claims supported by coherent reasons.
Some letters will serve as examples of good, clear writing; others will
make great counterexamples.)
Students usually struggle with the idea that there are two kinds of
evidence in support of reasons and of warrants and that an argument might be exemplary in its use of one while completely ignoring
the other. The Toulmin system gives you a way of explaining to your
students exactly what the evidentiary problems are in their arguments. You can praise a students use of statistical evidence in support
of the reasons, for instance, while asking him or her to provide more
evidence in support of the warrant. Our experience has been that
when students come to understand the distinction between these two
21
forms of evidence, they also learn to create more effective enthymemes: students can work backward from evidence to claims.
Exercises
1. Following is a claim followed by five possible supporting reasons.
State the warrant that would support each of the arguments in
brief. Which of the warrants would need to be defended? Which
would a college audience likely accept without significant backing? [Answers will vary; some suggested warrants are offered.]
We should amend the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College
because a true democracy is based on the popular vote, not the
votes of the usually unknown electors. [True democracy
should be our goal; true democracy does not rely on
representatives to do the peoples voting.]
because under the Electoral College system the votes of people
who have minority opinions in some states end up not counting. [Minority opinions should count in every state; all
votes should count equally.]
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because then Al Gore would have won the 2000 election. [Al
Gore would be a better president than George W. Bush;
Al Gore should have won the 2000 election.]
because the Electoral College is an outdated relic of an age
when the political leaders didnt trust the people. [Outdated
institutions need to be changed; political leaders should
trust the people who vote.]
because the Electoral College skews power toward small and
mid-size states for no good reason. [The Electoral College
disrupts the natural balance of power; there must be a
good reason if power is going to be skewed power toward small and mid-size states.]
25. You can help students learn Toulmin logic by taking every opportunity to use the terminology in class. The more students hear
the words, the more comfortable they will be using them themselves. (We have gone so far sometimes as to state everything in
class as claim, reasons, and warrant: Claim: Rob, you should help
me arrange the desks in a circle. Reason: Because I want everyone
to see each other in the discussion. Warrant: Seeing other students
in a discussion is good. Warrant: If I want a student to do something in class, the student should do it. Or if a student says she is
hungry, we restate it: Claim: I am hungry. Reason: Because I have
not eaten since last night.) Some students might complain about
the complicated system. Help these students make their complaints using Toulmin logic: Claim: I do not like learning Toulmin
logic. Reason: Toulmin is too complicated. You can examine
these claims, explore the reasons and warrants, and show your
students why Toulmin will help them. In short, use the system to
show how powerful it can be.
A final note: students work hard in other classes to learn complicated systems. Every academic field has terminology and a taxonomy that take time to learn. You should make no apologies for
teaching difficult material. Toulmin is hard to learn, but the effort
is repaid many times over. (Enthymeme: If students work hard to
learn in any other classes, then they can expect to work hard to
learn in a writing class, too.)
i claim: VISUALIZING ARGUMENT (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 04: ARGUMENTS USE SUPPORT
Though it doesnt reinforce Toulmin terminology, Tutorial 4, Arguments Use Support, usefully complements this chapter. You might
23
find it productive to ask students to examine the support that this tutorial introduces and explain how Toulmin terminology helps make
sense of evidence. Students who then might need some extra reinforcement with Toulmin terminology should consult the Glossary
section of i*Claim.
24
CHAPTER 7
Arguments of Fact
This is the first chapter that deals explicitly with the stases that were
introduced in Chapter 1. The first stasis question in the ancients tradition was of fact: did something happen? Before an argument can
progress to the next stage, everyone must agree that something did
happen. Consider a missing person case. If no one knows where the
person is and no body can be found, then authorities cannot arrest
and try someone for murder, decide that an accident occurred, or rule
the death a suicide. First, there must be agreement that something
happened; only after the parties have agreed that something has happened can they determine which term or definition best applies. An
argument of fact is the basis of further claims.
Your students may find arguments of fact to be especially interesting because they have long understood facts to be immutable. Problems arise, however, when they begin to consider what kinds of facts
can be reasonably argued and which cannot be reasonably argued.
Theres no easy answer to this question. For instance, in the exercises
for this chapter, the statement that there has only been one Roman
Catholic president of the first forty-three hardly seems arguable. A
quick look in any encyclopedia would confirm this fact. But what if a
historian found evidence that an earlier president was a Roman
Catholic who had suppressed his religious affiliation because he
feared the anti-Catholic prejudice that was common in the late nineteenth century? In that case, even this seemingly straightforward, easily verified claim becomes arguable. A good argument with good
evidence can make new facts.
This example, which will fall far afield from the work that students
will produce in their classes, nonetheless might help them understand
that facts can be arguable. They may, however, find it difficult to come
up with topics of their own that are manageable in the papers theyll
be writing for class. Research will play a crucial role in developing
good factual arguments, and the brainstorming exercises included
below should help them sort out which arguments would be particularly viable for a paper.
25
Exercises
1. For each topic in the following list, decide whether the claim is
worth arguing to a college audience and explain why or why not:
[Answers will vary; some suggestions are provided.]
Hurricanes are increasing in number and ferocity. [Worth arguing; how far back does reliable data reach? How well
can we measure hurricane strength before the SaffirSimpson scale was created? How do we compare hurricanes that are now hitting populated coastal areas to
those that hit coastal areas with few residents?]
Many people die annually of cancer. [Not worth arguing; the
claim can be easily supported by one or two numbers.]
Fewer people would die of heart disease each year if more of
them paid attention to their diets. [Perhaps worth arguing;
though diet has long been considered a risk factor for
heart disease, there might be contrary evidence.]
Japan might have come to terms more readily in 1945 if the Allies hadnt demanded unconditional surrender. [Worth arguing]
Boys would do better in school if there were more men teaching in elementary and secondary classrooms. [Worth arguing]
The ever-increasing number of minorities in higher education
is evidence that racial problems have just about ended in the
United States. [Worth arguing]
26
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CHAPTER 8
Arguments of Definition
A traditional legal example of stasis theorys practical application concerns a missing urn. This example works well in the classroom as an
introduction to arguments of definition: an urn is discovered to be
missing from a house and is found in the house of another man. At the
level of fact, there is agreement: the defendant has the urn that belongs to the plaintiff. But there is considerable disagreement about
definition: the plaintiff argues that the urn was stolen, whereas the defendant argues that it was merely borrowed. The case can go no further until the parties settle the question of definition. Only after the
parties have defined theft and borrowing and only after they have
determined which term best applies can the case move forward.
Toulmin logic will help you explain the contested and the
rhetorical nature of definitional claims. Because definitional criteria
are warrants, they must be chosen with audience in mind (if the audience members do not accept the criteria you choose, they will not accept any other part of the argument). You could return to the urn
example to demonstrate the need for shared definitions of theft or
borrowing. If, for example, you were to argue that borrowing without
explicit permission constitutes theft, you would need to provide evidence for that criterion; your evidence must be tailored to a particular
audience. Not everyone would accept that criterion: what about close
friends who share their possessions without needing permission each
time they borrow something?
Some students who struggle will be able to place an object within
a given class (a fiddle is certainly a violin; prostitution is an exploitation of women; paid workers are not volunteers) but will balk at the
need to explore or defend definitional criteria. Turn to Toulmin to
show that they might have evidence in support of their reasons but
not in support of the warrants the definitional criteria themselves.
28
Exercises
1. Briefly discuss the criteria you might use to define the italicized
terms in the following controversial claims of definition. Compare
your definitions of the terms with those of your classmates. [Answers will vary; some possibilities are offered.]
Graphic novels are serious literature. [Must offer some psychological depth and some meaning beyond the surface; must be of high enough quality to be read for
decades or centuries; must offer some kind of commentary on the human condition]
Burning a nations flag is a hate crime. [Must be a crime or
prosecutable act; must be aimed at a specific group;
must be intended to hurt, demean, or disparage]
The Bushes have become Americas royal family. [Must be an
extended family; must have exercised political power
over an extended period; must capture the imagination
of the public; must bring attention to individual family
members through family membership]
Matt Drudge and Larry Flynt are legitimate journalists. [Must
earn a living by reporting the news; must be trained in
journalism either by schooling or through practical
29
more creatively, they seem to structure their arguments more effectively and develop their criteria in unexpected but reasonable
ways. (An alien doesnt have to come from outer space, for example; maybe the world of celebrity that Tom Cruise inhabits is so
different from ours that it may as well be an alien world.) When
students write about the more creative claims and experiment
with off-beat arguments, they have a greater opportunity to say
something fresh.
i claim: VISUALIZING ARGUMENT (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 05: ARGUMENTS CONSIDER MULTIPLE
VIEWPOINTS
31
CHAPTER 9
Evaluations
In the notes for Chapter 8, we explained the classic illustration of the
missing urn: the urn belonging to one man is found in the home of another. The parties disagree about the nature of the incident. One says
the urn was stolen, and the other says it was merely borrowed. The
matter is stuck at the level of definition, but lets imagine that the court
decides the urn was stolen. The defendant might argue that he stole
the urn for a good reason: the urn contained water that he needed for
his ill child. The defendant now makes an argument of evaluation: the
act of theft was, he claims, praiseworthy.
You can use the story of the urn to show your students how arguments of evaluation grow out of arguments of definition. The transition from definition to evaluation can be tricky, however; as youre
writing, its not always clear when youre defining and when youre
evaluating. (For example, if you define someone as a hero, isnt that
also an evaluation?) Nevertheless, most students will benefit from
thinking of the two as separate, at least in the abstract.
Many students will need help choosing the level of evaluative abstraction for their arguments. Its one thing to argue that Raiders of the
Lost Ark is great art; its something else to argue that its a good Harrison Ford-starring blockbuster. The best argument probably lies between those extremes, and most students will need help crafting a
strong, arguable thesis. Some students will be content to argue that
something is good or bad; push them to complicate their ideas so that
they write more interesting arguments.
As with arguments of definition, evaluative arguments challenge
students to defend their criteria. Toulmin logic will show that criteria
are warrants and must be developed with audience in mind. If the audience does not accept the criteria, the evaluative judgment will not
be accepted either. Peer review or other forms of draft response will
provide students with an audience of thoughtful readers who might
challenge writers criteria.
32
Exercises
1. Choose one item from the followings lists that you understand
well enough to evaluate. Develop several criteria of evaluation
you could defend to distinguish excellence from mediocrity in the
area. Then choose another item from the list, this time one you do
not know much about at all, and explain the research you might
do to discover reasonable criteria of evaluation for it. [Answers
will vary considerably. You might use this exercise as an
in-class activity, having students work in groups according
to which topics they know best. Many students will be surprised by how many criteria the group can come up with
and how challenging it can be to establish criteria that
many people can accept.]
fashion designers
Navajo rugs
musicals
spoken-word poetry
UN secretary generals
NFL quarterbacks
contemporary painters
TV journalists
TV sitcoms
health food
animated films
33
Evaluation arguments are common, so students often find them easier to write than other sorts of arguments. But evaluations in an academic context ask students to find reasons for their opinions; they
cant just say I like it or I dont like it and stop. We stress the importance of finding good evaluative criteria above, and Tutorial 4,
Arguments Use Support, works well with this chapter. With this argument more than any other, students need to be reminded of the importance of supporting their arguments so that their target audiences
will find their claims persuasive.
Because the Arguments section of the CD allows students to sort
for Arguments of Evaluation, you might ask students to look over
several of the thumbnails that come up as evaluation arguments. For
homework, ask students to identify the evaluative claim and the audience for the claim. What are the implied criteria for evaluation?
34
CHAPTER 10
Causal Arguments
Causal arguments can be extremely challenging for students; the logic
of causality is complex, the evidence is often shaky, and the results
can be uncertain. The guide to writing causal argument in the chapter
can help walk students through the process of writing a causal argument.
In some versions of the stases, causal arguments came before arguments of evaluation; in others, they came after. Show your class (by
using the examples from this book or from elsewhere) that regardless
of their place in the order of the stases, causal arguments build on and
set up other arguments. Like definitions and evaluations, they rarely
appear in pure form, though we provide some examples of such pure
causal arguments in the text. The situations that open the chapter
suggest such ideal causal arguments, though they also rely on definitional issues.
We have found that students typically try to tackle causal arguments that reach too far for a regular class paper. Remember, too, that
because the logic of causal arguments can be complex, students will
likely benefit from extra time and help as they make causal claims. For
useful models, you might turn to sports writing. Students can easily
see how reasonable, informed observers can differ on why a team or
an individual won or lost a competition.
Exercises
1. The causes of the following events and phenomena are quite well
known and frequently discussed. But do you understand them
well enough yourself to spell out the causes to someone else?
Working in a group, see how well (and in how much detail) you
can explain each of the following events or phenomena. Which
explanations are relatively clear-cut, and which seem more open
to debate?
tornadoes [Clear-cut]
35
36
Causal arguments are hard to make, in part because of the post hoc,
ergo propter hoc fallacy. (Make sure students consult the glossary on
the i*Claim CD-ROM to understand this term.) Tutorial 6, Arguments
Have Logic, will help them avoid this and other fallacies.
i cite: VISUALIZING SOURCES (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 01: SOURCES ANSWER QUESTIONS
37
CHAPTER 11
Proposals
This chapter provides students with the opportunity to put all their
previous work in the service of a complex argument. Proposal arguments have been popular in our classes because most students see
them as the culmination of the semesters effort: once students have
learned to analyze and produce arguments of definition, evaluation,
and causation, proposal arguments make more sense. You can ask
students to define terms carefully, to explain their evaluative criteria,
or to explore the causal connections more thoroughly. This is a fun
unit to teach because students put their rhetorical training to use and
use language to change the world. If you review the stases before you
teach the proposal argument, students will understand that the proposal does not exist in a vacuum but instead builds on whats come
before.
Students often enjoy writing about practical problems on campus
or in the community. Policy issues can make good papers, too,
though youll want to be careful that students dont tackle too much:
its easy for them to try to resolve world hunger in five pages. If your
students write policy proposals, be sure to teach them the dangers of
biting off more than they can chew.
We have asked students in our classes to do extensive audience
analysis as part of the writing process. The chapters guide to writing
proposal arguments gives students some ideas about audience analysis, but you can go beyond what we provide. In the early stages of the
writing process, ask students to write about their audience and consider the approaches that will be most rhetorically effective. Remind
your students that if a proposal is to be accepted, it needs to be finely
tuned to the demands of its audience. Toulmin logic could help some
students understand their audience by drawing attention to warrants.
38
Exercises
1. This exercise might be even more interesting if you ask your students to think of some possible defenses of off-the-wall suggestions. But perhaps the most important aspect of this exercise lies
in pushing students to move beyond relatively simple solutions.
For instance, some students might suggest more education about
the dangers of obesity as a way of addressing the increasing rate
of obesity in the United States. We have no objections to more education, but encourage your students to make more specific proposals. More education and better funding are relatively
common proposal arguments that need to be explained fully and
thoughtfully to be persuasive.
23. The exercises focus on two key issues for proposal arguments:
developing claims that represent responses to real problems and
tailoring proposals to a specific audience. Extend the exercises by
asking students to examine a variety of proposals from editorials in the student newspaper to large-scale governmental policy
proposals in terms of those same issues. How have the writers
of policy proposals identified a real problem thats worth solving?
How have editorial writers targeted their audience in their proposals? Also consider asking students to identify the proposals
39
VIEWPOINTS
40
CHAPTER 12
Style in Arguments
Figurative language is so prevalent we argue in the chapter that it is
indispensable to language use that students will be able to find
and analyze examples of figures from almost any source. One of our
students once wrote a paper about figurative language in country
music; she had a hard time finding lyrics that werent highly figurative,
and she argued that country music wouldnt be country music without figures.
This chapter might best be approached as part of another unit so
you can show the relationship between figures and definition, for example. Metaphor is a definitional argument, after all. By combining
this chapter with others, you can illustrate the ways figures argue and
are not merely dressing on top of already established arguments. You
can also push students to think carefully about what tropes they can
include in their own arguments. Too often, students do not think
much about their style, in part because they dont have the means to
understand how to write stylishly. Use this chapter to help them become more conscious about how they write.
Challenge your students to find figures or tropes that we have not
listed in this chapter. They could do research into the ancient rhetorical terms, or they could develop their own. Give students a piece of
writing that is rich with figurative language, and ask them to identify
each of the figures. Are there any sentences that seem to contain no
schemes or tropes? Could it be that these sentences are figurative in
ways students dont expect or recognize? Remind them that figures
represent changes in the ordinary syntax or signification; how might
these remaining sentences be read as different from the ordinary?
Exercises
1, 2, 4. These exercises ask students to become more conscious of
style both as readers and as writers. These types of productive exercises are thousands of years old; students have been writing
41
with schemes and tropes since at least the fifth century B.C. These
kinds of exercises have persisted because they succeed by
helping students to recognize figurative language in others sentences and to identify and use schemes and tropes more naturally
in their own everyday writing.
3. In the following advertising slogans, identify the types of figurative language used: metaphor, simile, analogy, hyperbole, understatement, rhetorical question, antonomasia, irony, parallelism,
antithesis, inverted word order, anaphora, or reversed structure.
Good to the last drop. (Maxwell House Coffee) [Hyperbole]
Its the real thing. (Coca-Cola) [Antonomasia, understatement]
Melts in your mouth, not in your hand. (M&Ms) [Parallelism]
Be all that you can be. (U.S. Army) [Reversed structure]
Got Milk? (Americas Milk Processors) [Rhetorical question]
Breakfast of champions. (Wheaties) [Hyperbole, antonomasia]
Double your pleasure; double your fun. (Doublemint gum)
[Parallelism]
Let your fingers do the walking. (the Yellow Pages)
[Metaphor]
42
Ask your students to listen to the Jesse Jackson speech The Rainbow
Coalition from the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Given that
Jackson speaks deliberately and is frequently interrupted by applause, students will probably have time to identify some of the
tropes and schemes that he employs. If the speech moves too quickly
for them to follow or if you want to extend the exercise, ask students
to find the full text online and analyze it for figurative language. You
might also ask them to rewrite sections of the speech by omitting or
changing the figures and to compare their creations to the original
text. Be sure to allow time to discuss how these tropes enhance the
spoken presentation, making the speech accessible as well as memorable.
43
CHAPTER 13
Humor in Arguments
This chapter lends itself better to short writing assignments than the
chapters preceding it do. You could ask students to write four or five
pages on some humorous topic (or to write a four- or five-page satire
or parody), but the limited time usually available in writing classes
means that youll have to make some decisions about scope. More
likely, youll have a handful of students who want to use humor in at
least one of their writing assignments, so this may be a chapter that
those students study closely while others spend little time producing
humorous arguments.
Still, humor often presents powerful arguments, and its worthwhile to spend some time discussing how it works with the whole
class. Some humor like that in the animated television show South
Park, for example can be obviously argumentative, and many students will have little trouble identifying arguments from that show.
Another animated TV program, Family Guy, is an example that most
of your students will be familiar with, but its arguments might not be
clear-cut to them. That shows humor is often more scattershot, but
given some time students will be able to see how that show offers arguments. You might have students find examples of the writing of
syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, National Review Online editor
Jonah Goldberg, or ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons to see
how authors can combine serious claims with humor. Once they see
how these sources use humor, they should find it easier to see the arguments in some kinds of humor that they have been thinking of as
argument-free. The concepts presented in this chapter satire, parody, and detail should help them improve their analyses.
Exercises
1. For each of the following items, list particular details that might
contribute to a humorous look at the subject. [Answers will
vary.]
44
zealous environmentalists
avaricious builders and developers
aggressive drivers
violent Hollywood films
antiwar or hemp activists
drivers of sport utility vehicles
Martha Stewart
high school coaches
college instructors
malls and the people who visit them
23. These exercises provide a few ideas for shorter writing assignments about humor, but they also require some effort on your students part. If you want your class to explore humor without
spending days listening to friends or searching the Internet, you
could ask them to bring political cartoons to class for discussion.
Students could use Toulmin logic to analyze the many claims that
cartoons make; a single cartoon could make many claims, of
course. Ask your class to pay special attention to audience: Who
would find the cartoons funny? Who would not? Why?
i claim: VISUALIZING ARGUMENT (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 03: ARGUMENTS HAVE GOALS
46
CHAPTER 14
Visual Arguments
As we suggested in earlier notes, most students are familiar with some
techniques of visual argument even if they are not able to analyze
those techniques critically. Images occupy such a large part of students daily lives in advertisements, on television, even in textbooks that they are almost bombarded by visual arguments. But
your students may need a framework for understanding such arguments so that they can review them critically in what they read and
use them honestly in what they write.
This chapter offers that framework and takes a highly rhetorical
approach to visual arguments. That is, the chapter does more than
make recommendations about choosing fonts or effectively positioning items on a page (though it includes such advice as well); it also
asks students to ponder the rhetorical impact of visual texts and images on readers.
The final sections of the chapter offer advice on reading and writing visual texts, as well as focus on rhetorical concepts. For instance,
the elements of successful visual presentations are arranged according to three of the four appeals (or lines of argument) discussed earlier in the book so that writers are asked to consider visual arguments
based on character, logic, and emotions. You might ask students to
offer more examples of how these appeals translate when operating
in highly visual texts such as advertisements or magazine covers. Indeed, magazine advertising is a rich source of visual arguments because almost all ads make the same claim: the reader should buy our
product.
Once your class is comfortable analyzing advertisements, you
could move on to other visual arguments, such as textbook illustrations, statistical charts and graphs, product logos, and photojournalism all of which are visually represented in this chapter.
47
Exercises
14. These exercises encourage students to write about visual images,
a challenging task. Help your students develop a rich vocabulary
of visual arguments by pointing them to the questions in the chapter under the heading Analyzing Visual Elements of Arguments
and by doing several sample analyses in class. Once students are
comfortable thinking critically about images in class, they will be
more able to go off on their own to do critical analyses. You could
bring to class examples of good writing about images: short
pieces of art criticism, incisive movie reviews, columns by popular
cultural critics.
i claim: VISUALIZING ARGUMENT (CD-ROM)
ARGUMENTS: PACKAGING, POSTERS, AND COMICS
The i*Claim CD offers you and your students a common set of images
to help apply the lessons of this chapter. Sort the Arguments for
Packaging, Posters, and Comics, and, if possible, display these images in the classroom so that students can analyze the visual arguments in groups. Alternatively, you might have the students write an
analysis of one of the images from the CD as homework and then
present their arguments to the rest of the class.
48
CHAPTER 15
Presenting Arguments
This chapter asks students to think about rhetoric as a set of tools that
can help us shape our arguments in any number of different media.
Help your students understand that audience awareness, style, and
appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos are important means of persuasion in any argument.
Web sites present rich opportunities for rhetorical analysis: they
usually contain textual and visual arguments; their organization can
differ radically from print texts; and they face a potentially worldwide
audience. But when students make their own arguments in electronic
environments, the tools of rhetoric will guide their decisions.
This chapter also offers a rhetorical approach to spoken arguments. Writing courses are increasingly being called on to address
speaking abilities, and persuasive, skillful oral presentation needs to
be learned and practiced as surely as written presentation does. Even
when youre not working on oral presentations, you might ask students to read aloud some of their work or sample arguments from
other sources. Ask students to read carefully, perhaps even somewhat
dramatically. Theyll learn a great deal about how style helps create an
argument, and youll benefit from learning more about how they hear
language.
Exercises
1-4. For exercise 1, make sure that students take no more than four
paragraphs of a written essay to work with. You might suggest
that they enlarge the type and increase the line spacing when they
rewrite the text for oral argument. These changes will allow the
student to highlight certain words and insert reminders to pause
or slow down, ask for questions, or offer extratextual comments.
Exercises 2, 3, and 4 ask students to examine other arguments and
49
figure out what makes them successful or unsuccessful. Have students bring their notes on these other arguments to class and
work in small groups to discover what similarities or differences
in strategies they identified. Were the strategies and their success
determined by audience, personal preference, or something else?
i claim: VISUALIZING ARGUMENT (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 02: ARGUMENTS HAVE CONTEXTS
50
CHAPTER 16
Exercises
13. These exercises focus on the inventional role of evidence gathering, not just the technical questions of how to find evidence. Its
important to discuss the limits of certain forms of evidence, as well
as their strengths. Exercise 3, in which students observe another
51
class, gives you an opportunity to talk about the limits of observations and field notes. You could develop other limit-setting exercises for other forms of evidence.
If youd like to teach your students research techniques, you
might think of scheduling a day in the library to walk around the
reference areas and experiment with the catalog. Ask the librarians if they offer a guided tour or tutorial for students. Technical research skills are valuable, and first-year students rarely learn them
except in their writing classes.
i cite: VISUALIZING SOURCES (CD-ROM)
TUTORIAL 04: SOURCES HELP YOU SHAPE WHAT YOU THINK
CHAPTER 17
Fallacies of Argument
Our experience has been that first-year writers can really do well in a
unit on fallacies. They enjoy finding the fallacies in newspaper editorials, Web pages, and even their own papers (its a little embarrassing
to have fallacious reasoning pointed out, but students usually appreciate the help). And searching for fallacies can be like a treasure hunt:
you know youre going to find something somewhere, but you dont
know what or where.
The fallacies weve listed here constitute only a few of the many
that logicians and rhetoricians have identified through the years. You
could ask your students to do research into the topic of fallacies. If
you combine this chapter with the one on evidence, you could also
make this a disciplines-based activity because fallacies differ from
field to field.
Its important to note that fallacies are not always mortal errors in
argument but that they represent reasoning that is in some way faulty
or that is likely to be rejected by a particular audience. Arguments
that one audience might accept could be rejected by another audience that considers the reasoning fallacious. Weve given some examples of this problem in the text, but you could find many more in the
pages of your local newspaper or even in your students papers.
Exercises
1. Following is a list of political slogans or phrases that may be examples of logical fallacies. Discuss each item to determine what
you may know about the slogan; then decide which, if any, fallacy
might be used to describe it.
Leave no child behind. (George Bush policy and slogan)
[Sentimental appeal]
Its the economy, stupid. (sign on the wall at Bill Clintons
campaign headquarters) [Bandwagon appeal; possibly
faulty causality]
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54
Under the Arguments section on the CD, ask students to sort for
Fallacies. The CD presents nine samples, and you can ask students
to identify the fallacies present in each argument; there will probably
be some interesting variation in labeling the fallacies. You might ask
the students then to try to make the same argument without depending on the fallacy: Is that even possible with all of these arguments? Is
it ever OK to offer a consciously fallacious argument?
55
CHAPTER 18
56
Exercises
14. The exercises for this chapter focus mainly on the differences
among the various forms of intellectual-property protection. You
could combine these exercises with a discussion of the protections available to people in different academic fields. For example, how do scientists in college biology departments protect
their work? What about historians? How does each person build
on previous work in the field without copying? Exercise 4
should be particularly useful for illustrating that intellectual property is as important an issue outside the classrom as it is inside it.
i cite: VISUALIZING SOURCES (CD-ROM)
SOURCE PRACTICE
The i*Cite CDs Source Practice section allows you to assign a useful
practice that will help students make sense of this chapter. Have students practice incorporating sources when you talk about intellectual
property. As we mention above, many cases of student plagiarism
come from a misunderstanding of how to cite sources properly, so
having extra practice citing sources can be helpful for students. Dont
be shy about holding them to high standards with citation: the firstyear writing course may be the only class that ever teaches students
how to use sources properly.
57
CHAPTER 19
58
Exercises
14. The exercises focus largely on the problems of authority and
credibility in assessing sources. You could ask students to compile
a first-pass bibliography on a given topic and then to make a
second pass, evaluating the sources for inclusion in a shorter list.
The chapter describes the differences among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries, but the exercises do not address these
differences. Students will probably benefit from practicing these
techniques, though the more context you can give them, the better. Rather than ask for summaries or paraphrases that are unrelated to students long writing assignments, suggest that students
write paraphrases or summaries in preparation for their other
work. Carefully integrate the techniques into the larger concerns
of the course. Electronic sources create special bibliographic difficulties, too: its easy to surf through the Internet without taking
thorough notes about where youve been and when you were
there.
i cite: VISUALIZING SOURCES (CD-ROM)
SOURCE PRACTICE
The i*Cite CD contains a Source Practice section that will be a valuable complement to this chapter. You might have students begin the
practice with the Web sites: students seem to have special trouble
with evaluating Web sites, even though they use the Web as their research tool of choice. However, theyll need the experience evaluating different types of sources, so when working on this chapter, have
the students practice evaluating at least four sources one of each
kind available on the CD (books, Web sites, articles, and audio/
visual).
59
CHAPTER 20
Documenting Sources
Most of this chapter is concerned with the technical details of the
MLA and APA citation systems, not with the way citation and documentation constitute a form of argument. The details are not hard to
master, but they are complicated and reward careful attention. Our
experience has been that first-year students will make up their own
citation systems with some mix of dates, names, and titles, rarely
consistent unless they are asked to follow MLA or APA guidelines
carefully.
Exercises
1. This exercise asks students to identify the ways certain citation
systems make arguments in themselves. Draw your students attention to the relative placements of author, date of publication,
60
and title in MLA and APA styles. You could ask your students to
develop alternate citation styles that reflect some other values or
priorities: How would they cite sources if they were concerned
primarily with the authors credibility? Would book sales ever be
an appropriate measure to cite in a bibliography?
2. This exercise allows students to practice citing works (e.g., songs)
that they might be surprised to learn are covered by MLA and APA.
This exercise should be fairly quick and simple for students, but
make sure that they take the time to get their citations correct. Students must pay close attention to details to make sure they cite
correctly.
i cite: VISUALIZING SOURCES (CD-ROM)
SOURCE PRACTICE
61
CHAPTER 21
P. Byrnes It Begins
p. 588
1. Is the baby in this cartoon male or female? Why do you think so?
Answers will vary, but the baby is likely to be considered
female because women are traditionally considered to be
more interested in their looks than men are.
2. What is the it of It begins?
The word it refers to self-deprecation based on appearance or to preoccupation with appearance.
3. Why is this cartoon humorous? What knowledge about American
culture does it assume?
It is humorous because we know that babies dont really
think about the size of their posteriors. The cartoon assumes knowledge about Americans preoccupation with ap62
pp. 589591
64
3. Throughout the Discussion and Conclusion sections, Becker repeatedly qualifies her arguments to discourage readers from extending them further than she believes her data warrant. Find two
cases where she does so, and explain in what specific ways she reminds readers of the limits of her claims. (For a discussion on qualifying claims and arguments, see Chapter 6.)
Answers will vary, but some examples include her use of
minimally and quite possibly. When Becker tells us that
Minimally . . . narrative data reflect a shift in fashion, she
lets the reader know that her data reports at least this fact
and might have further implications. Her use of a qualifier
in Quite possibly . . . disordered eating may also be a symbolic embodiment of the anxiety and conflict the youth
experience suggests that the eating behavior of women
is more complicated than a reaction to seeing beautiful
people on television.
4. These excerpts from Beckers article obviously represent research
writing for an academic audience. What functions does each of the
reprinted sections serve for the articles readers, and why is each
located where it is? Why, for example, is an abstract placed at the
beginning of an article? Why are keywords a valuable part of this
abstract?
The delineated sections of the article give structure to the
paper and create focal points for different information
about the study. The abstract tells us what to expect from
the paper as a whole, so it comes first. The discussion analyzes the data that have been presented. The conclusion
draws the various points together with some implications
for further research or action. The keywords present the
main themes of the paper so that the reader can judge the
relevance of the article to the information that they seek.
5. Writing assignment
68
69
71
Answers will vary, but Walker points out in his analysis that
marketing campaigns have been a major proponent of thin
images and that an antiperfection message from marketers
is heartening. It is also possible that women may be weary
of both the self-improvement movement and thinness expectation.
3. What sort of argument does the visual that accompanied Walkers
text make? How does it add to or detract from his argument?
The tongue-in-cheek visual argues that linking Dove body
cream to essential beauty is ridiculous. A beauty enhancer
is out of place in such a context, just as it should be considered ridiculous in the lives of real women.
How does appreciating its argument depend crucially on the
readers familiarity with Sandro Botticellis painting from about
1485, The Birth of Venus, reproduced here? Can you give examples
of other visual allusions images whose full interpretation depends on knowledge of other images to which they make reference?
To appreciate the juxtaposition of the beauty aid and Venus,
one must understand that Venus is the Roman goddess of
love and beauty.
4. Writing assignment
pp. 618621
1. Whats Daums argument? In other words, why does she find the
Real Women ads disconcerting? What, according to her, is the
real reason that all of us want to see preternatural (paragraph 9)
72
people as models rather than people who look like us? Do you
agree or disagree? Why or why not?
In addition to noting that the Dove ad campaign is selling
firming cream by adopting feminist rhetoric, Daum argues
that Americans want to distance ourselves from the reality
of the body with all of its hair and jiggle. By using professionally beautiful people in advertising, we can avoid confronting our bodies and identify with the ideal. While we
might love ourselves, we do not want to expose our imperfections to the world.
2. What does Daum mean when she contends that actual intimacy is
raw (paragraph 12)? How does her word choice in this case
make her argument memorable? How does she support her claim
that intimacy is raw? Why is this claim crucial to her argument?
Actually intimacy comes with all the insecurity of making
oneself vulnerable. This use of raw is memorable for the
strength it has as a pejorative adjective. Daum supports her
argument with the example of a bedroom, which represents comfort and intimacy but also implies a protection
from peering eyes.
3. In what ways is there Machiavellian irony in using vaguely feminist rhetoric to sell cellulite cream (paragraph 7)? Wheres the
irony? Why might Daum label it Machiavellian? How does this allusion to Machiavelli represent an argument?
Machiavelli was a proponent of manipulation as a means to
an end. In this case, selling firming cream overrides any
conflict of interest in celebrating the simple and internal
beauties of women in a Web page. By calling Doves sales
technique Machiavellian, Daum is pointing out the duplicitous nature of the companys message.
4. Writing assignment
distance themselves from wanting to see both themselves in firmingcream ads and also things like body hair and other body functions?
pp. 622628
1. Although the tone of this piece is often light and even humorous in
spots, Trebay makes some very strong claims about changes in
American cultures attitudes toward the male body over the past
few decades. Among these claims would be statements like the following: In the decades since the first Calvin Klein ads, men have
been substantially feminized and also have genially adapted to
their transformation into objects of an erotic gaze. (paragraph 9)
[Guys] care less, apparently, about assumptions regarding their
sexual orientation than being able to fill out a pair of low-slung
jeans from companies like Diesel and G-Star. (paragraph 23) Do
you agree with such claims? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
Do you believe that young men face the sorts of pressures with respect to their bodies as objects of erotic gaze that young women
have faced for generations? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
2. What does the author mean by the phrase the democratization of
desire (paragraph 11)? How, in American culture, is such a phrase
an argument of sorts? How does the alliteration the repetition of
the initial consonant sound, d in this casecontribute to his argument?
In America, democracy is seen as an essential part of freedom. In that sense, democratization of anything is a liberation. Here the author means that now men have the
opportunity to be objects of desire, just like women. The alliteration of the d strengthens the argument through its poetic structure.
Is the democratization of desire a good thing? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
74
75
1. The people in the photograph by Toby Old are, indeed, real people, actual people who happened to be at Orchard Beach on the
day in 2002 when the photograph was taken. How might we read
the photograph as an argument about body image? How would the
photo be different if the woman on the right were not holding two
Barbie dolls by their hair in her left hand?
The juxtaposition of the women and the Barbie dolls in
Olds photo argues for an overturning or flouting of the
rules of body beauty. Without the dolls, it would be more
difficult to get that reading from two women in bathing
suits.
2. These selections range from the purely visual (Olds photograph)
to the text dominant (Reids cartoon) with two of the selections including at least some text. What roles does the text play in each of
these three selections? How do the text and the visual image work
together to create the argument? How would the arguments be different if there were not text? If there were no image?
Reid uses text to create humor as she describes or annotates
her drawings. Stirmans flyer for the Baptist Church uses
text to make its point about the fiction of a Barbie doll body.
Without the text, Reids cartoon would be opaque at best,
and Stirmans Barbie flyer would be indistinguishable from
an advertisement for the doll. Without the visual, the same
arguments could be made, but they would not be as interesting.
3. How do the selections by Reid and the found flyer use humor to
make their point? Are the two equally effective? What are the
strengths of each? (Why, by the way, might a church be sponsoring a seminar on body image? Who might be the audience for such
a seminar?)
76
The two arguments use humor to highlight the impossibility of the standards of beauty that they describe. Reid uses
the grotesque humor of perfection taken too far, while Stirmans flyer invites us to conjure up the image of a crawling
Barbie figure. The church may be sponsoring an interesting
event to draw more young people to the congregation, or it
may be aiming at its own young people or adults.
4. Writing assignment
77
CHAPTER 22
pp. 636639
pp. 640643
1. In what ways does this controversy hinge on a definitional argument? (For a discussion of arguments of definition, see Chapter 8.)
What are the relevant terms, and how are they being defined by
various parties?
The primary conflict of the debate is whether there is a
standard definition of looter or if race plays into the definition. According to the Associated Press, a looter must be
seen entering a business and leaving with goods. Graythen
used the verb carrying rather than looting because he had
not seen the couple enter a business.
Whose definition(s) do you prefer? Why?
Answers will vary.
2. If the situation Ralli describes is no more than a definitional argument, why was there such controversy? In other words, what, beyond definitions, is or was at stake in this situation?
Beyond the question of semantics, this debate came to represent the race issues underlying all discussions of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The fear is the
young African American man in Stokess article was labeled
as a looter because of his race, or even that the white man
and woman were not labeled as such only because of their
race.
How are these larger issues related to the topic of this chapter?
How are they related to differing perceptions of American history
and of American society at the present time?
81
Please, please dont argue symantics over this one. This is EXTREMELY serious, and I cant even begin to convey to those not
here what it is like. Please, please, be more concerned on how this
affects all of us (watch gas prices) and please, please help out if
you can.
This is my home, I will hopefully always be here. I know that my
friends in this business across the gulf south are going through the
exact same thing - and I am with them, and will do whatever I can
to help. But please, please dont email me any more about this caption issue.
And please, dont yell at me about spelling and grammar. Im eating
my first real meal (a sandwich) right now in 3 days.
When this calms down, I will be more than willing to answer any
questions, just ask.
Thank you all -Chris Graythen
What sorts of appeals ethical, logical, and emotional does
Graythen offer his fellow photographers? Do his mistakes in typing
and spelling contribute or detract to his argument and his ethos?
Why?
Graythen appeals to his audience on an ethical and logical
basis as he explains why he chose the title he did. He then
moves to an emotional appeal, stating that important issues
will be taking his attention in the near future and encouraging people to concentrate on helping those in need.
4. Writing assignment
pp. 644648
85
pp. 649653
Commercial
Mainstream/Business-to-Business
Closet Association Advertising Best Practices pp. 654658
1. How would you characterize the arguments being made on this
Web page?
The argument on this Web page is that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people should be portrayed in the
media as normal people in traditional settings and should
not be stereotyped.
Do any of the suggestions or recommendations surprise you? Why
or why not? Do they represent common sense or something more?
Answers will vary.
2. Visit the Web site for this selection, <http://commercialcloset.org/
cgi-bin/iowa/index.html?page=best>. Why is this Web site organized as it is? In other words, why are the parts of the site arranged
in the order they are? Why are the sections so labeled? How does
each section contribute to the Web pages overall argument?
87
Maria Len-Rios, Erin Bruno, and Marty Kaplan offer with respect to
why women of color are underrepresented in stories of missing
women? To what extent do their analyses overlap or complement
one another? Are any of the positions they represent as a group
contradictory?
Blair states that he believes that the race and the economic
status of the missing are factors, and Boyd notes that there
is an unconscious division about who matters and who
doesnt. Kohut agrees that the public is drawn to what is
happening in the lives of the rich and famous. For Fitzpatrick, the public and the media have an idealized picture
of a damsel in distress, and people who fit that picture make
it into the news. Effron, of MSNBC, says that the involvement
of the family in getting the word out helps the media decide
which missing women will be covered in news stories. LenRios points to the lack of minorities in the newsroom as an
issue. Bruno expands on that point, remarking that journalists often look for a story that they themselves can relate to.
Which argument(s) do you find most convincing? Why?
Answers will vary.
2. Andrew Kohut, in particular, focuses on the ways in which cable
news networks, borrowing techniques from the tabloid press, go
for particular kinds of stories (paragraph 23). Can you give examples of other genres of stories favored by cable networks that
have influenced mainstream news programs in your area?
Answers will vary.
3. Erin Bruno contends that reporters may be choosing stories with
their audiences in mind (paragraph 30). If audiences, (aside from
those of niche channels like Black Entertainment Network or Univision) are majority white, should members of other groups simply
accept as fact the idea that their concerns wont be represented in
the mainstream media?
Answers will vary.
What are the disadvantages of such a situation for those from minority groups? From the majority group?
The disadvantage for minorities is that their stories will get
less attention and less help if the goal is to motivate the com89
munity or disseminate information. The majority community will have a skewed idea of what is happening in their
larger communities and country. There may be issues or opportunities missed by an uninformed white community.
4. OConnor uses several sources of information or kinds of evidence
to support her claims. What are they?
OConnor uses interviews, news examples, and statistics to
support her argument.
How effective are they?
Answers will vary.
How would the article be different if she had used far more statistics and far less interview data? Would it be more or less effective?
Why? (For a discussion of kinds of evidence, see Chapter 16.)
With more statistics and fewer interviews, the disparity of
reporting might have been more obvious, but the interviews provide an inside view into the media.
5. Writing assignment
pp. 663666
4. Visit the Web sites of the Pew Research Center for the People and
the Press or the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute to find out the sorts
of research these institutions support with respect to minority communities in the United States. How does such research support an
understanding of the changing nature of American society?
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
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93
those who are not like you? If you do not see yourself or others like
you (in any sort of way) represented in the media, what are the
consequences of that fact for you? For others like you? For those
who are not like you?
2. This chapter explores whether the media stereotype certain categories of Americans especially ethnic minorities but even groups
such as fathers. Many of the readings in this cluster assert that the
people seen most often in the media are those who are beautiful
and thin. Write an essay in which you examine the potential consequences of this situation for society as a whole and for various
groups in society. (Perhaps you will wish to argue that there are no
negative consequences of this situation or that if there are, we
should not be concerned with them.) Your essay will likely be
most successful if you are careful to qualify your claims and to cite
specific evidence, rather than dealing in vague generalities.
96
CHAPTER 23
97
pp. 675680
pp. 681689
99
100
pp. 690695
recruiting process. She might have mentioned some specific warning signals to watch for in their daughters behavior. She would likely have relied more on arguments
based on the heart.
Of athletes?
She might have talked more about fear of reprisals for
whistle-blowing.
How might she alter her appeal in a speech to a coaches conference?
She might change or delete the discussion of Coach Dorrance because he is so well known and popular and the audience may be defensive on his behalf.
4. In the Issues and Action section of the Womens Sports Foundation Web site, <http://womenssportsfoundation.org>, readers can
find a document entitled Addressing the Issue of Verbal, Physical
and Psychological Abuse of Athletes: The Foundation Position.
Even if this specific document isnt available when youre using
this textbook, there are likely documents on similar topics on the
Womens Sports Foundation Web site. Examine the information
included in a relevant document, comparing and contrasting it
with Heywoods argument. How are they similar? How are they
different?
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
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106
Some argue that the debate about Indian logos is just an extension of political correctness or minority complaining
and dont try to understand the issue.
6. Writing assignment
pp. 709711
pp. 712715
youve finished both versions, write a paragraph in which you describe the challenges of writing about a visual argument like a cartoon when that argument isnt part of the text itself.
Answers will vary.
5. These cartoons and the Web site from which they come are obviously opposed to the use of American Indian mascots and imagery. In fact, we couldnt locate cartoons at least not interesting
ones that took a position opposed to the position illustrated
here. Is it possible to design such a cartoon? Why or why not?
It is possible to draw such a cartoon, but even those who
support the use of Indian mascots may hesitate to make a
joke of the issue.
Design a cartoon that supports the use of American Indian mascots
and imagery. (If you feel you have no artistic abilities, you can
write a description of the cartoon you would draw if you could.) If
you cant come up with such a cartoon, write an essay in which
you seek to explain why creating such a cartoon is difficult. In a
real sense, your essay will be definitional in that it defines the reasons why its challenging or perhaps impossible to create a visual
argument in support of the use of American Indian mascots and
imagery by athletic teams.
Answers will vary.
pp. 716722
110
111
pp. 723725
The fact that Sorensen was at the trial and observed Carruths clothing and manner each day adds to the argument
by creating an ethos of credibility for the author.
4. Writing assignment
pp. 726728
pp. 729732
topics, many of which are debated among elected officials or various interest groups, in the United states.
Curtis describes efforts to curb cheerleading attire and routines as persecution and suggests that many people take
issue with cheerleaders because they perceive them to be
sex objects rather than women who are gaining valuable
experience for the working world.
5. Writing assignment
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CHAPTER 24
pp. 737738
Much of the cartoons meaning is lost if readers dont understand that the 180 days refers to a situation in Californias school system. Outside that connection, readers might
still understand the cartoons point about the hypocrisy of
forcing immigrants to learn English when the colonizers of
the Americas brought their own languages with them.
What does this fact tell us about Meyers invoked audience? (For a
discussion of invoked audience, see Chapter 1.)
Meyers invoked readers are people who are aware of Californias Proposition 227.
3. Many would claim that Meyer is using irony to make his argument.
How does he accomplish this? (For a discussion of the use of irony
and other tropes in argumentation, see Chapter 12.)
It is ironic that Europeans came to the Americas and forced
their languages on the indigenous peoples and that Americans now continue to force their language on all who arrive
in the United States, even though they never had to make a
similar sacrifice. Had pilgrims and early colonists had to
learn an indigenous language, they probably would have
returned home to England.
4. Miwok is a severely endangered, even moribund, language. The
remaining varieties of the language are spoken by only a few elders, although some younger Miwok are trying to learn and even revitalize the language. How might American history and the history
of indigenous peoples in America be different if these groups had
had the power to force European settlers to learn their languages?
Why were the settlers not interested in doing so?
If indigenous groups in the Americas had had the power to
insist that newcomers learn their languages, we might now
have a wealth of different languages in the United States.
Indigenous cultures might have been more prosperous and
celebrated.
5. Although most of the indigenous languages of the United States
have become extinct, not all have. Do some research on the language(s) of Native Americans who live in your home state or the
state where you attend college or university. Write a summary of
the information you find about the status and vitality of one or
119
more of these languages as if you were planning to post the summary in a public forum like Wikipedia. (If youre not familiar with
Wikipedia, visit <http://wikipedia.com>.)
Answers will vary.
6. Writing assignment
pp. 739742
120
121
the children of parents born in another country. If you can find information in several census reports, create graphs similar to those in the
Head Count section of Scotts essay. How do your numbers compare with those that Scott cites? How do they differ? Why might your
location have similar or different results? Consider the nature of your
town and the criteria Scott cites for locations that attract those who are
foreign-born.
pp. 752753
Bilingual and bicultural life can be conceptualized as a divided identity that does not match but at the same time that
allows many people to develop a blended or mixed identity.
About mestizaje, the Spanish word used to refer to cultural mixing, specifically the contact between Europeans and indigenous
peoples in the Americas?
The plate of tomatoes in the middle of the plate creates a
whir of mixing that involves both sides of the tablesetting.
This blending of culture can be seen even as a mixing of
heritage or blood.
3. In what ways might we see Briseos painting as an argument from
the heart? One based on Briseos ethos? One based on facts or
reason?
The tablecloths and table setting invite the audience to recall picnics or meals from their own family experiences.
The detail in the painting leads one to believe that Briseo
is a credible commentator. The details depict the two different cultures in various ways, as if presenting facts to be interpreted by the audience. In this sense, the argument is
based on fact and reason.
4. Writing assignment
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125
Their purpose is to show that Marquez is not trying to exclude English speakers and that the respect she discusses
earlier holds not only for her parents but for everyone she
interacts with.
Do you find that they contribute to or detract from the overall effect of the selection? Why?
Answers will vary.
4. Writing assignment
pp. 756757
1. For Cisneros and one can likely claim it for all bilinguals the
languages she knows arent equal in some sense. Rather, each language is associated with different worlds of experience. What does
Spanish connote for the narrator in Cisneross text? What does English connote? Where would such connotations come from?
Spanish connotes memories from home and family life because it is the language she grew up with, the language spoken inside her home. English has harsh, stiff connotations,
starched rs and gs (paragraph 5), likely because she
grew up with it being used for official business, with those
outside of her family and community.
126
2. Whereas Myriam Marquez writes about the use of Spanish in public, Cisneros writes about the use of Spanish in the most private of
contexts. Are there things Marquez and Cisneros (or at least her
narrator) would agree about? What might they be? Why?
Answers will vary, but students might note that both authors agree that speaking Spanish connects them with family, with their community, and with their origins.
3. One resource bilingual writers have is codeswitching: switching
between the languages they know. In this excerpt, we see a simple
noun phrase la Alhambra (paragraph 4) from Spanish, which we
can correctly understand even if we know no Spanish. We also see
the phrase Ya, ya, ya, (paragraph 9), which is followed immediately by the English equivalent, There, there, there. Yet we also
find the phrases mi vida, mi preciosa, mi chiquitita (paragraph 4),
which we may not be able to figure out the meanings of. (In fact,
the phrases translate literally as my life, my precious [one], my
dearest little [one] things native speakers of English wouldnt
normally say to one another, even when being intimate. Such
phrases are perfectly normal among speakers of Spanish.) Why
might writers purposely create texts that include parts readers may
not be able to understand? Why would such a strategy be especially effective when talking about intimacies like making love?
Writers might use codeswitching to mirror their normal
speech patterns among bilingual friends and family. In addition, they might want to leave some elements of their
story out of their readers comprehension. For Cisneros,
lovemaking remains a private act because her Englishspeaking readers cannot understand Flavios sweet nothings.
4. Writing assignment
pp. 758760
pp. 761763
1. Why does Agosn write only in Spanish? How do her reasons for
using Spanish compare with those of Marquez and Cisneros? How
does she regard using Spanish as relating to her ancestry as a Jew?
She writes only in Spanish to keep the memories of her
childhood alive. She, Marquez, and Cisneros all see Spanish
as connected with their family, with their community, and
with their home. Growing up in a Jewish family that was
forced to flee, Agosn sees language as a key to memory,
often the only way to remember what you were forced to
leave behind.
2. What sort of experiences did Agosn have while trying to learn
English? How typical do you think her experiences were? In other
words, how do Americans who are native speakers of English treat
nonnative speakers of English? How did Spanish represent a
source of strength and consolation to Agosn during the period
when she was learning English?
She was ridiculed and insulted, and she constantly felt the
need to explain to English speakers why her English was so
poor. She was treated as an outsider and given less respect
than a native speaker of English was given. Spanish was a
strength and consolation because it connected her with her
identity, the world she left behind, the security of her family, and the space in which she belonged.
3. What does Spanish represent for Agosn? Why would it represent
these things for her?
Answers will vary but might include the notion that Spanish represents many of her memories from Chile plants
and flowers, family, friendship, warmth. It represents
these things because its connected to her memories of
childhood and to her nostalgia for the country and family
she left behind.
4. Writing assignment
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pp. 764770
129
pp. 771775
131
132
135
136
138
CHAPTER 25
who speak one way or another are labeled hard working, whereas
those who speak another way are labeled lazy. In short, ways of
using language are intimately linked with matters of power and group
membership.
pp. 795796
Note: The authors found the text of this pledge on pp. 155156 of
Dennis Barons The English-Only Question: An Official Language for
Americans? (New Haven: Yale UP, 1990).
1. What sorts of arguments are being made by this pledge? In other
words, how is Americanness defined in general?
Americanness involves honor, pleasantness, gentleness,
sincerity, and love of learning.
With respect to language use in particular?
Americans use clear, well-modulated, sincere, and carefully
articulated speech.
According to the pledge, how does the ideal American, or the
American who loves his or her country, speak?
The ideal American speaks without any audible trace of a
language other than schoolbook English.
2. According to the criteria of the pledge, do you qualify as an ideal
American? Does that trouble you in any way? Why or why not?
How do you think youd respond if youd been given such a
pledge as, say, an eighth-grader? Why?
Answers will vary.
3. Consider the table on p. 796, which presents statistics about immigrants in Chicago in 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1990. At the time the
pledge was issued, many of the immigrants living in Chicago had
come from Germany, Austria, Poland, and Russia and, to a far
lesser extent, Ireland, Sweden, and Italy. Upon arrival, they were
generally poor and uneducated. How do these figures, along with
the 1918 pledge, construct an argument?
They combine as two types of evidence the pledge as an
argument of values and the statistics as an inartistic argument from fact and reason.
140
pp. 797799
142
143
pp. 804809
guage-learner grammar or accent did not diminish the quality of her mothers thoughts.
Have you had similar experiences with your parents or other older
relatives?
Answers will vary.
2. Why, ultimately, is Tan suspicious of language ability tests? What
are her complaints?
She is suspicious of these tests because they cant measure
richness of language use or of language perception. She is
uncomfortable because the test questions have only one
correct answer, as though they are math questions.
What sorts of evidence does she offer?
She uses an extended example of the limitations of analogy
questions. These questions aim at only one specific relationship between two words even though there may be others. The person who perceives that richness is penalized.
Do you agree or disagree with her argument? Why?
Answers will vary.
3. Tans text was written to be read aloud by the author herself. In
what ways might this fact be important? (For a discussion of the
features of spoken arguments, see Chapter 15.)
Spoken texts require more and different signposts to help
listeners keep track of the structure. They usually use
simple sentences. Informal language is usually more acceptable in spoken texts.
What would it be like, for example, to have heard Tan deliver this
text? How would such an experience have been different from
reading it on the page? Had Tan written the piece to be read
silently by strangers as her novels are, for example how might
she have altered it? Why?
Answers will vary.
4. Writing assignment
145
pp. 810817
146
How persuasive is he in arguing for the creolist view, given the evidence he offers? Do you think Rickford assumes you will agree
with him? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
3. As Rickford notes, linguists contend that they study language scientifically. Assuming they do, how much knowledge about language or linguistics do you find in the other pieces about Ebonics
in this cluster? What, in your opinion, accounts for the fact that the
knowledge claimed by linguists, as scientists, is generally absent
from public debates about language?
Answers will vary.
4. Writing assignment
pp. 818821
[Formally educated blacks] . . . may be ostracized for talking white. (paragraph 13)
All of paragraph 15
2. According to Troutt, how did the responses of Blacks and Whites
to the Ebonics controversy differ?
For many whites, it measures the contradictions of colorblind convictions. For many blacks, Ebonics measures the
complications of assimilation and the resiliency of shame.
(paragraph 6)
What were the origins and consequences of these differences?
Many whites have used the issue as an opportunity to
vent racist jokes ordinarily kept underground or in sports
bars. . . . Others invoke it in order to restrict black cultural
influences. (paragraph 7)
Again, what sorts of evidence does Troutt offer to support his position?
He mentions talk radio.
How, specifically, does he use the example of Jesse Jackson to
demonstrate the ambivalence of most African Americans toward
Ebonics?
Troutt mentions Jacksons original stance opposing the
Oakland resolution and his subsequent change of mind
(paragraph 14).
3. Writing assignment
148
He Might Dump Me . . .;
You Smoked Weed . . .;
Labeled . . .; You Scan Me . . .;
Filed under Pothead . . .
pp. 822827
149
The regret argument posits that drug use can cause pain
and regret for the user and the people that they hurt or disappoint. All of the advertisements argue that drugs keep
people from realizing their dreams and being successful.
4. Who are the multiple audiences for the i am my anti-drug campaign? Whom are the advertisements addressing directly? Who are
the invoked audiences?
The first two advertisements directly address people who
are involved with drugs either because they use drugs or
because a loved one does. The I am campaign invokes
older people who do not use drugs. All of the pieces address
people who are involved in drugs and serve as warnings for
those who have not yet been in contact with drugs.
Compare and contrast the three ads in this series. Which is most effective? Why? Do you contend this sort of argument in general is effective with the target audience? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
Deborah Tannen
the messages, she is able to draw conclusions about the nature of communication. Because the topic is conversational
norms, the interview evidence is much more useful than
statistics about how mothers talk to daughters.
5. Writing assignment
155
CHAPTER 26
156
158
The circles of different sizes show the relative size of the religious community without using percentages. The illustrations give a concise view of religion around the world and
create a context for the article.
5. Create a country profile like the ones given here for the United
States and one other country of your choosing (other than the four
given here). Be sure to include the sources of your information.
When you have completed this assignment, compare your profile
for the United States with those created by two classmates. If there
are differences, seek to locate the cause(s) of those differences: for
example, did you rely on different sources for the basic information you used, or did you classify, combine, or represent the information you found in different ways?
Answers will vary.
6. Writing assignment
159
pp. 854858
1. What sort of ethos does Shelby Knox create for herself during the
interview reported here? What role(s) does her faith play in that
ethos?
Shelby Knox creates an ethos of credibility because she is a
young Christian woman who is not sexually active and who
contends that sex education is the only way to provide important information to other young people.
Would her narrative or ethos be different if Knox were an atheist?
Why or why not? (For a discussion of ethos, see Chapter 3.)
If Knox were an atheist, we might not be as surprised by
her stance, and her argument would not resonate as
strongly with the audience.
2. What causal arguments do we find in the narrative of Shelby
Knoxs experiences?
Knox contends that by not teaching youth about safe sex,
society is contributing to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. She also argues that the youth
161
Knoxs position may be in opposition to many of the readers of the magazines, and her argumentation might challenge some of their deeply held beliefs. The pictures in the
article show a young woman who appears professional and
clean-cut. Her family is pictured with both parents. Her father is wearing an American flag shirt, which reiterates her
familys traditional values.
5. Writing assignment
information near the end of the Introduction rather than elsewhere in the piece? Are there strategic advantages to her choice?
Potential disadvantages?
The author shares that she grew up in states that are predominantly Democratic and attended secular schools. This
information is interesting because it creates an ethos of disinterested reporting. Presenting this information at the end
of the section is useful because it allows the reader to understand the point of the book and argumentation before
learning about the author herself. A potential disadvantage
is that the reader may have been questioning the authors
credibility before arriving at the end and learning about the
author.
3. In what historical, social, and political contexts does Riley place
her research? How is her research an outgrowth of or a response to
these contexts?
Riley shares that she began her research on September 10,
2001. Because the September 11 attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. were carried out by men
who claimed to be devout Muslims, religion became an important part of the discussion about national security in the
weeks following that day. Her research was probably altered or enhanced because of these conditions.
4. Riley makes much of the contrast between the terms spiritual and
religious. What definitions does she and those she studied provide
for each?
Riley clearly distinguishes between spirituality, a feelgood substitute, and religion, a systematic practice based
on devotion to a creator who acts on a persons behalf.
Might her argument have been different if she had acknowledged
that many who prefer the term spiritual to religious do so because
of the negative connotations of the latter, which are linked to its association with fundamentalists of an especially narrow-minded
sort?
Her argument would have been different if she acknowledged the negative connotations connected to the term
religious. Then she would have had to admit that some stu164
dents were religious in the sense that she uses it but that
they do not express their actions by using that particular
word.
5. Writing assignment
pp. 872875
1. What are Elisabeth Bumillers goals in writing this text? How would
you characterize her arguments in terms of stasis theory? (For a discussion of stasis theory, see Chapter 1.)
Bumiller presents a news story about the happenings at
Calvin College surrounding its invitation to President
George W. Bush to speak. Her argument is one of definition
as she characterizes the nature of the conflict and debate.
2. Bumillers subject is the controversy surrounding a college commencement address. First, why are such addresses called commencement addresses? Should we expect such speeches to
represent forensic, epideictic, or deliberative occasions for argument? (For a discussion of these categories of occasions for argument, see Chapter 1.)
Commencement addresses take place at commencement or
graduation exercises. On this day, graduates will commence
165
or begin their new careers with their degrees. These addresses are often deliberative because the speaker is addressing the graduates about their future.
Why? Based on this article, how do politicians and political strategists see such events? University administrators? Graduate students
and their families? Why?
Politicians and strategists see these addresses as opportunities to align themselves with certain voters or constituents.
University administrators invite important or interesting
people to address their graduates as a way to bring attention to the school. Families and graduates look forward to
having a notable speaker as well to mark their day of
achievement.
3. Bumiller contends that Christians, even evangelical Christians,
arent monolithic. How and why is such a claim contrary to popular discourse about religion and politics in American life?
Christians, especially evangelical Christians, are often
stereotyped as conservative and even out of touch with
modern society. Calvin College poses a challenge to this
idea.
4. Bumiller reports that many students wore buttons proclaiming,
God is not a Democrat or a Republican. What argument do such
buttons make? How is their meaning linked to the immediate context at Calvin College? To the larger context of American political
and public life in 2005?
Theses buttons argue that Christian students are not necessarily Republicans. The students wanted to remind those
watching that they do not necessarily agree with the politics of President Bush, even though he was giving the commencement address at their college. The current political
climate has often linked Republican politics, the war in
Iraq, and American patriotism with Christianity.
5. Writing assignment
Concerned Faculty,
Staff, and Emeriti
of Calvin College
feel that you are not familiar enough with the tenets of Christianity
or with liberal and conservative approaches to Christianity, work
with classmates who are in answering this question or use the Internet to research this topic.
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
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pp. 884886
pp. 887893
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4. Scalia argues that a justice who finds the death penalty immoral
should resign from the bench (paragraph 8). Do you agree or disagree? Why? Whatever your stance, youll need to do your best to anticipate and acknowledge potential rebuttals against your position.
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
pp. 894896
1. Do you agree or disagree with Randy Cohens analysis of the situation J.L. describes? In other words, did the Orthodox Jews refusal
to shake hands with a woman who wasnt a relative by blood or
marriage constitute an act of sexism in terms of the intentions of
the real estate agent or its effect upon his client? Should J.L., as
Cohen suggests, have torn up the contract? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
2. Evaluate the response to Cohens column. What sorts of arguments those from the heart, those based on character, or those
based on fact and reason do these letter writers use?
Answers will vary but may include the following examples.
Cara Weinstein Rosenthal uses an argument based on character when she defines herself as a Jew, a feminist and a future rabbi. In addition, she makes an argument based on
facts and reason when she defines the strictures of shomer
negiah to show how they dont fit Cohens assessment.
Robert M. Gottesman uses an argument based on values
when he notes that Religious freedom is a constitutional
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pp. 901902
1. How would you summarize the argument(s) made by this advertisement? Imagine trying to explain the argument(s) to someone
from another country France, for example. (See the previous selection, Mariam Rahmanis Wearing a Head Scarf Is My Choice . . . ,
for more information on how France deals with religious differences
among its citizens.)
This ad argues that we can learn to live together without
giving up our religious differences.
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How would you describe whats distinctly American about the argument(s) being made here?
This argument is American in the sense that America purports to tolerate and even enjoy differences among its
people. Rather than pushing assimilation, the ad presents
acceptance of difference as the path to peace.
2. The advertisement begins, A priest, a rabbi, and an imam are
walking down the street. (Theres no punchline.) What sorts of
cultural knowledge do the ads creators expect the reader to bring
to the text? How does the sentence Theres no punchline disrupt
expectations readers might have? Which genre is associated with
such an opening? How does the ads beginning in this way contribute to its message?
This is the usual set-up for a joke based on religious stereotypes, and readers would expect a punch line after the setup. The fact that there is no punch line contradicts the
readers expectations. Readers need to be familiar with this
type of joke to see the strength of the message. The disjuncture between the first sentence and the second one causes
the reader to pause and consider the message.
3. This advertisement claims, Because we [Americans] are free to
choose which religion, if any, wed like to follow, it enables us to
have a deeper, more personal relationship with our faith than
would otherwise be possible. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
How would America likely be different if it did have a state religion or if, as in some countries, only a single religion could be
practiced?
Answers will vary.
4. In what ways is this advertisement a proposal argument? In what
ways are all advertisements proposal arguments? (For a discussion
of proposal arguments, see Chapter 11.)
The ad proposes that we all try to be more tolerant of each
others views. All advertising is aimed at proposing some
action on the part of the viewer.
5. Writing assignment
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pp. 903908
1. The previous selection, A Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam Are Walking Down the Street . . . congratulated Americans on creating a
country where people of various religious beliefs can live and
work in harmony. If that argument is valid, why do the arguments
given here exist at all?
Answers will vary.
2. Why might the U.S. government create visual arguments like
Common Muslim American Head Coverings? Whats their purpose? Their value?
The government may hope to educate people about Americans who are different from themselves in an effort to increase tolerance. It might be news to some people that the
head coverings included in the poster are Muslim.
What specific roles do the visual elements of the poster play?
Would verbal descriptions have been as effective as images are?
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The visuals provide examples for the message, but they also
humanize a minority group that the majority may have
little contact with. Verbal description would not have had as
much of an impact, and it would not have been visually
inviting.
How does the information at the bottom of the poster Some images and descriptions of Muslim head coverings provided by the
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) contribute its credibility? Its ethos?
The citation contributes to the credibility of the poster and
to the ethos of an informed ad.
3. Describe the images included in Sikhs: Proud to Be Americans.
Why might these images have been chosen? In other words, what
sorts of Sikhs are represented here, and what sorts of appeals does
their presence represent? How does the repeated image of the
Statue of Liberty across the bottom of the poster contribute to its
message?
The Sikh poster shows men and women in their traditional
headdresses, which were probably chosen to represent
variations within the religion. The Statue of Liberty adds to
the argument that these people are Americans.
What are the functions of this visual argument? Who is the audience? Why?
This argument is probably meant for non-Sikh Americans
who do not know how to identify Sikhs and often confuse
them with Arabs.
4. What role do the two images included in the Anti-Semitism Is
Anti-Me advertisements play? Why might these images have been
chosen? What sorts of appeals do they represent? Why?
The two images are of Jewish people who do not look like
typical Jews. They may have been used to show variations
within the Jewish community and remind audiences that
they cannot always guess a persons background.
What sorts of images might you have expected in such ads? How
does the contrast between viewer expectation and the ads themselves contribute to their effectiveness? In what sense is antiSemitism (or any form of discrimination) anti-everybody?
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The viewer would expect a photo of someone of Eastern European descent and maybe even a Hassidic Jew as the
quintessential Jewish person. Discrimination is often
based on stereotypes and features that cannot be tied to
only one group or to everyone in a group. Discrimination
doesnt let the viewer see a person.
Is such a claim true universally, or is there some aspect of this issue
that is particularly relevant to the American context? Why?
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
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CHAPTER 27
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pp. 923930
1. What argument(s) is Karnasiewicz making with respect to the nature of diversity on campus?
Karnasiewicz is arguing that many colleges are seeing an
increase in the proportion of females to males.
How persuasive do you find them? Why? Should there be affirmative action for men? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
184
2. Although this article is about gender, its also about issues of race
or ethnicity and class as well as the intersection of these social variables. What sorts of observations or claims are made about each of
these variables in the article?
The crusade for boys is similar to affirmative action for minorities at the university level. Like affirmative action,
some pundits argue that preparing boys for college needs
to start in elementary education. The author also points out
that the disproportionate achievement of boys is even
stronger in lower socioeconomic levels. If schools are failing young men, then we certainly need to look at the poorest school districts.
Do you agree or disagree? Do you find any of the claims made
about these topics troubling? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
3. How and why are females and males stigmatized by a lack of education or by the kind of job they might hold?
Uneducated women tend to hold lower-paying jobs than
uneducated men do. Those men are more likely to be in
skilled-labor positions while women are in service industries. As the author notes, women can be stigmatized for
having too much education, and while pundits discuss a
possible dearth of educated men for these educated
women to marry, no one was concerned that men would
not have educated partners back when they were the larger
school population.
Although it isnt mentioned, in what ways might the marriage market encourage young women to attend college (or even to succeed
academically, more broadly)?
College is a good place to meet an educated husband. On
the other hand, if women want to prepare themselves to be
self-sufficient in case marriage does not work out for them,
college also provides good training.
4. Whats the allusion in Karnasiewiczs title? (If you need a hint,
check out <http://ccci.org>.) How and why is it appropriate, given
the subject matter of the article?
185
The Campus Crusade for Christ is a national Christian organization for university students. The club name is generally well known on campuses, and the title of this article
takes advantage of that notoriety.
Is the allusion risky in any way? Why or why not?
This play on words is witty, but it may offend some students.
5. Among the kinds of evidence that Karnasiewicz uses effectively is
statistics. Where and how does she and those she cites use statistics advantageously?
The author and those she cites use statistics to show how
many schools have far more men than women. We dont
see numbers for schools that have equal numbers of men
and women.
In what ways does she qualify claims made on the basis of statistical data? How does qualifying arguments in this way contribute to
Karnasiewiczs ethos? (For a discussion of using facts ilke statistics,
see Chapter 4; for a discussion of ethos, see Chapter 3.)
Karnasiewicz questions whether the statistics about college
men tell the whole story. Men still earn more than women,
and men without a college education earn just as much as
those with an education. Presenting these facts lends the
author an air of evenhandedness.
6. Writing assignment
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Dennis Draughon
Supreme Irony
Admissions
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Pricey
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pp. 939941
the author states that he sympathizes with the good intentions at the root of such statements.
3. In paragraph 4, Hess claims, The relevance of these skills [namely,
an understanding of the complexities of race, power, gender, class,
sexual orientation, and privilege in American society] to teaching
algebra or the second grade is, at minimum, debatable. If you accept Hesss position, what arguments might each side give for the
relevance or irrelevance of such skills in teaching?
On one hand, teaching is a service that focuses on imparting
information about certain subject areas to students and does
not rely on a teachers warmheartedness or charm. On the
other, teachers who physically punish students or hold prejudices against certain races, classes, or family units may interfere with the learning of some or all of their students.
Which set of arguments do you find more persuasive? Why?
Answers will vary.
4. Hess chooses his examples effectively. Choose two of his examples, explaining why theyre ideally suited to support his claims.
Answers will vary.
5. Writing assignment
pp. 942948
2. How does Horowitz characterize the recent history of higher education in America in paragraphs 45 and 10? Pay special attention
to his word choices, for example, restore academic values in
paragraph 10.
The author states that institutions of higher education have
increasingly been catering to politically correct agendas instead of focusing on education.
How do they give you insight into his understanding of the history
of higher education and the readers hes invoking? What evidence
does he provide for his claims?
The reader is able to understand that Horowitz does not believe that political views belong in the classroom. His invoked reader is someone who might have already heard
negative things about the Academic Bill of Rights. His tone
is that of someone defending themselves. The author offers
evidence in the form of incidents that occurred at Duke
University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.
3. Horowtiz is critical of professors who discuss controversial matter
on the war in Iraq or the Bush White House in a class whose subject matter is not the war in Iraq, or international relations, or presidential administrations, arguing that the intrusion of such
subject matter, in which the professor has no academic expertise,
is a breach of professional responsibility and a violation of a students academic rights (paragraph 19). From Horowitzs perspective, should the arguments in Chapters 21 through 28 of this
textbook be seen as breaches of the authors professional responsibility or a violation of your academic rights? Why or why not? By
what criteria can such decisions be made?
Answers will vary.
4. In paragraph 8, Horowitz distinguishes between fostering and
mandating. Is the distinction a valid one?
Answers will vary.
How does the dispute he describes here compare with the dispute over the American Bar Associations proposal to strengthen
diversity requirements for accreditation? (See the news article by
Katherine S. Mangan on p. 931.)
193
The proposals are similar in that both would like universities to be required to take measures to ensure diversity.
Both proposals are also hotly contested.
5. Writing assignment
pp. 949952
1. How and why are such statements of principle implicitly and explicitly simultaneously definition arguments and proposal arguments?
A statement of rights such as this one defines a series of
missions or rights associated with an institution. The implication is that the institution will actively ensure that each
goal is met and that each right is protected.
2. The eight points listed at the end of this document are said to define the principles in question. Why might there be such a focus on
political or religious beliefs?
Horowitz is particularly concerned that professors with liberal agendas are indoctrinating students in their classrooms.
How would the document be different if only one of these categories were listed? Why or why not?
Religion and politics represent different parts of American
life around which strong personal opinions are wrapped.
Leaving out one would make the statement appear to directly attack the other.
194
3. In the eight points, the humanities and social sciences are treated
differently from other branches of intellectual endeavor. Why?
The humanities and social sciences are open to subjective
interpretation of some issues. Horowitz sees them as areas
of study where conservative views are not well accepted.
Could similar arguments be made for the sciences, for example, in
light of recent discussion of intelligent design? Why or why not?
Some could argue that it would be unethical and prejudicial
to exclude from the university setting a professor whose
research sought to support topics like intelligent design.
4. This document leaves certain key notions unspecified or undefined for example, where appropriate in principle 4, indoctrination in principle 5, and intellectual pluralism, in principle 6.
Are there advantages to this situation? Disadvantages? What might
they be? Why?
Including some unspecified or undefined items allows
them to be interpreted in specific situations. This can be an
advantage if the plaintiff and those in power share a definition but could be a disadvantage if there is not a consensus
among those involved in a specific situation.
5. Writing assignment
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197
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199
Ann Marie B. Bahr The Right to Tell the Truth pp. 965968
1. What is Ann Marie Bahrs position on intellectual diversity? How
does she use her own experience to support her position?
Bahr states that the push for diversity results in the censorship of teachers who do not stay within the comfort zone of
students beliefs. Her own experience serves as an example of
how students feel free to reject what they do not want to hear.
How effectively does she do so?
Answers will vary.
2. How does Bahr characterize herself? In other words, what do you,
as a reader, know about her values and commitments? How does
this knowledge influence the ethos Bahr is able to create?
Bahr considers herself a conservative scholar who values
academic debate. She creates an ethos of frustration, but
her description of her beliefs and teaching style helps her
argument appear sincere and reasonable.
3. What might Bahr mean when she writes, I now suspect that the
objective, scholarly tone of the books upset my students (paragraph 4)? What specifically might she mean by objective and
scholarly? Why might her students have wanted or expected
some other sort of book?
Bahr implies that students would prefer to read a work that
was partisan and aligned with their own views. She considers
works based on fact, unbiased by personal opinion or prejudice, to be objective. A scholarly work is one that consciously
situates itself within the academic and historical framework
of a particular discipline. If her students were looking to reinforce what they already felt about the topic, they may have
wanted or expected a different reading list for the course.
4. What should our response be when works accepted as sound
scholarship of the sort mentioned in paragraph 3 of this essay present a less than flattering picture of a group of which we are a
member or one for which we have some empathy?
Answers will vary.
5. Because this essay appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, we can assume that Bahrs intended readers are professors
and administrators at colleges and universities. Thus, throughout
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pp. 969971
1. Tierney discusses another aspect of the intellectual diversity controversy the stories that . . . no one thinks to do (paragraph 6).
Why does he feel this issue is a matter of some importance?
Tierneys point here is that our ideological leanings affect
the choices that we make in research and journalism.
Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Answers will vary.
2. Tierney contends theres bias in hiring in what he terms the mainstream publications (paragraphs 1011). Whats the nature of this
bias? How is it perpetuated, according to Tierney?
The author claims that people who work at conservative papers or blogs are in jeopardy of not being hired later at
mainstream papers.
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205
CHAPTER 28
Have you traveled outside the United States or watched a foreign television program or news report and been surprised by local opinions
about Americans? Did you find the characterizations fair or unfair? Because we export so much more media than we import, many Americans remain unaware of the stereotypes and assumptions about
Americans that exist beyond our borders. The war on terrorism has
brought more of this to light, but it is still not a major topic of conversation for Americans. This new awareness has caused Americans to
confront the preconceived notions that we have of other people
including Arabs, Arab Americans, and Muslims in general. During a
time when Americas actions abroad are being watched closely, these
readings invite us to ponder how each of us is involved with shaping
the perception of the United States. This introspection prompts us to
address questions such as the following:
How concerned should Americans be about their reputation
abroad? How much do media stereotypes or general ill will
among a citizenry affect international relations at the political
level?
What stereotypes do the U.S. media perpetuate about other
countries? How might film and TV portrayals of other nationalities affect our general opinions of those people?
pp. 983985
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focus the task, or you can alow students to choose how to combine
visual and text.
pp. 986989
pp. 990994
1. What are Waleed Ziads proposals for dealing with jihads fresh
face, or what he terms neo-fundamentalism?
Ziad recommends providing aid to Muslim groups that provide services that their governments do not offer to better
the lives of those who would otherwise see jihad as the answer to their difficulties.
What particular problems do his proposals seek to redress? What
caused these problems in the first place?
His proposal addresses womens rights, small business development, and a free market. These rights and activities
are ignored or not allowed under the autocratic rulers that
control some parts of the world.
2. Ziads selection represents a complete proposal argument. It contains definitional arguments, causal arguments, and evaluative ar210
pp. 995998
1. David Rieffs argument is evaluative in several regards. What assumptions held by many Americans and President George W.
Bushs administration is Rieff questioning?
Rieff is questioning the assumption that other countries
crave democracy and that democracy is a viable or optimal
option for every nation.
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What evidence does he provide for the need to question these assumptions? What is Rieffs evaluation of them?
Rieff offers several different kinds of support for his argument. First, he compares the relationship between Islamic
fundamentalism and Muslim citizens to the relationship between communism and the citizens it has to convert. Then
he emphasizes the Islamic fundamentalists rejection of
modernity and globalization. Finally, he presents Egypt as
an example of the difficulties that the United States faces in
selling democracy.
What is yours? Why? Why is questioning someones assumptions
often a useful strategy in constructing an argument?
Answers will vary.
2. Rieff compares and contrasts the United States war of ideas
against communism and what he terms jihadism (paragraphs
67). (Comparison discussing similarities and contrast discussing differences often form part of an evaluative argument.)
What similarities does he see? What differences?
Rieff contends that the United States looks at its victory over
communism as a model for taking on jihadism, but he
points out that jihadism has long had a hold on people because it is based on their religious faith but that communism did not have that advantage. He further notes that
communism embraced many modern concepts like education and gender equality but that jihad is antimodernity.
Rieff does concede that both jihadism and communism
stand against the individual and support mass murder.
How does this section of his argument contribute to his overall argument?
Answers will vary.
3. Examine the visual argument Foreign Opinions, based on data
from the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes Project, which was discussed
in the first selection in this chapter. What percentage of the population of each country is Muslim? Whats the number of Muslims
living in each of the countries listed? (Youll likely need to use the
Internet to answer these questions.) Why is this information
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Misconception
pp. 9991002
1. What is your response to each of these paintings? Is it primarily visceral a feeling in the gut, emotional, intellectual, or some com-
214
5. Although DSouza makes very strong claims, he frequently qualifies them and anticipates or acknowledges potential counterarguments to his own. For example, in paragraph 6, DSouza writes,
The reason that most of us do not think this way now and This is
not to suggest that Islams historical abuses are worse than those of
the West. In what ways do these rhetorical practices strengthen
DSouzas argument?
By qualifying his statements, the author enhances the reasoned and balanced tone of his essay.
Find other examples of these strategies elsewhere in his essay.
Answers will vary.
6. Near the beginning and end of his essay in paragraphs 2 and 32, respectively, DSouza uses personification, a kind of figurative language, when he writes about America: what America does, and
what she stands for and our willingness to die for her. He doesnt
refer to other countries, empires, or cultures as persons for example, Israel . . . it (paragraph 10). Whereas in the past it was
quite common to refer to countries, automobiles, and ships in writing by using feminine pronouns, thus personifying them, the practice may strike some readers as quaint and others as sexist today.
(For a discussion of biased or slanted language, see Chapter 17.)
How does DSouzas use of personification constitute an emotional
appeal?
Personifying America makes it a tangible entity that should
be protected like a relative. America as a woman in danger
garners more emotion than a land territory or political nation.
Do you find it effective? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
7. Writing assignment
pp. 10151027
pp. 10281037
1. How does Thomas Friedman use his contrasting definitions of imperialism and global arrogance to help structure his argument?
Friedman argues that global arrogance means that the
United States does not need to invade other countries physically to spread its influence. He goes on to give examples
of Americas power abroad that stems from its reputation,
popular culture, business activities, and political decisions.
Writing in 1999, Friedman contends that people around the world
are more concerned about our nations global arrogance than
its imperialism. How might Americas military presence in
Afghanistan and, even more so Iraq subsequent to the events of
September 11, 2001, complicate the feelings of citizens of other
countries toward the United States, exacerbating already existing
anti-Americanism?
Anger at American arrogance compounds fears and anger
about a potential imperialism.
2. Friedman might argue that the question Why do they hate us?
isnt the question Americans should be asking because it misconstrues the situation. Instead, he argues that globalization, a force
much larger than anything America controls, is in the drivers seat
(for example, in paragraph 14). From this perspective, every coun-
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them. This is particularly true when communicating crossculturally. One must be careful about the full meanings and
implications of international terms like globalization.
5. Friedman likewise reports a conversation with Dominique Moisi, a
leading French expert on international affairs, during which she
commented that America has become a mirror of our own doubts.
We look at you and see whats missing (paragraph 17). Moisi was
speaking of France when she used our, but her observation
could be shared by thinkers in many other countries. What burden
does such a situation place on the United States?
Other countries look to the United States as a model. They
see the influence that the United States has and seek to emulate its success. The United States must realize the role that
it plays as such a model and consider the responsibilities
that go with that.
6. Writing assignment
pp. 10381044
pp. 10451054
2. Although the Web site we found this essay on carries the disclaimer, The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily
reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government, why might
the U.S. Department of State have chosen to include it there? What
sort of argument does this essay make to the world about American culture? Why is the disclaimer significant? How is it American?
The State Department may hope that visitors to their site
will consider the heritage of American culture and Americas role in propelling culture forward. This essay reminds
readers that America is great because of the influences from
other countries that have shaped it. On the other hand, the
government would not want to make a public statement
about who has influenced the United States or how much. It
is American to have such a disclaimer because Americans
believe in offering divergent and interesting opinions for
debate.
3. To the extent that Pellss claims are correct, especially his contention that the influence of immigrants on the United States explains why its culture has been so popular for so long in so many
places (paragraph 4), what implications might his argument have
for debates about immigration policies in the United States?
One could use Pellss claims to support an argument for the
positive affect of continuing immigrant influences on art
and culture in the United States.
4. Pells relies heavily on examples, mentioning the names of
painters, art movements, musicians, actors, directors, and films. In
so doing, he includes examples from high culture and popular culture. We predict that few readers will have the background knowledge to appreciate and evaluate all of his examples, a fact Pells is
surely aware of. What purposes do these examples serve, then?
How do they help him turn real readers into invoked readers
perhaps the ultimate task of all writers?
The words that Pells chose to use are examples of Americas
European history. He probably used these words to drive
that thought home to readers.
5. Writing assignment
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7. Writing assignment
pp. 108210841
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