Chapter 3- Composing Arguments - English 105- Freshman ...



Chapter 3- Composing Arguments

Five Canons of Rhetoric

1. Invention (Various ways to come up with ideas)

2. Arrangement (Organization)

3. Style (Expression of ideas in an appropriate manner)

4. Memory (Accessing learned materials)

5. Delivery (Presenting crafted ideas to an audience)

Each of these canons is necessary for persuasive communication, whether the communication is exchanged through spoken word, written discourse, or more recently devised visual/multimedia/hybrid forms of communication as used in this Eng 105 course.

1. Invention

• Classical Roman rhetorician Cicero defined invention as the “discovery of valid or seemingly valid arguments to render one’s cause probable”

• Means of generating ideas, which can be done through various ways:

o Invoking pathos

o Using ethos or good character

o Employing logos to reason calmly with your readers

• Your task as a writer is to forge a powerful text that argues a point, to convince others to see a particular perspective, usually your own.

• There are many strategies of invention used in visual texts. For example, photography uses key elements of composition such as:

o Selection, placement, perspective, and framing

• All texts-whether written accounts or photographs- are actually shaed by individual perspective and point of view. Texts are “invented” for a specific audience. Your own writing is a text informed by your invention strategies, your purpose, and your point of you.

2. Arrangement

• Refers to the organization of an argument that gives it structure or that separates a free-form reaction from a carefully developed and proven argument.

• Here are some organizational strategies you might choose in composing your own arguments:

o Chronological structure: Perhaps the most intuitive strategy of all. For example, exploring the transformation in the Apple computer marketing campaign from Macintosh to iPod.

o Cause-Effect: An essay confronting the issue of sexist imagery in rap music videos might start by exploring how women are represented in popular rap videos (cause) and then conclude by discussing its impact on the self-esteem of young girls (effect)

o Problem-Solution: Locating a problem and providing a possible solution to the problem. (i.e. Violence and video games)

o Block structure: Working one’s way through a series of examples or case studies- such as individual James Bold films in a paper about the relationship between real-world political climate and spy narrative- progressing systematically through each example.

o Thematic structure: Organizing by theme rather than example. For example, a paper on reality TV might include voyeurism, capitalism, and Darwinism (themes) rather than working through each TV show (i.e. Survivor, American Idol, America’s Next Top Model)

3. Style or “voice”

• Style refers to choosing the appropriate expression for the ideas of your argument: these choices relate to language, tone, syntax, rhetorical appeals, metaphors, imagery, quotations, level of emphasis, and nuance (implicit argument).

• You should be able to adopt an appropriate “style” or tone depending on your audience.

o For example, if you are writing an article for a popular magazine, you will most likely use accessible language, common expressions, and references to contemporary events. Your paragraphs may be only one or two sentences long. You may use wit, humor, or pathos to move your audience.

• If you are writing an academic paper, you might use disciplinary jargon or diction, longer paragraph structures, and references to other scholarly sources.

• In both cases, your persona and stylistic choices contribute to building your ethos and persuading your audience.

3A. Constructing a Persona

• When you select a certain image, a set of words, or a written phrase to shape your argument and try to persuade your audience, you are creating a persona for yourself as a writer and a rhetorician.

• Your persona is a deliberately crafted version of yourself as a writer.

o Ex. President Bush (pp. 62)

• You create a persona according to your tone (formal or informal,

Humorous or serious); word choice (academic or colloquial); sentence

structure (complex or simple and direct); use of rhetorical appeals

(pathos, logos, ethos); and strategies of persuasion (narration,

example, cause and effect, process, definition, or classification)

3B. Choosing your rhetorical stance

The Rhetorical Triangle

Text

Writer Audience

**Rhetorical Stance**

• Inappropriate use of rhetorical appeals (i.e. logical, emotional fallacies) and inappropriate rhetorical stances (i.e. celebrity endorsements, used-car salesman pitch, TV evangelist) throw the rhetorical triangle out of balance.

4. Strategies for effective introductions

• Defining your terms (especially if you’re writing on a subject that not everyone may be familiar with)

• Including a significant quotation or a startling statistic or fact

• Presenting an overview of the issue you’re discussing

• Using an anecdote or narration

• Incorporating a vivid example

• Drawing on a relevant analogy or metaphor

• Using the second-person pronoun (you) to invite readers to make personal connections (be careful not to “talk down” to your readers)

5. Using multiple perspectives in your argument

• Evidence: Using diverse viewpoints to support your own thesis statement

• Concession/Qualification: acknowledging the strength of other’s viewpoint, but responding to it by explaining why it doesn’t diminish the persuasiveness of your own argument

• Rebuttal/Counterarguments: Presenting an opposing opinion, fairly and respectfully, and then demonstrating why it is not a valid argument in this case.

6. Strategies of Arrangement

A Classical Speech or Oration

1. Introduction

2. Statement of facts (thesis)

3. Division

4. Proof (evidence, logos)

5. Refutation (counterargument)

6. Conclusion

Option A- When you want to ground the reader in your argument before bringing up opposing perspectives

1. Introduction, identification of rhetorical stance

2. Thesis

3. Statement of background, definition, or context

4. Evidence and development of argument

5. Opposing opinion, concession/qualification, refutation

6. Conclusion

Option B- Establishing opposing opinion beforehand so that the entire piece functions as an extended rebuttal or refutation of that line of argument

1. Introduction and opposing viewpoint

2. Thesis and identification of rhetorical stance

3. Evidence and development of argument

4. Conclusion

Option C-Treating diverse viewpoints as appropriate during the development of your argument and presentation of your evidence

1. Introduction, identification of rhetorical stance

2. Thesis

3. Statement of background, definition and context

4. Evidence, opposing opinion, concession, qualification, refutation

5. Conclusion

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