Argument Supplement to Odyssey Chapter 13
Argument presents logical reasons and evidence to support a viewpoint, contains four essential parts:
Issue - a problem or controversy to be addressed
Claim - the position to be taken on an issue
Support – reasons and evidence to be considered through combinations of facts, personal experience, examples, statistics, comparisons or analogies
Refutation – the recognition of and attempt to find weakness in an opponent’s argument
Is the evidence relevant? Evidence offered in support of a claim must relate directly to that claim, that is, must apply specifically to the issue at hand.
Is the evidence sufficient? A claim requires a sufficient number of reasons or
pieces of evidence as support (at least three).
Does the author use emotional appeals, and are they used unfairly?
Emotional appeals target needs or values the reader may care about. Unfair emotional appeals attempt to excite the reader through emotions as means to control the reader’s attitude toward the subject.
Types of Appeals
1. Emotionally charged or biased language – words that create an emotional response, positive or negative feelings
2. False authority – using the opinion or action of a well-known or famous person
3. Association – associating a product, idea, or position with others that are already accepted
4. Appeal to the “common folk” – an emotional appeal indicating that a product or idea is held in esteem by ordinary citizens
5. Ad hominem – attacks the holder of an opposing viewpoint rather than the actual viewpoint
6. “Join the crowd” appeal – appeals to do, believe, buy that which everyone else does
Errors in Logical Reasoning Also known as the logical fallacies, these errors invalidate the argument or render it flawed.
Circular reasoning – or begging the question – restates opinion as a reason, or restates the beginning of a sentence as the conclusion, using other words
Hasty generalization – maintains that the conclusion has...