argument as inquiry: questioning a text

ARGUMENT AS
INQUIRY:
QUESTIONING A TEXT
Adapted from Reading Rhetorically (A Reader for Writers), 2nd edition
by Virginia A. Chappell and Alice M. Gillam and
Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, 9th edition
By John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson
1
Question a
text?
a
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Really really really really really really
really really really SMART…
3
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What do I
know?
4
That’s just the point.
Learning to question a text is central to
your academic success in college.
5
g
n
i
n
o
i
t
s
e
Qu
s
’
r
o
h
t
u
an a
text
does not mean
that you are
dismissing an
author’s ideas
wholesale.
6
s
a
,
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a
r
,
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i
…
f
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k
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m
i
g
d
Th
u
j
g
n
i
v
r
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s
e
r
So that you can make
a sound analysis…
7
and offer a
thoughtful,
informed,
intelligent
response.
8
YOU CAN BE
CRITICAL…
But not in the
negative sense
of the word,
characterized by
HARSH
JUDGMENT!
9
CRITICAL CAN ALSO
MEAN…
“characterized
by careful and
exact
evaluation
and
judgment.”
10
Critical Reading
Strategies
One of the most important skills you
can learn during your college years is
how to become a thoughtful reader.
A thoughtful reader is above all a
patient re-reader, concerned not only
with comprehending and remembering
but also with interpreting and
ort, a
h
s
n
I
cal”
evaluating.
“criti
r.
reade
11
READING STRATEGIES
Some of the critical reading strategies you will be
practicing this semester as you read various
arguments include:
ü  Playing the Believing and Doubting Game
ü  Placing Texts in a Rhetorical Context
ü  Thinking “Dialectically”
ü  Understanding Classical Rhetorical Appeals
We’ll examine them briefly.
12
READ TO BELIEVE
(EVEN IF YOU DISAGREE)
“EMPATHIC” LISTENING
TEMPORARILY LAY ASIDE
YOUR OWN BIASES
RE-STATE AUTHOR’S VIEWS
(SUMMARIZE) CLEARLY AND
ACCURATELY.
13
READING TO DOUBT
(EVEN IF YOU AGREE)
RAISE OBJECTIONS
EXPRESS SKEPTICISM ABOUT
CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE
ASK CHALLENGING QUESTIONS
EXAMINE WHAT THE AUTHOR LEFT
OUT
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PRACTICE
Find a partner and “play” the believing and doubting game by choosing
one of the controversial claims below and making a list of reasons to
AGREE and a list of reasons to DISAGREE with the claim.
Claim 1: A student should report a fellow student who
is cheating on an exam or plagiarizing.
Claim 2: Women should be assigned combat duty
equally with men.
Claim 3: Athletes should be allowed to take steroids
and human growth hormone under a doctor’s
supervision.
15
CLAIM 1: A student should report a fellow student who
is cheating on an exam or plagiarizing.
REASONS TO BELIEVE
v  Cheating is unethical, so
students have an ethical
responsibility to report
wrong doing.
REASONS TO DOUBT
v  It’s not the students’
responsibility to act as a
disciplinarian.
v  Instrutcors should be
v  Cheating creates an un-level
playing field academically
v  People shouldn’t be
rewarded for unethical
behavior.
responsible for detecting
problems.
v  Everyone cheats.
v  Other?
v  Other?
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Claim 2: Women should be assigned combat duty
equally with men.
REASONS TO BELIEVE
v  Women are equal to men.
REASONS TO DOUBT
v  Women are physically
weaker than men.
v  Women can operate
machinery just as effectively
as men.
v  Women are strong in group
problem-solving and thus
could be assets in combat.
v  Women are too emotional
for combat missions.
v  Privacy and hygiene issues.
v  Sexual tension and/or sexual
abuse.
v  Other?
v  Other?
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Claim 3: Athletes should be allowed to take steroids and
human growth hormone under a doctor’s supervision.
REASONS TO BELIEVE
REASONS TO DOUBT
v  Taking steroids and HGH is
v  Unprofessional or unethical
fine as long as a doctor is
supervising the dosages.
physicians will prescribe
these substances for
monetary reasons.
v  In many sports, these
substances don’t provide
competitive advantages.
v  Steroids/HGH’s provide
unfair competitive
advantages;
v  Athletes should be able to
use whatever advantages
they can find.
v  Other?
v  Taking these substances is
cheating.
v  Other?
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RECONSTRUCT THE
RHETORICAL CONTEXT *
u  GENRE
u  AUTHOR
u  AUDIENCE
u  MOTIVATING OCCASION
u  PURPOSE
u  SOURCE
u  BIAS (“ANGLE OF VISION”)
* See pages 36-37 for Questions to Ask about Rhetorical Context and Genre.
19
PRACTICE
Choose one of the two articles you read and analyze its rhetorical
context by answering the questions on pages 36-37 in your text dealing
with the following categories:
u 
u 
u 
u 
u 
u 
u 
GENRE
AUTHOR
AUDIENCE
MOTIVATING OCCASION
PURPOSE
SOURCE
BIAS (“ANGLE OF VISION”)
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“Amnesty? Let us Be Vigilant and
Charitable” (Kavanaugh)
Genre: Article in public affair or niche magazine
Author’s credentials: was a Jesuit priest who taught philosophy at Saint Louis
University. He lectured on consumerism, spirituality, and the ethics of human
dignity.
Audience: Catholic, possibly liberal
Motivating Occasion: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 would
have provided legal status and a path to citizenship for the approximately 12 to 20
million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. The bill failed.
Author’s Purpose: Appeal to people’s sense of duty, kindness, mercy in order to
encourage support of a more humane, ethical approach to the immigration issue.
Info about Source/Publication: America is a Jesuit publication that bills itself as
the only national Catholic weekly in the U.S. It is a forum for discussion of
religion, society, politics and culture from a Catholic perspective. It’s a resource for
spiritual renewal and social analysis guided by the spirit of charity.
Angle of Vision/World View: Catholic, religious, spiritual.
21
“Why Blame Mexico?” (Reed)
Genre: Op-ed
Author’s credentials: A former Marine and Vietnam War veteran. He currently
writes weekly columns for the website Fred On Everything. His work, written in a
unique and articulate style, is often satirical and opinionated. Reed notes that his
columns are often provocative and calls himself "an equal-opportunity irritant.”
Audience: Conservatives, Libertarians
Motivating Occasion: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
(Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007).
Author’s Purpose: Appeal to people’s awareness of the hypocrisy of government
immigration policies in order to encourage support for a more pragmatic approach
to the immigration issue.
Info about Source/Publication: The American Conservative The American
Conservative is a print magazine and daily site for cultural commentary and political
analysis. Considers itself conservative/libertarian.
Angle of Vision/World View: common sense, cynical
22
THINKING DIALECTICALLY
Exploring the conflict between two or more authors who
have different points of view can result in a new thesis.
As you read the “conversation” between authors who have
different views, ask yourself:
• 
• 
• 
Where do the authors agree?
Where do they disagree?
What is the basis of their disagreement? Facts?
Interpretation of facts? Values? Worldviews?
Assumptions?
Then ask yourself, What do YOU think?
23
HOMEWORK:
PRACTICE DIALECTICAL
THINKING WITH TWO
ARTICLES
24
UNDERSTANDING CLASSICAL
RHETORICAL APPEALS
Aristotle maintained that effective
persuasion is achieved by a balanced use
of the classical rhetorical appeals to an
audience:
ETHOS
LOGOS
PATHOS
KAIROS.
25
Ethical appeals (ethos) establish the
author’s credibility.
Logical appeals (logos) offer clear, wellsubstantiated proof.
Emotional appeals (pathos) reach
audiences on a personal level.
Timely appeals (kairos) reach audiences at
the right or opportune moment (the
supreme moment)
26
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27
ETHOS: The Persuasive Power of a
Writer’s Credibility or Character
Experienced readers ask themselves, Do I trust this writer?
28
Do I find this writer believable and trustworthy?
Why or why not?
29
Often our willingness to trust
writers is based not on what they
say about themselves . . .
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But wh
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30
Ways to determine an author’s
credibility include
examining his or her credentials or expertise
and
examining the credentials or expertise
of his or her sources.
31
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32
LOGOS: The Persuasive Power of the
author’s reasons, evidence, and logic.
Experienced readers don’t take what appears to be a reasonable
argument at face value.
33
Instead, they put
the author’s logic to a test.
Examining an author’s “logos” involves
understanding basic elements of an argument:
ü  Claims (key arguments or thesis)
ü  Reasons ("because" statements that
support a thesis)
ü  Evidence (data, statistics, case studies,
authoritative testimony, substantiation)
ü  Concessions (acknowledging the validity
or value of opposition’s argument)
34
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35
PATHOS: The Persuasive Power of the Author’s Appeal to the
Interests, Emotions, and Imagination of the Audience
36
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37
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with rever
ed
authorities
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That uses
emotionally loaded
words.
38
!
T
S
CI
HOMOPHOB
RA
E!
RIGHT-WING
EXTREMIST!
FANATIC!
COMMUNIST!
TEA-PARTIER!
LIBERAL
EXTREMIST!
S
!
!
T
S
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L
A
I
OC
39
KAIROS
The Persuasive Power of TIMING
40
Making a
compelling
argument requires a
deft combination of
creating and
recognizing the
right time and right
place for making the
argument in the first
place.
Appeals to kairos …
try to make use of
the particular
moment—
attempting to
capture in words
what will be
immediately
applicable,
appropriate, and
engaging for a
particular audience.
41
Opportune
moment!
Seize the day!
42
Experienced readers
look past the rhetoric
and learn to distance
themselves emotionally
from these appeals in
order to examine them
more objectively.
43
Our job as rhetorical readers is to
recognize what an author is doing
(rhetorical strategies)
as well as what he is saying
(claims or thesis)
before we are able to respond
intelligently.
44
REVIEW: A CATALOG OF
CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES
ü  Placing Texts
ü Playing
ü Bringing Texts
ü Understanding
45
REVIEW: A CATALOG OF
CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES
ü  Placing Texts in a Rhetorical Context
ü Playing the Believing and Doubting Game
ü Bringing Texts into Conversation with Each Other
ü  Understanding Classical Rhetorical Appeals
46
REVIEW: CLASSICAL APPEALS
ETHOS: establishes the author’s
LOGOS: offers
PATHOS: reaches audiences
KAIROS: reaches audiences
47
REVIEW: CLASSICAL APPEALS
ETHOS: establishes the author’s credibility.
LOGOS: offers clear, well-substantiated proof.
PATHOS: reaches audiences on an emotional
level.
KAIROS: reaches audiences at an opportune
moment.
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End Show
Created by Elaine Minamide
English 100
Palomar College
Last updated: Spring 2013
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