Evening Section for 2/23/09

Tonight we discussed creating an argument paper:

Argument: Chapter 17 (246-267)

Argument

Takes a position on an issue and offers reasons and supporting evidence to convince someone to accept/consider that position.

Argument and Persuasion


Argument Papers
◦Build a case using logic (logos)
◦Rely heavily on facts
◦Appeal to your brain
—
Persuasion Papers
◦Build a case using emotional appeals (pathos)
◦Rely heavily on personal experience
◦Appeal to your heart
◦Persuasion=“to plead with”

Argument and Opinion


An opinion is a point of view you hold
◦“A belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge”
◦You may present it with or without evidence
◦It may be biased
◦Often begin with phrases like “I think/believe”
Opinions are a good starting place for forming an argument

Good Arguments


Take strong positions on an issue and tell what action needs to be taken
Give good reasons and evidence to defend the position
Consider differing views
Are energetic

Main Point (Thesis)


The position you take on the issue
—Issue + Position=main point
Make your main point as specific as possible

Support

Consists of reasons for your argument

◦Evidence
–Facts=Statements that can be proved true
–Statistics=numerical facts based on research
–Examples=experience or information
–Expert opinion=the opinion of an expert
—Addressing opposing opinions
◦Shows that you are being unbiased
◦Makes your argument stronger

Organization


Order of importance
◦Used for your reasons you take a certain position on an issue
◦Arrange your points from weakest to strongest point

You were also given two journal assignments:

Journal Assignment #1: Describe the advertisements you will be using in your compare/contrast paper. What are you comparing and contrasting?

What is the audience for your paper?

Where will you find resources for your paper.

Journal #2: Read the Reed Sorensen article on "Millenials" and respond the the questions that Sorensen asks at the end of the article:

Millenials

Reed Sorensen

If you were born between 1981 and 2003, this article is for you. You and I belong to the generation sociologists have endearingly entitled the “Millennials.” We grew up during the Information Age, when news from Bangladesh and multiple recipes for duck gumbo are only a few clicks of the mouse away. We grew up knowing that any given telemarketer could be calling from India, and in fact probably is. For us, mass communication is a way of life.
Why is it, then, that the Millennials are consistently labeled “ignorant,” “uninformed” and “apathetic”? An English professor from Emory University recently wrote an article for the Boston Globe called “8 reasons why this is the dumbest generation.” He writes, “The ignorance is hard to believe ... It isn’t enough to say that these young people are uninterested in world realities. They are actively cut off from them.” This is quite an accusation for the children of the Information Age.
And somehow, reading that professor’s article, I found myself slowly nodding my head. After all, 34 percent of young Americans know that the island used on last season’s “Survivor” show was located in the South Pacific, but only 13 percent could locate Iraq on a world map, according to a CNN poll. On top of that, about one-third of young voters said they don’t know what Obama’s religious beliefs are, and 10 percent think he is Muslim. Is it any wonder that our elders think we’re ignorant?
Being uninformed while swimming in information is one thing, but Millennials are also accused of apathy. One only needs to look at our reaction to the Iraq War. Where is the public outcry? Where are the campus protests? People are dying every day for a war that began under false pretenses (still no WMDs). We know what it looks like to protest an unjust war, too; there are plenty of role models from the Vietnam War. Yet apathy prevails, probably because we don’t feel affected by the goings-on of a country nobody can find on the map anyway.
Is this how the Millennials will be remembered? Do you accept that? The title of this article asks whether or not ours is indeed the dumbest generation. Maybe the English professor is right, maybe we are. But I say that we just haven’t proven ourselves yet. It is a promising sign that the presidential election saw over half of eligible young voters cast a ballot, up from 37 per cent in 1996. We can’t deny the history of apathy, but our history isn’t over. Each of us bears the responsibility to show how socially aware and compassionate our generation can be.

Source: Sorensen, Reed. “Millenials.” The Concordian. Concordian College. Ed. Laura
Ingalls. 11 Dec 2008. 2 Feb 2008. pacercms/article.php?id=610>