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 "Carefully read the following
passage by Susan Sontag.
Then write an essay in which
you support, refute, or
qualify Sontag's claim that
photography limits our
understanding of the world.
Use appropriate evidence to
develop your argument."
There followed a provocative
and somewhat cryptic threeparagraph excerpt from On
Photography.
 Perhaps the single most
important key to success on
an AP Exam is the student's
ability to see that the prompt
identifies a task to be
performed. Students who
were successful on Question
Three recognized key words
in the prompt and were able
to determine the task they
were being asked to do.
 This question was not merely
an invitation to write
discursively on the subject of
photography. The word
"claim" in the prompt should
have alerted students to the
need for writing in
argumentative form. This
point was reinforced by the
explicit mention of
"argument" in the last
sentence. The question
requires that students
understand what an argument
is and know how to construct
one.
 The words "support, refute, or
qualify" are technical terms
that were not decoded in the
question. Students need to
know and need to have
practiced these forms of
argument during the term.
(Some students misunderstood
"qualify"; for example, "Sontag
is not qualified to talk about
photography.") In addition,
these three words should
signal to students that taking a
position, even if a qualified
one, is essential.
 The word "evidence" is also
important. Students need to
know not only what constitutes
evidence, but the difference
between evidence and
example. Even "develop"
conveyed important signals -their argument needed to
move forward; they couldn't
just make one little point and
assume they were developing
it by adding six redundant
illustrations.
 Can an argument really be
any text that expresses a
point of view?
 What kinds of argument – if
any – might be made by the
following items?
 a Red Sox cap
 the health warning on a
packet of cigarettes
 a Rolex watch
 To win – politics, business,
law (to convience
[agreement] or persuade
[actin])
 Invitational arguments –
mutual exploration based on
respect.
 To find common ground –
Rogerian arguments
(both/and or win/win)
 While writing a
classical argument may
seem daunting at first, it
is mainly common
sense.
 From arrangement to
fallacies, we encounter
these principles
routinely.
 We will be studying
formally concepts and
strategies we observe
and use in daily life.
Induction and Deduction
General
Specific
Specific
General
More on this later . . .
The Five Cannons of
Rhetoric
 Discovery or invention
 Given a topic, the orator had
to find arguments to support
his point of view.
 Inventio is a system for finding
those arguments, coming up
with something to say
 He had to make some
carefully thought out choices
such as the three appeals
(ethos, logos, pathos).
 There were others that we’ll
discuss later, but for now we
are interested in the basics.
 Arrangement or organization
 Romans had six parts:






Exordim—introduction
Narratio—statement of the case
under discussion (thesis)
Divisio—outline of points to be
covered (usually omitted now
unless book length)
Confirmatio—the proof of the
argument
Confutatio—refute the
opponent’s argument
Peroratio—conclusion
 These provide a set of
simple, definite principles to
follow.
Rogerian
Approach
 Carl Rogers—a renowned
therapist
 The goal of therapy is often
the same as
argumentation—attitude
change
 This approach tries to bring
about that change by
rational argument
 “Each person can speak up
for himself only after he has
first restated the ideas and
feeling of the previous
speaker, and to that
speaker’s satisfaction.”
Patterns of Development