The Rhetoric of Social
Problem Claims
•
Structure of a Claim
•
Function of a Claim
•
Evolution of a Claim and Claimsmaking
05
Announcements
Here are a few things you should be tracking:
• Quiz 3 Due NLT 2359 on Sunday, 1/23/2022
• Choose a social problem by 1/20/2022
Background
According to Best (2017:30):
“Every social problems claim…is an effort to persuade others, to convince them that a
particular troubling condition ought to be recognized as a social problem, that that
problem has certain characteristics, that the problem demands attention, and that it
should be addressed in a specific way.” …“The study of persuasion is called rhetoric…”
Given that claims are efforts to persuade, and rhetoric is the study of
persuasion, we can use the tools of rhetorical analysis to examine if and
how claims become persuasive.
Background
As such, in this lecture we will identify and describe the basic rhetoric
of a claim and consider how different claims trigger different audience
responses.
We will also investigate how claims evolve over time, and how claims
are shaped by the larger cultural context.
Lecture Outline
This lecture will be divided into five parts:
Part 1: Summary
Part 2: The Basic Rhetoric of a Claim
Part 3: Claims, their Audiences, & the Social Problems Marketplace
Part 4: The Evolution of & Opposition to Claims
Part 5: Cultural Resources
Lecture Goals
At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:
-
Identify, describe and explain the rhetoric of social problem claims.
Part I: Summary
Summary
Part II: The Basic Rhetoric of a Claim
Claims’ Basic Rhetorical Structure
What is a rhetorical structure?
Generally speaking, rhetorical structure refers to the basic building
blocks and organizational logic needed to make an argument coherent
and convincing.
Claims’ Basic Rhetorical Structure
What is a rhetorical structure?
According to Best (2017: Chapter 2), a claim’s rhetorical structure
consists of three basic components called grounds, warrants, and
conclusions.
Claims’ Basic Rhetorical Structure
Claim
What is a rhetorical structure?
According to Best (2017:
Chapter 2), a claim’s
rhetorical structure consists
of three basic components
Grounds
Warrants
Typifying Example
Values
Short-Term
Emotions
Long-Term
Name
Statistic
Worsening Situation
called grounds, warrants, and
Familiar Type
conclusions.
Kinds of People
Range of People
Challenges to Status Quo
Conclusions
Define: Grounds
What are grounds?
A claim’s grounds are assertions of fact; i.e., grounds are the part of the
claims that argue a set of conditions exists and provide supporting
evidence.
Grounds are usually constructed following “a rhetorical recipe
containing three ingredients”: a typifying example, a name, and a
statistic.
Define: Typifying Example
What is a typifying example?
A typifying example is an especially graphic, dramatic, disturbing,
and/or memorable example of the claim’s associated condition.
Typifying examples are designed to be very salient, so as to grab the
audience’s attention (and, thus, go ”viral”). As such, typifying examples
are rarely typical.
Define: Name
What is a name?
A name is a label used to generalize the events of the typifying
example from a single, isolated incident to an instance of a larger,
more durable phenomenon.
A name also acts as to simplify the imagery associated typical example
down to a single, easily transmitted word.
Define: Statistic
What is a statistic?
A statistic is a number that suggests the scope or severity of the
problem.
Remember: “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and
statistics”(See Box 2.2: Straw Figures)
Define: Other Rhetorical Devices
Worsening situation: creates urgency.
Familiar type of problem: creates familiarity and reduces cognitive load.
Kinds of people involved: establishes main actors: victims (classes of
people deserving sympathy and support) vs villains (classes of people
deserving condemnation and punishment) (See Box 2.3: The Meth Lab Formula)
Range of people affected: increases the scope of possible victims.
Define: Other Rhetorical Devices
Challenges to status quo: arguments that directly challenge existing
frames and/or definitions of the conditions associated with the claim.
Define: Warrants
What is a warrant?
Warrants explain and or justify why something ought to be done about
the conditions laid out in the claim’s grounds.
In short, the grounds identify a troubling condition, and the warrants
explain why something should be done about it.
Define: Warrants
What is a warrant?
In short, the grounds identify a troubling condition, and the warrants
explain why something should be done about it.
Appeals to values: often expressed as vague core principles
Appeals to emotion:
Define: Conclusions
What is a conclusion?
Conclusions are statements that specify what should be done; i.e., what
action should be taken to address this social problem. Critically:
“The nature of the conclusions is shaped by the grounds and warrants. If a claim’s grounds
have depicted a condition that causes terrible suffering, and the warrants speak to
humanitarian concerns about the need to alleviate suffering, then the conclusions are likely to
focus on ways to help the afflicted” (Best 2017: 38-39).
Part III: Claims, their Audiences, & the Social
Problems Marketplace
Define: Audience
What is an audience?
An audience is everyone the claimsmakers hope to persuade, and can
include people who might be enlisted in the cause, other claimsmakers,
members of the media who might publicize the claim, the general
public, policy makers, etc.
Define: Audience Segments
What is an audience segment?
Given how diverse audiences can be, it is common for claims makers to
divide the audience into different segments.
Segmented audiences may have different interests and ideologies.
Certain demographic groups worry more about certain social problems
than others.
Define: Social Problems Marketplace
What is the Social Problems Marketplace?
Audiences hear claims about many problems. Claimsmakers struggle to
get and keep the attention of the audience.
Even if an issue is well-established, claimsmakers need to keep refining
claims. If not, they risk losing the attention of policymakers, the media,
and the general public.
Part IV: The Evolution of & Opposition to Claims
Claims are Dynamic
Audiences are not passive.
• They may seek out some claims and reject others, picking and
choosing social problems.
• Successful claimsmakers pay attention to how audiences respond
to their claims.
Claims are Dynamic
How do claimsmakers refine claims?
Domain expansion: claimsmakers broaden the definition of the
problem, adding in more victims to help and villains to confront.
Child Abuse: Beating à Smoking near child; male circumcision; etc.
White Supremacy: Lynching à mispronouncing a last name; etc.
Claims are Dynamic
How do claimsmakers refine claims?
Piggyback: claimsmakers can rely on established problems and allow
newer claims to build upon older ones.
Civil Rights: Black Americansà LGBT à Anti-Vaccine
Define: Counterclaims
Counterclaims often involve disputes over grounds or warrants.
• Stat wars focus on which statistics are true.
• Debates over ideologies are usually linked to warrants.
• Both sides modify claims as a response to counterclaims.
Part V: Cultural Resources
Define: Cultural Resources
Claimsmaking requires an understanding of the cultural context in
which claims are made.
In other words, claimsmakers can make any kind of claim; however,
their claims need to make sense to the intended audiences.
Claimsmakers tap into cultural resources, the well of words, ideas, and
images that most people (of that culture) respond to.
Define: Cultural Resources
Cultural resources both enrich and limit the claimsmaking process.
• They provide a broad range of words, images, and ideas to use.
• They constrain claimsmakers by limiting how they ground claims.
Appendix: Study Guide
Questions
Best writes that “persuasive arguments share a rhetorical structure with
three fundamental components.” List and describe the three
components of this rhetorical structure and offer examples of each.
Questions
When a claimsmaker wants to convince others that a troubling
condition exists, she often uses a typifying example, names the
problem, and cites a large statistic. However, various other common
devices are used to convince people that the issue is truly troubling.
Describe at least three of these additional devices and offer examples
of each.
Questions
Explain how interests and ideologies influence certain segments of the
population in their response to particular claims. How might
claimsmakers use this knowledge to get the largest possible reaction to
their claims?
Questions
Discuss why and how claims typically change over time.
Questions
Historical context influences cultural resources. Which kinds of claims
are likely to resonate now more than in other time periods? Provide an
example of something special about the current era and how it might
influence the kinds of claims that are most effective.