Everything Is an Argument: Chapter 1 Notes
Directions: As you are reading take notes on the terms and ideas presented below. Some
information has already been filled in for you. You may print this page out and put it in your
interactive notebook OR you take notes using this format in your composition book. Please note
that you might have a different edition from your classmate. The information is all the same, but
some of the books might differ only a bit.
Argument
Persuasion
to change a point of view
(due to conviction); to take
action
Invitational Argument –
Rogerian Argument –
An argument’s effectiveness depends on:
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The purposes
The context surrounding the plea
The people it seeks most directly to reach
5 Purposes of Argument-explain each
Examples:
1. To Inform
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Ex:
Reports
2. To Convince
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3. To Explore
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4. To Make Decisions
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“what might
happen if…”
“should I or
shouldn’t I…”
5. To Meditate or Pray
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Everything Is an Argument: Chapter 1 Notes
Occasions for Argument based on Aristotle
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Arguments about the PAST – Forensic Arguments
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Arguments about the FUTURE – Deliberative Arguments
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Arguments about the PRESENT – Ceremonial Arguments
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KINDS of Arguments
Status/STASIS
Stasis Theory – a series of questions to examine legal cases
(help determine point of contention, where to focus energy to
build a case)
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Kinds/Stasis cont…
Arguments of FACT – Did something happen?
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Argument of DEFINITION – What is the nature of the thing?
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Everything Is an Argument: Chapter 1 Notes
Argument of EVALUATION – What is the quality of the thing?
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Argument of PROPOSAL – What actions should be taken?
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AUDIENCE!
Writers must intend to communicate to
a particular audience considering
context (social, cultural, linguistic,
economic, geographic, and institutional).
Appealing to Audiences
Ethos
Ethical/based on a writer’s authority and
credibility
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Pathos
Emotional/appeals to the heart
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Logos
Logical/appeals to reason
Rhetorical Dynamic
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Everything Is an Argument: Chapter 1 Notes
Topic/Message
(logical)
CONTEXT
Audience/Readers
(pathos)
Speaker/Writer
(ethos)
 i – claim notes
Claim – the point that is being made…all arguments have a claim
Functions/How they work:
 definition – explains what something means
 value – judges some quality
 cause – linked to “effect” w/reasons for it
 policy – suggests particular course of action
Extending activity: Choose one response from each of the following questions and post to the blog.
1. In a recent magazine, newspaper, or blog, find three editorials-one that makes a forensic argument,
one a deliberative argument, and one a ceremonial argument. Analyze the arguments by asking
theses questions: Who is arguing? What purposes are the writers trying to achieve? To whom are
they directing their arguments? Then decided whether the arguments purposes have been achieved
and how you know.
2. What common experiences, if any, do the following objects, brand names, and symbols evoke; and
for what audiences in particular? What sorts of appeals do the make: to pathos, ethos, or logos?
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A USDA organic label
The golden arches
A can of Coca-Cola
Sleeping Beauty’s castle on the Disney logo
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Ground Zero at the World Trade Center
AIDS ribbon
An SPCA advertisement
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