Lunsford, Elbow, and Payton (an unlikely combination)
Asie Payton
“Everything is an Argument.”
Andrea Lunsford is noted for saying that everything is an argument. (She even has a book that carries this title.) Suspend your disbelief for a minute here, if you need to, and play what Peter Elbow calls “the believing game” as you freewrite on why this statement is true.
Take three minutes now and write non-stop.
a little Asie Payton blues
top ten (Letterman-style)
Form groups of three or four.
As a group, create a top ten list of tips on how to argue. (In other words, how do you get other people to listen to you and accept what you've got to say?) Have fun with it.
Prepare to share your list with the class.
Late Night Theme Song
my top ten...
know your audience
know your purpose
recognize that not all arguments need to be a contest where one person prevails over another (this is an american tradition)
care about what you have to say (and what others have to say)
be thoughtful—willing to ponder, slow to accept
my top ten...
make an ethical use of persuasive appeals (relying mostly on sound reason)
work to know what you believe and why you believe it (but don't assume you know this off the bat)
use clear reason and compelling evidence to support your claims
seek truly to understand others' perspectives (not necessarily to accept them) before you judge them or dismiss them
ask questions first; know what you're talking about
defining argument
This will be
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by the player.
Monty Python's “Argument Clinic”
three persuasive appeals
Logos
The essential appeal; based on sound logic, reasoning, a reliance on facts and evidence.
Pathos
The powerful appeal of emotion, based on emotionally charged, highly connotative words, appeals to people's fears, concerns, passions, vanity, sense of justice, and so forth. Pathos takes advantage of the rhythm and refrain in language. Emotion is powerful, but without logic, it is seen as manipulative.
Ethos
The appeal of one's character or credibility as the source of the message. Credibility is increased when the use of logic and sound reasoning is increased. It is used when one points to experts or an authority outside of oneself. It is furthered when one demonstrates that they fair- and open-minded.
shoe envy?
Advertisement for Jack Shoes
a family without
Family of a tenant farmer. Photograph by Walker Evans.
natural disaster and human tragedy
Image in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
the world we all know
Mercator projection of the world
flipping our assumptions
Mcarthur's Universal Corrective Map of the World
an argument of hope
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Yes We Can video
an argument concerning our vision of school today
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by the player.
an argument from Michael Wesch of Kansas State
on not giving a damn...
Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor. He has written over 40 books and and was awareded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
An excerpt from "The Perils of Indifference" delivered 12 April 1999, Washington, D.C.
like whatever!
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by the player.
an argument from Taylor Mali, in poem form
feeling guilty?
This will be
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by the player.
an appeal to stop global warming from the ad council
when the truth hurts
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by the player.
clip from the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth
when we dare to dream
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by the player.
Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream"
if Mussolini were a salesman
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by the player.
Cip from TV show "The Office"
hey, what do you make?
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Taylor Mali's "What Teachers Make"
the declaration of independence
On July 4, 1776 fifty-six men, representing each of the original 13 British colonies signed the Declaration of Independence decreeing their independence from the tyranny of British rule.
The Declaration of Independence as read on NPR.
ask not what your country can do for you...
On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy accepted the Presidency of the United States of America and imparted onto the American people a tremedous responsibility.
JFK's 1961 Innaugural Address
for next class
write your 1250 to 1500 word response to Prompt #3 (or do a significant revision of an earlier work); post it on time to Splatter under "work for review" as usual.
bring a current handbook to class (like the Little Penguin Handbook); one was required for the course; if you don't own one, try the library
