Everything's an Argument

Research the next election in your state or nation that includes a debate. After watching the debate, note your initial impression of each candidate. Then, examine the transcript for fallacies and consider how identifying the fallacies presented changes your candidate preferences. Write an essay explaining how fallacies can effect arguments and audiences. Compare and contrast the candidates’ use of fallacies.

Choose an editorial from a local news source. Write a rhetorical analysis that examines the editorial’s purpose, speaker, appeals, and style. Include evidence from the text.

Examine the style of Everything’s an Argument. How does the authors’ style impact the reader’s response to the information presented? Include evidence from the text.

The authors acknowledge that visual rhetoric “can have all the reach and versatility of more conventional verbal appeals to pathos, ethos, and logos. Often even more” (332). Write an argument of evaluation determining whether verbal or visual rhetoric is most effective in current society. Use evidence to support your claims.

This text emphasizes that paying attention to details of presentation can influence a reader’s understanding and attitude to the argument being made. How do the authors of Everything’s an Argument use textual and visual elements to make their information more accessible? Include evidence from the text.

Throughout the text the authors reiterate that arguments come from everywhere, including something as innocuous as a t-shirt. Consider the ways in which you present yourself to the world. What arguments do you make about yourself to those who see you? Include evidence to illustrate your claims.

All arguments require evidence to support their claims, but the quality of research can vary. Choose a topic and locate an article from a library database, a YouTube video, and an online editorial on the chosen topic. Evaluate each source, assessing its creator and distributor (and their credentials), currency, range of perspectives, accuracy, level of specialization, and audience. Compare and contrast how each source could or could not be used as effective evidence in various argument.

Read an article from your local newspaper. Develop a reverse outline of the article’s organization. Does the article follow the classical oration, invitational, or Toulmin model most closely? Use evidence from the article and the text to support your determination.