ENGLISH N S U Book ShopContents Persuasion and Argumentation 1. The Persuasive Principle ... 2. The Argumentative Essay . Readings 1. Chick Movies and Guy Movies How I Discovered Words: Malcolm X 1 Want a Wife Levi's One Vote for This Age of Anxiety The Lowest Animal Why We Crave Horror Movies 2. 3. a 5. That Lean and Hungry Look . 6. 7. 8. = The Smiley-Face Approach 10. The Case for Torture Research 1. Planning Your Project — An Overview... Deciding Research Topics. Web Searches .... Understanding Graphic Presentation ... D 3 4, Questionnaire Design ey 6. . Using Statistics...Articles Based on Research Findings Ll 2s By How TV Violence Damages Your Children Survey Confirms It: Women Outjuggle Men . .. 200 ‘Study Shows Health Benefits for Immigrants ..... Ugly Children May Get Parental Short Shrift Modern Marriage The Muslim Experience .... Who Votes, Who Doesn’t, and Why. .... Using the APA Format Writing APA Papers .. Documenting Sources in APA Style - Afier page 227PERSUASION AND ARGUMENTATIONThe Persuasive Principle This book offers you one central piece of advice: Whenever possible, think of your writing as a form of persuasion. Persuasion is traditionally considered a separate branch of writing. When you write whats usually called a persuasion paper, you pick a controversial issue, tell your readers what side you're on, and try to persuade them that you’re correct: the defense budget needs to be decreased,,handguns should be outlawed, doctors must be protected against frivolous malpractice suits, required freshman English gourses should be abolished. Persuasion is supposed to be based on different principles from those of other kinds of writing—description, narration, exposition, and so forth. It isn’t, A description of a relative, an account of what you went through to get your first job, a comparison of two makes of dishwashers—if you can approach such assignments as an effort to persuade your reader of the validity of a particular opinion or major point, you're in business as a writer. Your paper’s opinion or ‘major point is called its zhesis. Your thesis may be that your relative is the most boring person you have ever met, that getting your first job was easier than you thought it would be, that a GE dishwasher is likely to last longer than a Whirlpool. If you have a thesis and if you select and organize your material so that it supports the thesis, a number of basic writing problems begin to solve themselves. You have built-in purpose. You have built-in organization. You have the potential of built-in interest. Aside from a few obvious exceptions like newspaper reports, encyclopedia articles, instruction manuals, recipes, and certain types of stories, poems; and plays, all writing can benefit from a commitment to the persuasive principle: develop a thesis, and then back it up.English 105 7 There is no better way to demonstrate the effectiveness of the persuasive principle than to take a close look at what goes on, or ought to go on, as a paper is being planned. GENERAL SUBJECT “Write something worth reading about such and such.” In essence, all writing assignments—for students, business executives, Nobel Prize-winners, and everyone else—begin this way, though ordinarily the directions aren’t that frank. Let's start from scratch and assume that your instructor has left the choice of subject mostly up to you. You may be entirely on your own, or you may have a list of general subjects from which you must make your selection. Imagine that you have to write something worth reading about one of the following: education, sports, prejudice, politics, television, You make your choice, if you’re like the majority of people, by deciding what you're most interested in and informed about or what will go over best with your audience. Lets say you pick education. You now have a subject, and your troubles have now begun. You have to write 500 words or so on a subject to which tens of thousands of books have been devoted. Where do you begin? Where do you stop? Will it ever be possible to stop? What’s important? What’s not important? Until you limit ‘your subject, you have no way of answering any of these questions, You are at the mercy of every miscellaneous thought and scrap of information that drifts into your mind. LIMITED SUBJECT. Narrow down your subject. Then narrow it down some more. Narrow it down until you have a subject that can be treated effectively in the assigned length. In many respects, the narrower your subject, the better off you are, as long as you still have something to say about it. With a properly limited subject, you explore only a small part of your general subject, but you explore it thoroughly. A paper of’500 words on education is doomed to be superficial at best. It might be possible, however, to write 500 words worth reading on one of your . teachers, essay versus objective examinations, reasons for attending college (narrowed down to just one reason if you have enough to say). registration procedures, fratemities, physical education requirements, and so on. With a sensibly limited subject, you start to have a chance of producing a good paper. You are no longer doomed to superficiality. If you write a8 English 105 description of one of your teachers, for example, you possess immensely more knowledge of your subject than do fellow students who have not taken a course from that teacher. Certainly, you are no longer at the mercy of every thought about education that you have ever had. General Subject Limited Subject Education Professor X Prejudice Interracial marriages Polities People who don’t vote Television — Commercials Sports Baseball salaries Your troubles are not over, though. You've limited your subject, and you’ve done it well, but what now? Look at the most limited of the subjects in the preceding table. You're writing a description of a teacher—Professor X. Do you tell your reader about the teacher’s height, weight, age, marital status, clothing, ethnic background, religious background, educational background? Publications? Grading policy? Attendance policy? Lecture techniques? Sense of humor? Handling of difficult classroom situations? Attitude toward audiovisual aids? Knowledge of field? How, in short, do you determine what belongs in your paper and what doesn’t? ‘The truth is that you're still at the mercy of every thought that occurs to you. This time it’s every thought about Professor X, not every thought about education in general. But until you find a shesis, you still have trouble. ‘THESIS ‘Your thesis is the basic stand you take, the opinion you express, the point you make about your limited subject. It’s your controlling idea, tying together and giving direction to all of the separate elements in your paper. Your primary purpose is to persuade the reader that your thesis is a valid one. You may, and probably should, have secondary purposes; you may want to amuse or alarm or inform or issue a call to action, for instance—but unless the primary purpose is achieved, no secondary purpose stands, a chance. If you want to amuse your readers by making fun of inconsistent dress codes at your old high school, there’s no way.to do it successfully without first convincing them of the validity of your thesis that the dress codes were inconsistent and thus do deserve to be laughed at.English 105 ‘ 9 A thesis is only a vibration in the brain until it is tured into words. The first step in creating a workable thesis is to write a one-sentence version of the thesis, which is called a thesis statement, Professor X is an incompetent teacher. Professor X is a classic absentminded professor. Professor X’s sarcasm antagonizes many students. Professor X’s colorful personality has become a campus legend, Professor X is better at lecturing than at leading discussions. Professor X’s youthful good looks have created awkward problems in class. If you need more than one relatively uncomplicated sentence, chances arc either that the thesis isn’t as unified as it ought to be or that it’s too ambitious for a short paper. Limited Subject Thesis Statement Professor X Professor X is an incompetent teacher. Interracial marriages Hostility to interracial marriages is the prejudice least likely to die. People who don’t vote Not voting may sometimes be a responsible decision. Commercials Television commercials can be great entertainment. Baseball salaries Many baseball players are paid far more than their abilities can justify. Writing with a thesis gives a paper a sense of purpose and eliminates the problem of aimless drift. Your purpose is to back up the thesis. As a result, writing with a thesis also helps significantly in organizing the paper. You use only what enables you to accomplish your purpose. Weight problems and ° religion have nothing to do with Professor X’s abilities as a teacher; so you don’t bother with them. Most of all, writing with a thesis gives a paper an intrinsic dramatic interest. You commit yourself. You have something at stake: “This is what I believe, and this is why I’m right.” You say, “Professor X is incompetent.” Your reader says, “Tell me why you think so.” You say, “I'll be glad to.” Your reader says, “I’m listening.” And you're ready to roll. So far, then, we've established thai a thesis is the main idea that all elements in the paper should support and that you should be able to express it in a single sentence. We've established that a thesis has several important practical benefits. That’s the birds-eye view, but the concept is important enough to demand a closer look.10 English 105 ‘Wuat A THESIS IsN’T A Thesis Is Nota Title A title can often give the reader some notion of what the thesis is going to be, but it is not the thesis itself. The thesis itself, as presented in the thesis statement, does not suggest the main idea—it is the main idea. Remember, too, that a thesis statement will always be a complete sentence; there’s no other way to make a statement. = Title: Not a Thesis Thesis Statement Homes and Schools Parents ought to participate more in the education of their children. James Cagney: Hollywood Great James Cagney was one of the greatest actors ever to appear in movies. Social Security and Old Age Continuing changes in the Social Security System make it almost impossible to plan intelligently for one’s retirement. A Shattering Experience My first visit to the zoo was a shattering : experience. The Fad of Divorce- Too many people get divorced for trivial z reasons. A Thesis Is Not an Announcement of the Subject A thesis takes a stand. It expresses an attitude toward the subject. It is not the subject itself. Announcement: Not a Thesis Thesis Statement My- subject is the incompetence of Professor X is an incompetent teacher. Professor X. I want to share some thoughts with you Our space program is a waste of about our space program. money. The many unforeseen problems I Tencountered many unforeseen encountered when I went camping are problems when I went camping. the topic of this theme. This paper will attempt to tell you The Grand Canyon was even more something about the emotions I felt on. magnificent than I had imagined. viewing the Grand Canyon. The thesis of this paper is the difficulty _ Solving our environmental problems. of solving our environmental problems. _is more difficult than many environmentalists believe.English 105 1 A Thesis Is Not a Statement of Absolute Fact A thesis makes a judgment or interpretation. There’s no way to spend a whole paper supporting a statement that needs no support. Fact: Not a Thesis Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice. The capital of California is Sacramento. Suicide is the deliberate taking of one’s own life. President Lincoln’s first name was Abraham. The planet closest to the Sun.is Mercury. A Thesis Is Not the Whole Essay A thesis is your main idea, often expressed in a single sentence. Be careful not to confuse the term as it is used in this text with the book-length thesis or dissertation required of candidates for advanced degrees in graduate schools. WuaT A GOOD THEsIs IS It’s possible to have a one-sentence statement of an idea and still not have a thesis that can be supported effectively. What characterizes a good thesis? A Good Thesis Is Restricted In certain respects, devising a thesis statement as you plan your paper can sometimes be a way in itself of limiting, or restricting, your subject even further. A paper supporting the thesis that Professor X is incompetent, besides taking a stand on its subject, has far less territory to cover than a paper on Professor X in general. Thesis statements themselves, however, may not-always have been sufficiently narrowed down. A good thesis deals with restricted, bite- size issues rather than issues that would require a lifetime to discuss intelligently. The more restricted the thesis, the better the chances are for supporting it fully. Poor The world is in a terrible mess. People are too selfish. The American textile industry has many problems, Crime must be stopped. Better The United Nations should be given more peace-keeping powers. Human selfishness is seen at its worst during rush hour. The worst problem of the American textile industry is unfair labor practices in foreign countries. Our courts should hand out tougher sentences to habitual criminals.12 " English 105 A Good Thesis Is Unified The thesis expresses one major idea about its subject. The tight structural strength of your paper depends on its working to support that one idea, A good thesis may sometimes include a secondary idea if it is strictly subordinated to the major one, but without that subordination the writer will have too many important ideas to handle, and the structure of the paper will suffer. Poor Better Detective stories are not a high form of _ Detective stories appeal to the basic literature, but people have always been human desire for thrills. fascinated by them, and many fine writers have experimented with them. The new health program is excellent, The new health program should be but it has several drawbacks, and it run only on an experimental basis should be run only onan experimental for two or three years. basis for two or three years o Despite its general excellence, the new health program should be run only on an experimental basis for two or three years. The Columbus Cavaliers have trouble The Columbus Cavaliers should be at the defensive end and linebacker _able to make the play-offs. positions, and front-office tensions oe don’t help, but the team should be able accent Even granting a few troubles, the Columbus Cavaliers should be able to make the play-off. A Good Thesis Is Specific A satisfactorily restricted and unified thesis may be useless if the idea it commits you to is vague. “The new corporate headquarters is impressive” for example, could ‘mean anything from impressively beautiful to impressively ugly. With a thesis statement like “Hemingway’s war stories are very good” you would probably have to spend so many words defining what “good” means that there would be no room. for anything else. Even when. there’s no likelihood of confusion, vague ideas normally come through as so familiar or dull or universally accepted that the reader sees no point in paying attention to them.English 105 Poor Hemingway’s war stories are very good. Dmg addiction is a big problem. Our vacation was a tremendous experience. My parents arc wonderful people. Better Hemingway's war stories helped create a new prose style. Drug addiction has caused a huge increase in violent crimes. Our vacation enabled us to learn the true meaning of sharing. Everything my parents do is based on their loving concer for the welfare of the family. You may also extend your thesis statement to include the major poirits you will discuss in the body of the paper. The previously cited thesis statements Could be extended as follows: Specific Hemingway’s war stories helped create a new prose style. Drug addiction has caused a huge increase in yiolent crimes Our vacation enabled us to learnthe true meaning of sharing, Everything my parents do is based on their loving concem for the welfare of the family. Extended Specific Hemingway's war stories helped create a new prose style by employing extensive dialog, shorter sentences, and the power of suggestion. Drug addiction has caused a huge increase in violent crimes in the home, at school, and on the streets. Our vacation enabled us to learn the true meaning of sharing our time, space, and possessions. Everything my parents do is based on their loving concern for the welfare of the family by keeping us in touch with our past, helping us to cope with our present, and inspiring us to build for our future.14 English 105 ‘These extended thesis statements have certain virtues, but they have their drawbacks, too. They can be considered summaries or mini-outlines, in some respects, and therefore they can be useful because they force you to think through. the entire essay beforehand. They may be especially helpful if you are uneasy about your organizing abilities. In short essays, on the other hand, extended thesis statements frequently may not be necessary or desirable. They may, for example, tell readers more than you want them to know and tell it to them too soon. After all, a summary usually belongs at the end of an essay, not at the beginning. Be sure you know if your instructor has any preference. Remember the main point, though: It is essential that the thesis be specific. EXERCISES FOR REVIEW A. Write 7 next to each thesis statement below. Write NT if there is no thesis statement. 1. My sister is a terrible cook because she seldom follows essential recipe instructions, forgets the time variable in meal preparation, and knows absolutely nothing about foods that clash. 2. 1 want to tell you about the many defects in the admi proposals for decreasing the budget deficit. ‘ 3. Al Capone, the Chicago gang leader, was nicknamed “Scarface.” 4. Tustice delayed is justice denied. 5. My thesis asks whether affirmative action programs are just a new form of racism. . 6. It’s not only poor people who get government handouts. How to Grow Prize-Winning Roses. 8. This paper will examine recent efforts to ease the parking problem on campus by pointing out new regulations, identifying schedule possibilities outside prime-time parking hours, and suggesting alternative transportation. 9, Christmas shopping shows that the law of the jungle is still with us. . My husband cooks all the meals for our family, his hunting club, and the patrons at Al’s Shrimp O’Rama where he works. SEnglish 105 15 B. Write G next to each good thesis statement. Write NG next to each statement that is not sufficiently restricted, unified, or specific, and be prepared to suggest revisions. 1. The history of the United States is dominated by lust for money. 2. Common sense is sometimes the enemy of genius. 3. British and American poets through the centuries have vastly overrated the glories of romantic love. 4. Thirst is harder to endure than hunger. 5. Exercise is a worthwhile activity. 6. Jogging can add years to one’s life by improving cardiovascular function, strengthening muscles, and enriching emotional health. 7. Teaching tricks to a dog is easier than most people think. 8. Men’s mustaches can reveal something about their characters. 9. Natural beauty must be preserved, but government agencies often make foolish decisions on this matter, and jobs must also be preserved. 10. In Moby-Dick, Melville docs a very good job. THE THESIS AT WoRK IN THE PAPER The thesis statement is a tool, not an end in itself. It has two outstanding values. First, it serves as a test of whether your main idea meets the requirements we have just discussed: whether it is a firm concept that can actually be put into words or only a fuzzy notion that is not yet ready for development..Second, the thesis statement is a constant, compact reminder of the point your paper must make, and it is therefore an indispensable means of determining the relevancy or irrelevancy, the logic or lack of logic, of all the material that goes into the paper. In itself however, the thesis statement is a deliberately bare-bones presentation of your idea. In your paper you will attempt to deal with the idea in a far more interesting way. The thesis statement, for example, may never appear word for word in your final paper. There’s not even any special rule that in the final paper you must declare the thesis in a single sentence. In some rare cases, the thesis may only be hinted at rather than stated openly. The proper places for the bare-bones thesis statement are in your mind with every word you write, on any piece of scratch paper on which you jot down the possible ingredients of your essay, and at the beginning of a formal outline. (If you are ever required to construct such outlines, all of the student papers in Chapters 2-10 begin with formal topic outlines which- you can use as examples. Your instructor will probably give you further guidance.)16 English 105 In most short papers, the thesis is presented in the first paragraph, the introduction. Again, no absolute rule states that this must always be the case-just as no rule demands that an introduction must always be just one paragraph (the last “Sample Introduction” below is three paragraphs)—but in practice, most papers do begin that way. It’s simply what seems to work for most people most of the time. As a general guideline, then, it’s helpful to think of the first paragraph’s job as presenting the thesis in an interesting way. : The word interesting is important. The introduction should not ordinarily be a one-sentence paragraph consisting solely of the unadorned thesis statement. The introduction certainly should indicate clearly what the thesis is, but it also should arouse curiosity or stress the importance of the subject or establish a particular tone of humor, anger, solemnity, and so forth. Thesis Statement Sample Introduction Professor X is an incompetent teacher. _ Any school the size of State is probably going to get its share of incompetent teachers. I’m told that last year an elderly history professor came to class to give a final exam and then realized he’d forgotten to make one up. Professor Z tells jokes nobody understands and keeps chuckling to himself about them through the whole class period, Professor Y doesn’t return term papers until the last day of class; so her students never know how they’re doing until it’s too late. As far as I’m concerned, though, the biggest dud of all is Professor X. Hostility to interracial marriages is the Progress in relations between the prejudice least likely to die. races often seems grotesquely (Continued)English 105 Thesis Statement Not voting may sometimes be a responsible decision. Television commercials can be great entertainment. 17 Sample Introduction slow. Looking at bundles of years instead of days, however, one can see that there has been real progress _ in jobs, education, and even housing. The most depressing area, the area in which there has been no progress, in which no progress is even likely, in which progress is not even discussed, is the area of interracial marriages. Public service ads tell us to be good citizens and make sure to vote. On election eves, the candidates tell us to exercise our sacred rights and hustle down to the polling booth, even if we're not going to cast our ballots for them. Network philosophers tell us that the country is going downhill because so few people vote for President. But my neighbor Joe is totally indifferent to politics: he knows little and cares less, My neighbor Jennifer thinks both candidates are equally foul. I believe that Joe, Jennifer, and thousands like them are making intelligent, responsible decisions when they stay home on Election Day, and I admire them for not letting themselves be bullied. Ilike television commercials. It’s a terrible confession. I know I’m supposed to sneer and brood and write letters to people who want to protect me, but I like commercials. They can be great entertainment, and it’s time somebody said so,Thesis Statement Many baseball players are paid far more than their abilities can justify. English 105 Sample Introduction ‘An essay in Forbes Magazine by sports commentator Dick Schaap tells a story about the great Baseball Hall of Famer and Detroit Tiger of the 1930s and 1940s, Hank Greenberg, the first player to make $100,000 a year. Greenberg’s son Steve, now an important baseball official, was once an agent negotiating contracts. He told his father about a player he was representing whose batting average ‘was .238. “What should I ask for?” Steve inquired. “Ask for a uniform,” Hank replied: Today, unfortunately, any agent ‘would also ask for a million dollars—and would probably get it. Baseball players salaries have become ridiculously high and have little or nothing to do with actual athletic abilities. The function of subsequent: paragraphs—paragraphs generally referred to as the body—is to support the thesis. All sorts of paragraph arrangements are possible. The important consideration is that the body paragraphs, individually and as a whole, must persuade your reader that your thesis makes sense. One of the most common paragraph arrangements is worth studying at this time since it’s the easiest to follow and since our concen here is with the essential connection between body paragraphs and thesis, not with fine points. This arrangement gives a separate paragraph to each supporting point and the specific evidence necessary to substantiate it. In sketchy outline form, the progression of paragraphs might look something like this: : {1 — Presentation of thesis: There are at least three good reasons for abolishing capital punishment. Start of {2 — First, statistics show that capital punishment is not really a deterrent Start of §3 — Second, when capital punishment is used it is forever impossible to correct a mistaken conviction . . .English 105 a 19 Start of 4 — Third, capital punishment has traditionally been used ina... discriminatory fashion against poor people and Aftican-Americans Using the same form of one paragraph for each supporting idea, but abandoning the neatness of numbered points, we might find the following: { 1—Presentation of thesis: Dieting can be dangerous. Start of 2 — Some diets can raise cholesterol levels alarmingly . . . Start of {3 — In other cases, over an extended period, some diets can lead to setious vitamin deficiencies ... Start of 4 — One further danger is that already existing medical problems such as high blood pressure can be drastically aggravated . Most papers also have a distinet conclusion, a last paragraph that provides a needed finishing touch. The conclusion can be a quick summary of your thesis and main supporting points. It can emphasize or reemphasize the importance of your thesis. {t can relate a seemingly remote thesis to people’s everyday lives. It can make a prediction. It can issue a call for action. In one. way or another, the conelusion reinforces or develops the thesis; it should never introduce a totally unrelated, brand-new idea. The conclusion should bring your paper to a smooth stop. Just as the introduction steers clear of direct announcements, the conclusion should avoid the blatant “Well, that’s about it” ending. There are dozens of possible conclusions, but almost all papers benefit from having one. (For specific examples of different kinds of conclusions, see pages 239-241.) The group of readings that follows shows the persuasive principle in action by offering contrasting examples of good and not-so-good writing. From short thank-you notes to freshman English compositions, the results of writing with and without a thesis can be explored in detail. Later chapters will comment on and provide examples of the techniques appropriate for particular patterns of writing: classification, description, and so on. Pattems change depending on subjects and approaches. Principles do not change. The basic nature of good writing, as discussed in this chapter, remains constant. Two Ads on the Community Bulletin Board AL : Babysitter Experienced high school student ayailable, weekdays to midnight, weekends to 2 A.M. Reasonable rates, Call Sandy, 335-0000. B. Babysitter A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WHO KNOWS THE THREE R’S Ready—any weekday to midnight, weekends to 2 A.M Reliable—four years” experience, references available. Reasonable —$3.50 per hour, flat fee for more than five hours. Calll Sandy, 335-000020 Z English 105 DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS Even a little “position wanted” ad can use the persuasive principle to its . advantage. A dozen high school students pin a dozen different typed or handwritten index cards to the bulletin board at the local library or supermarket. Most of the cards convey lifeless facts. One or two cards make the same facts come alive by using them to support an idea, Those are the cards that get a second look—and get their writers a phone call. 1, Which ad has a thesis? 2. Does the ad support its thesis? 3. Which ad uses more specific facts? . Two Sets of Directions How to Get from Town to Camp Wilderness Take Freeway west to Millersville Road exit. Go north on Millersville Road to Route 256. West on 256 to Laurel Lane. North on Laurel Lane until you see our sign. Turn right, and you're there. How to Get from Town to Camp Wilderness You'll have an easy trip if you avoid three trouble spots. 1. You have to take the MILLERSVILLE ROAD Exit as you go west on the Freeway, and it’s a /efi-hand exit, Start bearing left as soon as you sec the “Millersville 5 miles” sign. 2. After turning north (right) on Millersville Road, don’t panic when you see Route 526. You want ROUTE 256 and that’s 8 more miles. 3. Go west (left) on Route 256 to LAUREL LANE. The street signs are almost impossible to read, but Laurel Lane is the second road on the right after the Mobil station. Once on Laurel Lane, you're all set. Go 2 miles until you see our sign. Tur right, and you're there.English 105 a DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS Writing. competent directions is a difficult task. When you are explaining something you know well, it’s hard to put yourself in the place of a total novice. You may be excessively casual about some step or even forget to mention it. Directions can also be hard to read: for novices they can seem to be a series of one disconnected step after another. Writing with a thesis helps the steps come together in the readers’ minds and gives them a comforting sense of security. 1. Which set of directions has a thesis? . 2, Which tries to anticipate difficulties? 3. Explain the unconventional capitalization in B. Two Thank-You Notes A. July 23, 1997 Dear Aunt Molly, “Thanks for everything” is an old, old phrase, but I've never meant it more. Thanks for your generous, great big check. Thanks for coming to the graduation ceremonies. Thanks for years of hugs and funny comments and good advice. Thanks for caring so much for me, and thanks for being Aunt Molly Much love, Ze B. July 23, 1997 Dear Aunt Molly, Thank you so much for your generous check. I was really happy that you could come to my graduation, and I hope you had a good time. Thank you so much again. Much love, dle2 English 105 DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS Back in the days before long-distance phone calls became routine, people wrote many more personal letters than they do now. For a good number of people today, the thank-you note is probably the only personal letter writing they do, other than a cheerful “Hi, there!” on postcards or Christmas cards. Graduates, newly weds, new parents, and grieving widows and widowers all need to write thank-you notes: There’s not much choice of subject, of course, and even most of the ideas are predetermined, How can the writer make a thank-you note sound like a sincere expression of emotion, not just good manners? The persuasive principle is a valuable aid. 1. Which note hasa thesis? 2,. How many pieces of “evidence” support the thesis? 3. How does the choice of words in the supporting evidence further reinforce ~ the thesis? 4. Which note communicates more feeling? Two Letters of Complaint 13 Pier Street New York, NY 10016 July 23, 1997 Customer Complaints Maybach Company 123 Fifth Avenue- New York, NY 10001 Subject: Defective Coffee Table T have tried calling three different times and have not received any satisfaction, so now I am going to try writing. Thave absolutely no intention of paying any $749.60. I returned my coffee table more than a month ago. One of the legs was wobbly and the top had a bad seratch. Two times the pickup men did not come on the day they said they would. T returned the first bill for the table, and now you just sent me another one, and all I get from people when'T call the store is “We'll look into it.” Also the price was $174.96, not $749.60. 1 await your reply. Yours very truly, see ; Augusta BriggsEnglish 105 23 B. 13 Pier Street New York, NY 10016 July 23, 1997 Customer Complaints Maybach Company 123 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10001 Subject: Defective Coffee Table When you folks make mistakes, you don’t kid around. You make big ones. Phone calls haven’t done me much good, so I’m hoping that this letter can clear things up. Early last month—probably June 9 or 10—I returned a defective coffee table. Since you had no more in stock, I canceled the order. When the bill came for the table, I returned it with a note of explanation. Exactly ‘one week ago, July 16, I received a second bill. To add to the fun, this second bill was for $749.60 instead of the original $174.96. When I called the store, I was told I'd be called back by the next day at the latest. I'm still waiting. e I'm sure you agree that these are too many mistakes, and that they are big enough to be extremely annoying. Shall we get this matter settled once and for all? Thank you for your attention. Yours very truly, to Briggs Ce: Augusta Briggs DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS “The letter to a friend may not be as common as it once was, but business writing—and business plays a role in our private ives as well as in our jobs—is as important as ever. An employee makes a good suggestion and is told to “put it in writing.” When the clear and methodical statement of ideas and facts is essential, putting it into writing becomes inevitable. The writer of a letter of complaint has two special difficulties, both of which must be resolved if the letter is to be effective. On the one hand, the writer must communicate the gravity of the complaint, or the complaint may be treated casually, perhaps even ignored, On the other hand, the writer must simultaneously24 English 105 come through as a rational human being calmly presenting a grievance. It’s essential that the writer not be dismissed as a crackpot or crank. Letters from crackpots and cranks get shown around the office, everyone has a good laugh, and then the letter goes to the bottom of the fattest pile of unanswered correspondence. Which letter has a thesis? Does the letter support the thesis with specific evidence? Does the letter have a conclusion to reinforce or develop the thesis? Why does the writer of letter B say nothing specific about what was wrong with the coffee table? 5. What is the purpose of the slang (“you folks,” “kid around”) and humorous touches in letter B? é 6. Are there elements in letter A that might allow the reader to dismiss the writer as a crank? 7. Why do business-letter paragraphs tend to be s0 short? Pees Mae ‘Two Replies to the Second Letter of Complaint Maybach Company 123 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10001 (212) 333-3333 Customer Relations July 26, 1997 Ms. Augusta Briggs 13 Pier Street New York, NY 10016 Dear Ms. Briggs: We apologize. We made a lot of mistakes, and we are truly sorry. We tried to phone you with our apology as soon as we got your letter of July 23, but you weren’t at home, Therefore, we're taking this opportunity to apologize in writing. We also want to tell you that your bill for the coffee table has been canceled once and for all, and. you won’t be bothered again. If something should go wrong; please call me directly at extension 4550.English 105 25 Good service makes happy customers, and happy customers are the heart of our business: We appreciate your letting us know when our service isn’t so good, and we want to assure you that we’ve taken steps to see that these mistakes don’t recur, Again, please: accept our sincere regrets. Do we dare call your attention to the Storewide furniture sale all of next month, including an excellent stock of coffee tables? Yours very truly, Ruse alas Rose Alonso Manager Maybach Company 123 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10001 (212)333-3333 Customer Relations July 26, 1997 Ms. Augusta Briggs 13 Pier Street New York, NY 10016 Dear Ms. Briggs: Pursuant to yout letter of July 23, please be advised that your bill for the returned coffee table has been canceled. This department attempted to phone you immediately upon receipt of your letter, but no answer was received. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced, and we hope that we may continue to deserve your patronage in the future. There is a storewide furniture sale all of next month in which you may have a special interest. Yours very truly, Rese abense Rose Alonso Manager26 = English 105 DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS The Maybach Company needs to apologize, correct its error, and keep its customer. Keeping the customer is the hard part, of course. It will require something far more than the traditional cold and dry business letter. 1. Which letter develops a thesis? Which is a collection of separate sentences? 2. Which letter makes the phone call seem an indication of the company’s concern? Which makes the call seem as if the company had been inconvenienced? 3. Which letter is superior in convincing the customer that her problems are finally over? 4. Both letters express hope for the customer’s continued trade. Why is letter A far better in this respect? Two “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” Essays (In-Class Assignment) A T couldn’t find ajob this summer, and it’s hard to write much about my summer vacation: Every moming I would get up between 8:30 and 9:00. My breakfast would usually be juice, toast, and coffee, though sometimes I would have eggs, too. For a couple of weeks, after breakfast 1 would mow some neighbors’ lawns, but after a while I got bored with that, and mostly I just hung around, Usually 1 read the paper and then straightened up my room. For lunch I had a sandwich and a glass of milk. 1 remember once my mother and | had a real argument because there wasn’t anything for a sandwich. After lunch, if my mother didn’t need the car, I'd usually drive over to the big shopping center with some of my friends. We’d walk around to see what was happening, and sometimes we'd try to pick up some girls. Mostly, we'd just look at the girls. Sometimes, instead of going to the shopping center, we'd go swimming. After supper, it was usually television or'a movie. Television is mostly reruns in the summer, and it was a bad scene. Some of the movies were okay, but nothing sensational.English 105 27 In the middle of the summer, my older sister and her family came to visit from out of town, That was fun because I like my two little nephews a lot, and we fooled around in the backyard. My brother-in-law kept asking what I was doing with my time, and my mother said at least | was staying out of trouble. I couldn’t find a job this summer, and most people would’probably say that T spent my summer doing nothing. In fact, I spent most of my summer practicing very hard to be a Pest. To start with, I developed hanging around the house into an art. It drove my mother crazy. After breakfast, I'd read the paper, spreading it out over the entire living room, and then take my midmorning nap. Refreshed by my rest, I'd then ask my mother what was available for lunch. Once when there was no Italian salami left and the bread was a little stale, 1 looked at her sadly and sighed a lot and kept opening and closing the refrigerator. She didn’t take my suffering too well. As I recall, the expression she used was “no good hum” or something of that order. In the evenings, I'd sigh a lot over having to watch television reruns, When my mother asked me why I watched if didn’t enjoy myself, I sighed some more, The other main center for my activities as a pest was at the big shopping center a short drive from home. My friends and I—we figured we needed protection—would stand in people’s way on the mall and make them walk around us. We'd try on clothes we had no intention of buying and complain ~ about the price. We'd make eyes, and gestures, and offensive remarks at any _ pretty girls, We'd practice swaggering and strutting and any other means of looking obnoxious that occurred to us. Miscellaneous Other activities during the summer included splashing people at the beach, laughing in the wrong places at movies, and honking the car hom madly at pedestrians as they started to cross the street These are small-time adventures, I realize, but difficult to do with real style. Basically, I had myself a good summer. It’s always a pleasure to master a set of skills, and I think I’ve come close to being an expert pest. I wonder what new thrills lie in wail next summer.28 : English 105 DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS. Here, in all its mythic tiresomeness, is the worst of all possible topics: “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” The subject is deadly. To make matters worse, here are two students who spent a remarkably uneventful summer. One blunders along and writes a frightful paper. The other develops a thesis, supports it, and ends with an appealing little paper. It’s no candidate for a prize, but it’s an appealing little paper. Enough said. 1. In paper A, is “it’s hard to write much about my summer vacation” a thesis? Is ita good thesis? Does the writer support it? If both papers have a thesis, are the theses basically the same? What topics mentioned in paper A are not mentioned in paper B? Why? Which paper has a conclusion? Is it effective? Both papers use many specific details. Which uses them better? Why? Which paper has better developed paragraphs? Which paragraphs in paper A do not have topic sentences? Do all the paragraphs in paper B have topic sentences? 8. Which paper handles the argument about lunch better? Why? SSeS ae SaitThe Argumentative Essay30 English 105 Writing = ‘Thus far you have been writing essays that are primarily expository, in which the main purpose is to explain’or analyze. You have also found that narration and description can aid in this kind of writing as support. In this chapter, we focus on another type of essay, one that has a somewhat different purpose: to convince or persuade, This is the argumentative essay. “An argument ensues when two parties disagree about something. One party gives an opinion and offers reasons in support of it, and the other party gives a different opinion and offers reasons in support of its stand. However, people can disagree about many things that cannot be argued effectively. For example, two people might argue that one flavor of ice cream tastes better than another, but there is no way that either party could convince the other party to change his or her preference. However, it could be argued that one flavor seems to be more popular; in this case, facts about sales could be cited. Two people might also disagree about the existence of God, but it is unlikely that one person could convince the other person to change his or her belief, for religious belief is based on faith, not on logic or verifiable facts. Moreover, two people might disagree about who won the national soccer match in 1990, but if they do some research, the argument would be settled by using a fact. Therefore, arguments of preference, belief or faith, and fact are not the.type of arguments one can effectively and logically deal with in the formal argumentative essay. The kind of argument that can be argued logically is one based on an opinion that can be supported by evidence such as facts. For example, when the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant broke down in 1979, debate ensued concerning the whole issue of nuclear power. Those in favor of continuing the construction of nuclear power plants argued against those who wanted to ban further construction of the plants. The issue was whether the United States should ban further construction. The proponents (those in favor of the issue—banning further construction) said yes and gave their reasons; the opponents (those against banning construction) said no and gave their reasons. There were definitely two sides to that issue, but more importantly it was an issue that was - arguable: It was not an argument of belief of faith, preference, or fact. THE TERMS OF ARGUMENT One definition of argument, emphasizing audience, has been given earlier: “Argumentation is the art of influencing others, through the medium of reasoned discourse, to believe or act as we wish them to believe or act.” A distinction is sometimes made between argument and persuasion, Argument, according to most authorities, gives primary importance to logical appeals. Persuasion introduces the element of ethical and emotional appeals. The difference is one of emphasis. In real- life arguments about social policy, the distinction is hard to measure. In this book weEnglish 105 z 31 use the term argument to represent forms of discourse that attempt to persuade readers or listeners to accept a claim, whether acceptance is based on logical or ‘on emotional appeals or, as’ is usually the case, on both. The following brief definition inchides other elements: An argument is a statement or statements offering support for a claim. ‘An argument is composed of af least three parts: the claim, the support, and the warrant.* The-Claim The=claim (also called proposition) answers the question “What are you trying to prove?” It may appear as the thesis statement of your essay, although in some arguments it may not be stated directly. There are three principal kinds of claim (discussed more fully in Chapier 3): claims of fact, of value, and of policy. (The three dialogues at the beginning of this chapter represent these three kinds of claim respectively.) Claims of fact assert that a condition has existed, exists, or will exist and are based on facts or data that the audience will accept as being objectively verifiable: The present cocaine epidemic is not unique. From 1885 to the 1920s, cocaine was as widely used as it is today. Horse racing is the most dangerous sport. California will experience colder, stormier weather for the next ten years. All these claims must be supported by data. Although the last.example is an inference or an educated guess about the future, a reader will probably find the prediction credible if the data seem authoritative. Claims of value attempt to prove that some things are more or less desirable than others. They express approval or disapproval of standards of taste and_ morality. Advertisements and reviews of cultural events are one common source of value claims, but such claims emerge whenever people argue about what is good or bad. beautifull or ugly. The opera Tannhduser provides a splendid viewing as well as listening experience. Football is one of the most dehumanizing experiences a person can face. — Dave Megeyesy Ending a patient’s life intentionally is absolutely forbidden on moral grounds, — Presidential Commission on Medical Ethics, 1983 *Some of the terms and analyses used in this text are adapted from Stephen Toulmin’s The Uses of Argument (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958).32 English 105 Claims of policy assert that specific policies should be instituted as solutions to problems. The expression should, must, or ought to usually appears in the : statement. Prisons should be abolished because they are crime-manufacturing concerns. Our first step must be to immediately establish and advertise drastic policies designed to bring our own population under control. — Paul Ehrlich, biologist 2 The New York City Board of Education should make sure that qualified women appear on any new list [of candidates for Chancellor of Education). Policy claims call for analysis of both fact and value. (A full discussion of claims follows in Chapter 3.) The Support : Support consists of the materials used by the arguer to convince an audience that his or her claim is sound. These materials include evidence and motivational appeals. The evidence or data consist of facts, statistics, and testimony from experts. The motivational appeals are the ones that the arguer makes to the values and attitudes of the audience to win support for the claim. The word motivational points out that these appeals are the reasons that move an audience to accept a belief or adopt a course of action. For example, in his argument advocating population control, Ehrlich first offered statistical evidence to prove the magnitude of the population explosion. But he also made a strong appeal to the generosity of his audience to persuade them to sacrifice their own immediate interests to those of future generations. (See Chapter 5 for detailed discussion of support.) The Warrant ‘The warrant is an inference or an assumption, a belief or principle that is taken for granted. A warrant is a guarantee of reliability: in argument it guarantees the soundness of the relationship between the support and the claim. It allows the reader to make the connection between the support and the claim. Warrants or assumptions underlie all the claims we make, They may be stated or unstated. If the arguer believes that the audience shares his assumption, he may feel it unnecessary to express it. But if he thinks that the audience is doubtful or hostile, he may decide to state the assumption in order to emphasize its importance or argue for its validity.English 105 33 This is how the warrant works. In the dialogue beginning this chapter, one speaker made the claim that vegetarianism was more healthful than a diet containing meat. As support he offered the evidence that the authors ofa book he had read recommended vegetarianism for greater health and longer life. He did not state his warrant — that the authors of the book were trustworthy guides to theories of healthful diet, In outline form the argument looks like this: CLAIM: Adoption of a vegetarian diet leads to healthier and longer life. SUPPORT: WARRANT: The authors of Becoming a Vegetarian Family are reliable sources of information on diet. A writer or speaker may also need to offer support for the warrant. In the case cited above, the second speaker is reluctant to accept the unstated warrant, suggesting that the authors may be quacks. The first speaker will need to provide support for the assumption that the authors are trustworthy, perhaps by introducing proof of their credentials in science and medicine. Notice that although the second speaker accépts the evidence, he cannot agree that the claim hhas been proved unless he also accepts the warrant. If he fails to accept the warrant — that is, if he refuses to believe that the authors are credible sources of information about diet — then the evidence cannot support the claim. The authors of Becoming a Vegetarian Family say so. The following example demonstrates how a different kind of warrant, based on values, can also lead an audience to accept a claim. CLAIM: Laws making marijuana illegal should be repealed. SUPPORT: People should have the right to use any substance they wish. WARRANT: _ No laws should prevent citizens from exercising their rights. Support for repeal of the marijuana laws often consists of medical evidence that marijuana is harmless. Here, however, the arguer contends that an important ethical principle is at work: Nothing should prevent people from exercising their rights, including the right to use any substance, no matter how harmful. Let us suppose that the reader agrees with the. supporting statement, that individuals should have the right to use any substance. But in order to accept the claim, the reader must also agree with the principle expressed in the warrant, that government should not interfere with tie individual's right. He or she can then agree that laws making marijuana illegal should be repealed. Notice that this warrant, like all warrants, certifies that the relationship between the support and the claim is sound. (For more on warrants, see Chapter 6.) ) b34 English 105 Definition, Language, Logic : In addition to the claim, the support, and the warrant, several other elements of clear, persuasive prose are crucial to good argument. For this reason we have devoted separate chapters to each of them. One of the most important is definition, In fact, many of the controversial questions you will read or write about are primarily arguments of definition. Such terms as abortion, pornography, racism, poverty, addiction, and mental illness must be defined before useful solutions to the problems they represent can be formulated. (Chapter 4 deals with definition.) Another important resource is the careful use of language, not only to define terms and express personal style but also to reflect clarity of thought and avoid the clichés and outworn slogans that frequently substitute for fresh ideas. (See Chapter 7 for more on language.) Last, we have included an examination of induction and deduction, the classic elements of logic. Understanding the way in which these reasoning processes work can help you to determine the truth and validity of your own and other arguments and to identify faulty reasoning. (Induction and deduction are covered in Chapter 8.)SAMPLE ANALYSIS The Declaration of Independence THOMAS JEFFERSON When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these ate Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indéed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes: and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a Jong train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it. is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such goverment, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient-sufferance of these Colonies; and such, is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when as suspended, he haé utterly neglected to attend to them.36 English 105 He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the danger of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. a He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither is swarms of 15 Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance. ~ He has kept among us in time of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our Legislature. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to jurisdictions foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended Legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders 20 which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a Neighbouring 25 Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: 0English 105 For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns and destroyed the Lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a eivilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We Have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People. Not have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disayow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too. have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract 3738 English 105 Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Analysis Claim: What is Jefferson trying to prove? The American colonies are justified in declaring their independence from British rule. Jefferson and his fellow signers might have issued a simple statement such as appears in the last paragraph, announeing the freedom and independence of these United Colonies. Instead, however, they chose to justify their right to do so. Support: What does Jefferson have to go on? The Declaration of Independence bases its claim on two kinds of support: factual evidence and motivational appeals ot appeals to the values of the audience. Factual Evidence: Jefferson presents a long list of specific acts of tyranny by George Ill, beginning with “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good,” This list constitutes more than half the text. Notice how Jefferson introduces these grievances: “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitied to a candid world” (italics for emphasis added). Jefferson hopes that a recital of these specific acts will convince an honest audience that the United Colonies have indeed been the victims of an intolerable tyranny. e Appeal to Values: Jefferson also invokes the moral values underlying the formation of a democratic state. These values are referred to throughout. In the second and third paragraphs he speaks of equality; “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” “just powers,” “consent of the governed,” and in the fourth paragraph, safety. In the last paragraph he refers to freedom and. independence. Jefferson believes that the people who read his appeal will, or should, share these fundamental values. Audience acceptance of these values constitutes the most important part of the support. Some historians have called the specific acts of oppression cited by Jefferson trivial, inconsequential, or distorted. Clearly, however, Jefferson felt that the list of specific grievances was vital to definition of the abstract terms in which values are always expressed. Warrant: How does Jefferson get from support to claim? People have a right to revolution in order to free themselves from oppression. This warrant is explicit: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuingEnglish 105 39, Invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” Some members of Jefferson’s audience, especially those whom he accuses of oppressive acts, will reject the principle that any subject people have earned the right to revolt. But Jefferson believes that the decent opinion of mankind will accept this assumption. Many of his readers will also be aware that the warrant is supported by seventeenth- century political philosophy, which defines government as a social compact between the government and the governed. If Jefferson’s readers do, in fact, accept the warrant and if they also believe in the accuracy of the factual evidence and share his moral values, then they will conclude that his claim has been proved, that Jefferson has justified the right of the colonies to separate themselves from Great Britain. Audience: The Declaration of Independence is addressed to several audiences; to the American colonists; to: the British people; to the British Parliament; to the British king, George Ill; and to mankind or a universal audience. Not all the American colonists were convinced by Jefferson’s argument. Large numbers remained loyal to the king and for various reasons opposed an independent nation. In the next-to-the-last paragraph, Jefferson refers to previous addresses to the British people. Not surprisingly, most of the British citizenry as well, as the king also rejected the claims of the Declaration, But the universal audience, the decent opinion of mankind, found Jefferson’s argument overwhelmingly persuasive. Many of the liberal reform movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were inspired by the Declaration. In basing his claim on universal principles of justice and equality, Jefferson was certainly aware that he was addressing future generations. Definition: Several significant terms are not defined. Modern readers will ask for further definition of “all men are created equal,” “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” among others. We must assume that the failure to explain these terms more strictly was deliberate, in part because Jefferson thought that his readers would understand the references— for example, to the eighteenth-century belief in freedom as the birthright of all human beings — and in part because he wished the terms to be understood as universal principles of justice, applicable in all struggles, not merely those of the colonies against the king of England, But a failure to narrow the terms of argument can have unpredictable consequences. In later years the Declaration of Independence would be used to justify other rebellions, including the secession of the South from the Union in 1861.40 English 1058 Language: Although some stylistic conventions of eighteenth-century writing would not be observed today, Jefferson's clear, elegant, formal prose — “a surprising mixture of simplicity and majesty,” in the words of one writer — remains a masterpiece of English prose and persuades us that we are reading an important document, Several devices are worth noting: 1, Parallelism or balance of sentence construction gives both emphasis and rhythm to the statements in the introduction (first four paragraphs) and the list of grievances. 2. Dietion (choice of words) supports and underlines the meaning: nouns that have positive connotations — safety, happiness, prudence, right, duty, Supreme Judge, justice; verbs and verbals that suggest negative actions (taken by the king) — refused, forbidden, dissolved, obstructed, plundered, depriving, abolishing. 3. The “one suggests reason and patience on the part of the author or authors (especially paragraphs 5, 33, 34). Logic: As a logical pattern of argument, the Declaration of Independence is largely deductive. Deduction usually consists of certain broad general statements which we know or believe to be true and which to lead us to other statements that follow from the ones already laid down. The Declaration begins with such general statements, summarizing a philosophy of government based on the equality of men, the inalienable rights derived from the Creator, and the pewers of the governed. These statements are held to be “self-evident,” that is, not needing proof, and if we accept them, tlren it follows that a revolution is necessary to remove the oppressors and secure the safety and happiness to which the governed are entitled, The particular grievances against the king are proof that the king has oppressed the colonies, but they are not the basis for revolution. The fact that Jefferson emphasized the universal principles underlying the right of revolution meant that the Declaration of Independence could appeal to alll people everywhere, whether or not they had suffered the particular grievances in Jefferson’s list. EXERCISES 1. From the following list. of claims, select the ones you consider most controversial. Tell why they are difficult to resolve. Are the” ‘underlying assumptionis controversial? Is support hard to find or disputed? CanEnglish 105 41 = THE ARGUMENTATIVE THESIS: TAKING A STAND. Most writing, of course, is improved by having a persuasive edge to the thesis, but for analysis and exposition, that “edge” need not always be sharp. For example, a thesis such as “My first experiences with Americans were traumatic” has a central idea—trawmatic—but it is not really strongly persuasive, and it is certainly not argumentative. However, an argumentative essay is one that attempts to change the reader’s mind, to convince the reader to agree with the point of view or opinion of the writer. Therefore, the argumentative essay attempts to be highly persuasive and logical. What is the difference between a thesis with a strong central idea and an argumentative thesis? To begin with, the argumentative thesis takes a side of an issue; frequently, too, it proposes a course of action (often expressed, by the way, with the modal should). In the argument conceming the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the thesis for a paper on this topic might be “The United States should ban further construction of nuclear power plants.” Of course, someone else might argue “The United States should continue building nuclear power plants.” Study the following thesis statements. Put an “A” in the blank if the statement is argumentative. Be careful! A statement having should as part of the verb is not automatically argumentative. ie The earthquake in Soviet Armenia was one of the most devastating in history. Prospective parents should be required to get licenses in order to have children. Py 3. The butlding codes in Las Vegas, Nevada, are inadequate. 4. ‘Most of the Americans I have met are quite hospitable. 5. _____ Students should have a say in the hiring and firing of teachers. 6. _____ Pornographic books ought to be banned from the library. 7. State University should not have a football team. 8. There are many. complex reasons for the failure of the police to respond quickly to alarms. 9. The citizens of this state should be allowed to carry guns. 10. The U.S. government ought to allow more immigrants into this country.42 English 105 = THE OPPOSITION: KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE UP AGAINST When you write an argumentative paper, more so than with expository or analytical essays, you must be acutely aware of your audience —the reader. Remember, the purpose of an argumentative essay is to convince the reader that your position is the better one. To begin with, assume that the reader disagrees With you, After all, if he or she did not, there would be no cause to argue. Next, remember that although the reader disagrees with you, that does not mean he or she is any less intelligent than you. Therefore, avoid attacking the reader with such statements as “Anyone who believes we should ban nuclear power plants must be ignorant or out of touch with reality.” Indeed, address your reader by writing objectively, logically, and respectfully. The most important thing to consider about the members of your audience is why they hold their opinion. What reasons do you think they might use to support their opinion? Trying to identify and understand your opponent's point of view is important; if you do not understand your oppontnt’s reasons and just argue your own reasons, you are not likely to convince the reader at all. For example, say that you felt we should continue building nuclear power plants and you give the following reasons: : 1. They produce energy at a relatively low cost. 2. They provide renewable sources of energy. 3. They reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy 4. They provide immediate jobs. Your reasons might be very good ones, but these points are probably not the points on which your opposition bases its argument; in fact, your opponents will probably agree with you on these points! At the heart of your opponents’ argument is the issue of safety. If you do not address that issue and convince your opponents that nuclear power plants are safe, then you cannot expect to convince them that we should build more nuclear power plants. Once you have argued to the points the opposition holds, then you can farther support your case by adding the other reasons mentioned earlier. Ee cen: Read the following thesis statements and think of the reasons in support of the thesis (“pros”) and the reasons against it (“cons”). Supply two reasons on both sides. Then circle the letter of the reason that you think is the crucial one—the one at the heart of the issue. The first one is done for you.English 105 “ PRO CON 1. Marijuana smoking should be legalized. : a. Itis.a harmless, enjoyable a. Itis dangerous to health, relaxer. (b) The government should not. ___b. The government should not allow have the right to tell us what harmful drugs to circulate without we can or cannot consume. control. 2. A basic core curriculum of liberal arts courses should be required for all students graduating from college. a. a. 3. Governments of Third World countries should dictate to their young people what majors in college the young people should study. a, as 4. When a country’s industry is in financial trouble, the government should restrict competitive foreign imports in that industry. a. a44 English 105 5. The United States should not restrict immigration or have immigration quotas. a. a. = ARGU YOUR CASE: THE LOGIC BEHIND YOUR REASONS It is necessary to know why your opponent holds his or her opinion so that you can deal with those reasons—in other words, so that you can “prove” that you are right and the ‘opponent is wrong. But how can you convince someone who disagrees with you? First you need to understand what points need to be argued; that is, you must be sure that you understand the “heart” of the issue. As you saw in the last section, this step comes by thinking of both sides of the issue and determining what the most important points are. If you know your stand on the issue and know what point or points you have to prove, then you are well on your way toward constructing a logical argument. All formal arguments are based on logic. There are two kinds of formal logical reasoning: inductive and deductive. Induction refers to the process of examining particular details and arriving at a conclusion based on that evidence. Say that you were an investigative newspaper reporter and you were asked to look into the causes of a famous hotel fire. After some research, you learned that the fire was due to faulty electrical wiring and you found out that Eee-Zee Wire Company had installed the wiring. Curious, you decided to do some investigation of Ece-Zee Wire Company. After further research, you discovered that 60 percent of the buildings that were wired by Eee-Zee Wire Company caught fire within two years, and of those fires, 85 percent were due to faulty electrical wiring, From this data, you could reasonably conclude the following: Buildings wired by Eee-Zee Wire Company are likely to have faulty wiring. Note that you cannot reasonably conclude that all-buildings wired by this company have faulty wiring, because your evidence does not support that conclusion: all. This inductive process is really what you have been doing throughout this textbook. Whenever you formulate a generalization, you do so after examining evidence— whether consciously or unconsciously. Deduction, on the other hand, refers to the process of arriving at a conclusion about a particular case based on a generalization. In other words, in deduction youEnglish 105 45 begin with a generalization and apply it to a specific case. Take the case of Eee- Zee Wire Company. As you continue your investigation, you discover that the elegant Statler Hotel was wired by Ece-Zee Wire Company. Having already concluded that “Buildings wired by Eee-Zee Wire Company are likely to have faulty wiring,” you could logically conclude: The Statler Hotel probably has faulty wiring, The logic of deductive arguments can be checked by breaking the argument down into its syllogism. The initial generalization is called the major premise, the specific case the minor premise, and the resulting statement the conclusion. Major Premise: Buildings wired by Bee-Zee Wire Company are likely to have faulty wiring. Minor Premise: The Statler Hotel is a building that was wired by Eee-Zee Wire Company. Conclusion: The Statler Hotel is likely to have faulty wiring. Although induction is sometimes used as a way to organize essays, it is more often considered a thought process; the evidence one accumulates in the inductive. process can often be used in the deductive argument as support. Deduction, on the other hand, is more commonly used to argue a side of an issue. How does the syllogism apply in an argumentative essay? The syllogism is really the superstructure behind the reasons. When. you plan an argumentative essay, it is often a good idea to begin the argument at a point where you and your opponent both agree. (This point of agreement, by the way, can be arrived at inductively.) For example, suppose you wanted to argue that Eee-Zee Wire Company should have its business license taken away. Why? Because they do not install safe wiring. Whether you realize it or not, your major premise here is that only electrical companies that install safe wiring should have licenses. ‘Sometimes the major premise is obvious, but it often should be stated. Here is the argument in a syllogism: Major Premise: Only electrical companies that install safe wiring should have licenses. Minor Premis Eee-Zee Wire Company does not install safe wiring.46 English 105 Conclusion: Eee-Zee Wire Company should not have a license. The major premise is a generalization that you and your reader can both agree on, whether it is a generally accepted statement or whether you had already proved it earlier in the argument. The minor premise, then, becomes the part that needs to be proved in your argument. ‘Sometimes the issue is more complex and requires more than one premise to be proved, Take the case of nuclear power plant construction. Say that you want to argue in favor of constructing nuclear power plants. You know that your opponent’s miost formidable point is the safety issue, so you will have to argue to that point, You can begin with the major premise: Only safe sources of energy should be developed. This is a reasonable assumption. You can expect most people to agree with that. Now you have to prove the following: Nuclear power plants are safe sources of energy. This minor premise is what you have to establish. If you do so effectively, your conclusion is logical: = Therefore, nuclear power plants should be constructed. Suppose that you want to add reasons to support your side of the issue further, now that you have dealt with your opponent’s most formidable point, Each time you assert another reason, consider it as another minor premise. Note that you want to come to the same Conclusion: “Nuclear power plants should be constructed.” Look at this example: Another reason we should construct nuclear power plants is that they provide renewable sources of energy. ‘We can break down this reason into another syllogism: Major Premise: All safe, renewable sources of energy should be developed. Minor Premise: Nuclear power plants are a safe source of renewable energy. Conelusion: Nuclear power plants should be constructed.English 105 47 Note that in the major premise here, safe is included, since that point was established in the previous section. And if you wanted to add still another reason, you could build on the previous arguments: Finally, we should consider the expense. Not only are nuclear power plants safe, renewable sources of energy; they are also relatively inexpensive sources of energy. Major Premise: ~All safe, renewable, inexpensive sources of energy should be developed. Minor Premise: : Nuclear power plants are safe, renewable, and inexpensive sources of energy. Conclusion: Nuclear power plants should be constructed. Since safe and renewable were proved previously, your task in this section would be to prove inexpensive. Study the following statements and construct syllogisms — from them. The first one is done for you. 1. One reason that we should not construct nuclear power plants is that Begs are in fact not inexpensive. _ Major Premise: Only inexpensive sources of energy should be developed. Minor Premise: ‘Nuclear power plants are not inexpensive sources of energy. Conclusion: Nuclear power plants should not be constructed.English 105 ‘Another reason that we should not construct nuclear power plants is that they are unsafe, ; Major Premise: Minor Premise: s Conclusion: We should increase taxes because the additional revenue will allow more police officers. Major Premise: : Minor Premise: : Conclusion: ‘A reduction in taxes would stimulate investments. Major Premise: : Minor Premise: Conelusion: Ifyou reduce taxes by 33 percent, vital city services will suffer. Major Premise: Minor Premise: Conclusion: We should hold the convention in Merchantville because it has a huge modern convention center. Major Premise: Minor Premise: 5 Conclusion: Vote for Mr. Ballou because he is honest. Major Premise: ‘Minor Premise: Conclusion: —English *105 49 Now take the reasons that you stated in Exercise 12-4 and fur them into syllogisms. There are, of course, ways that the deductive reasoning process can break down. To avoid being illogical, keep the following points in mind. 1. The major premise and the minor premise must be true if the conclusion is to be valid. As indicated earlier, you can begin your argument at a point where you and your audience both agree. This point can be a generally accepted truth, or a point that you proved earlier in your argument. There are certain things that you can assume most of your readers agree on, and your duty’is to make sure that your major premise is agreeable. When arguing to someone of a different culture, making assumptions for your major premises can be difficult. For example, earlier we cited this premise: “Only safe sources of energy should be developed.” This premise, of course, was based on an assumption: that we do not want dangerous sources. of energy. What you assume depends on your audience. Consider this argument: Major Premise: All people like to suffer. Minor Premise: Johnny is a person. Conclusion: Johnny likes to suffer, ‘The major premise here is based on an assumption that is not necessarily one that most people would agree with. Therefore, before the argument could continue, the writer would have to prove that “all people like to suffer.” In short, whenever you make a statement such as “I think we can all agree that...” you had better be certain that we do all agree on that point! A good way to check your assumption is to ask someone of a different culture or point of view. In addition to unacceptable or faulty premises, an argument can go wrong when the information in the premises is untrue. For example, if you argue that buildings that have a certain kind of wiring are bad and that the ABC Building has that kind of wiring, if that building does not indeed have that kind of wiring, your conclusion “The ABC Building is bad” would be invalid. 2. The major and minor premises must be set up to follow the correct logical structure. There can be two true statements in the premises, but if they are not set up50 = English 105 properly in the argument form, the conclusion will not follow logically (even though coincidentally it may also be true). The correct structure of the syllogism is as follows: A = B All automobiles] have [” wheels. Goo. A The Ramrod Runner] is an automobile. c 2 B Therefore, | the Ramrod Runner | has wheels. Symbolically, this syllogism is as follows: A=B C= 28 A faulty version of this argument is as follows: All automobiles have wheels. AHA = B ‘The Ramrod Runner has wheels, OH Therefore, the Ramrod Runner is an automobile. Ca This is illogical, though the conclusion is perhaps coincidentally tue! Infact the Ramrod Runner may be a motoreycle or a wagon. 3. The terms in one premise must be used the same way in the other premise. ‘Note the following ways this problem can occur: a, Some vegetarians eat eggs. John is a vegetarian. =. John eats eges In this syllogism, the major premise introduces the class “some vegetarians,” but in the. minor premise “a vegetarian” is not the same as “some vegetarians.” Indeed, John may not eat eggs at all. For this syllogism to be logical, the major premise would have to say, “All vegetarians eat eggs.”English 105 51 b. Alll citizens have rights, John is a citizen. *. Johnis right. In this syllogism, right is used in two ways; in addition, there has been a shift from have to is in the conclusion. Study the following syllogisms. If the syllogism is logical ~ and the conclusion valid, write Jogical in the blank. If not, write illogical and explain why. g The sun is bright. Mary is bright. Mary is the sun. 2, People who cheat are fair. Sally cheats. Sally is fair. 3. —_________ All football players are strong. Bill is strong. Bill is a football player. 4, ——________ All Americans speak English. George is a South American. George speaks English. 5. ———___——~ All manimals are warmblooded. Cats are mammals. Cats are warmblooded.52 English 105 All cars use gasoline. ‘The Electrocar uses a battery. The Electrocar is not a car. Some teachers are tall. Cindy is a teacher. Cindy is tall. - All astronauts have been men. John is a man, John must have been an astronaut. ~ Peace is good for man. Jill is not a man, Peace is not good for Jill. ‘All people who are taking History 101 ate students. Steve is taking History 101. Steve is a student. Now take the syllogisms that you wrote for Exercise 12-6 and determine if they are logically reasoned, = EXPLAINING AND SUPPORTING YOUR REASONS There is no one particular pattem of organization for an argumentative paragraph. “Since the purpose is to convince or persuade, you can use whatever type of organization and support that is suggested by the reason you give. For instance, if you ~ believe that there should be stricter controls over the dumping of chemical wastes and one of the reasons you give is the pollution that irresponsible dumping bas caused, you could discuss the effects of dumping; in addition, you could give examples of dumping grounds that have polluted the environment. You might even explain the process of polfution—that is, how dumping pollutes.English 105 53 ‘No matter what underlying pattern of development you use, at all times you must be certain to show the progression of your logic from the major premise to the conclusion. Just as it is necessary to explain an example to show its relevance to the generalization, it is necessary to explain the reason to show how it supports the thesis. Look at how a paragraph supporting the thesis “Universities should -continue to give football scholarships” is developed: Giving football scholarships is really just a wise investment on the part of the university. What the university really needs and wants is money in the form of football ticket sales, contributions and endowments from alumni, and allotments and grants from the state legislature. By giving football scholarships, many smaller, struggling universities, State College for example, can attract talented, sought-after football players. These players build a winning football team and the university builds a reputation. The university's football games may be on television, and the team may be asked to play in a bowl game. With this publicity, fans and alumni are eager to attend the games, thus boosting ticket sales. Rich alumni, who are proud of their school, give endowments and grants And for state schools, members of Congress and representatives at the state Capitol are pleased with the publicity the school, and thus the state, receives. As a result, the state’s coffers are a little more open and the money flows, enabling the university to pay its faculty, build new buildings, and maintain the quality of its teaching. Yes, the football scholarship is a small investment from which the university hopes to reap big gains. oT On a separate sheet of paper, answer these questions about the preceding paragraph. 1. What is the topic sentence for the paragraph? Where is it located? 2. What is the reason the author gives for universities spending money on football scholarships? 3. What underlying pattern of development does the author use to support his or her reason—examples, cause, effect? 4. Do you think the writer could improve this paragraph by giving some details? Outline the logic of this writer in a deductive syllogism. Undoubtedly, the paragraph about football scholarships could be improved with the use of details and examples. For instance, the author could give some dollar amounts of revenue that certain schools earn from football. However, the author does develop his or her reasons logically and clearly.54 English 105 ‘At all times, however, you should strive to use details and examples as support. Your best support is facts. Facts include data that have been objectively proved and are generally accepted, such as historical facts, scientific data, statistics, and so forth. Obtaining facts may require some research, but their strength as support is well worth it. Special Note: Avoid using as “facts” statements from religious books such as the Bible or the Koran, Although those whose faith is based on either of these (or other) books regard them as containing the truth, using them as support would be ineffective in an argumentative paper, since your reader, who may have a different religious belief, may not accept your data as fact; he or she may not accept the premise on which it is based. For example, if you said we should not build nuclear power plants because the deity forbids it, you would have a difficult time persuading a nonbeliever. Or if you said that we should continue building the plants because if God did not want us to He would not have made us capable of building them, you again would have an even more difficult time persuading your possibly atheist reader. Moreover, even if your reader did have the same religious belief, there is no guarantee he or she would accept that premise. Remember: Assume that your reader disagrees with you! Note how factual details assist in this argumentative paragraph. Here the writer is arguing that the use of pesticides should be restricted and controlled. One of the reasons the use ‘of pesticides in farming should be severely restricted and controlled is that pesticides kill “good” and “bad” insects indiscriminately. You may think the more dead insects the better, but some insects are actually beneficial to farmers. By spraying their fields with toxic pesticides, they destroy the good with the bad. One example of a good insect is the ladybug, The ladybug actually eats insects such as aphids and scale that do damage to plants. In fact, some farmers are beginning to use ladybugs instead of dangerous pesticides for insect control. Another example of a useful insect is the honeybee. In the United States, nearly 100 crops with a farm value of $1 billion annually depend on the honeybee for pollination. Another $3 billion worth of crops benefit from bee pollination because ofEnglish 105 55 higher and better quality yields. However, honeybees gather poison as they forage for pollen. As a result, they are steadily being exterminated by the very people they are helping. Today there are 20 percent fewer honeybee colonies in the United States than there were ten years ago. And scientists Predict that their population will continue to decline. You might argue that farmers can get along with smaller yields. However, the world’s population is continuing to increase and higher food production is becoming a global priority. Farmers agree that honeybees are the most efficient way to pollinate their crops. Yet with their use of pesticides, they are surely eliminating their best friends. If we are to have enough food in the future, we should protect our friends the honeybees by controlling dangerous pesticides.” EE SUTERTEMESOM On a separate sheet of paper, answer these questions about the preceding paragraph. 1, What is the author’s main reason for restricting the use of pesticides? 2. What major premise is this reason based on? 3. What kind of support is given for this reason? Another type of support includes examples drawn from personal experience (yours or someone else’s). It is fine to use examples, especially if the topic is rather narrow and concerns something you are close to, but the danger is in drawing hasty generalizations from too few examples. Always’ remember that examples should be typical and be selected from a sufficient number of examples to prove the case. (See Chapters Five and Seven.) For instance, you can argue that a traffic light should be put in because an intersection is dangerous: as your support, you can give eyewitness accounts of accidents and near accidents, and you can discuss how difficult it is for pedestrians to cross that street because of . the heavy traffic. Study the following sentences, which give reasons. For each one, decide what kind of development you would use to explain the reason, For example, would you explain with the use of examples and/or factual detail? Would you explain a process? Would you discuss causes or effects? Would you compare and contrast? * from Joseph M. Winski, “Bees and Ecology,” The Writer’s World, éd. George Arms et al. (New York: St. Martin’s, 1978), pp. 361-62,56 English 105 One reason that we should legalize marijuana is that we could benefit from taxation on its sale. One reason we should not legalize marijuana is that it is a dangerous drug. We should not build nuclear power plants because of the potentially devastating effects they could have if they break down. Requiring parents to get licenses in order to have children would help reduce child abuse. One of the advantages of having a football team is that it boosts student morale. One major problem with this type of power plant is that it can break down easily. We should not allow a bar in our neighborhood because it will destroy the historic beauty of the area. One reason we should not build the Number One missile is that it is too expensive. One reason we should build the Number One missile is that it can defend us against our enemy’s Number Two missile.English 105 57 10. An important reason that we should increase taxes is that our parks department will be shut down without more revenue. 1eSeH Writing Assignment. Using one of the reasons from serie ORT ates paragraph explaining and supporting that reason. = PLANNING THE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY. As you plan an argumentative essay, seep in mind that it should contain the following characteristics: 1. The argumentative essay should introduce and explain the issue or case. This point is obvious; clearly, the reader needs to understand the issue being argued. In addition, it is often necessary to define any ambiguous terms that are key to the discussion. For example, if you were arguing that the government should not cut funding of basic research, it would no doubt be useful for your audience to define what you mean by “basic research.” Part of good arguing is clear communication, and clear communication requires that each party understand the terms being used. 2. The essay should offer reasons and support for those reasons, In other words, the essay should prove its point. 3. The essay should refute opposing arguments. It is this characteristic that is more particular to the argumentative essay than to expository essays, Since there are two sides to the issue and since you—the writer—want to convince the reader that you are right, not only must you prove your own case, but you should also prove that the opponent is wrong, or at least that your points are more valid or significant. Refiute means to prove wrong by argument or to show that something is erroneous. In short, you will have to deal with the opponent’s reasons and show that yours are more valid or superior. The following paragraphs demonstrate this concept of refutation. The argument proposed in the first paragraph is refuted in the second paragraph. One reason people oyer 75:should not be allowed to drive is that they are a hazard on the road. By that age most people’s vision and hearing have deteriorated; thus, they cannot see cars, pedestrians, and traffic signs as well as they could in their youth. In addition, they have slower reaction times. This is particularly problematic because while driving one must be constantly on the alert to the need to58 English 105 stop or swerve suddenly to avoid a collision. These physical and ‘mental impairments lead to a lot of accidents. In fact, if we compare on a per-mile basis the elderly with other age groups of drivers, it tums out that the elderly are involved in 25 accidents per 100 drivers. This is second only to the group aged 24 and under Now observe how this point is refuted: My opponents argue that people over 75 should not be allowed to drive because they are a hazard on the road. While it is true that the accident rate per mile driven is high for the elderly, the fact is that the elderly simply do not drive as much as those in other age groups: consequently, the actual number of accidents in this age group is the lowest among all the younger age groups. Moreover, while it is also true that their abilities to see, hear, and react are not as sharp as they were when they were younger, this does not necessarily have to make them hazardous on the road. In fact, elderly drivers can be trained to compensate for their deficiencies by taking special driver's education courses designed for them. Now note how this writer states an opposing argument on a different topic and then refutes it: Execution—preferably in public—should be a solemn ritual of great significance—a ritual that powerfully announces to all its citizens that the state so values human life that it must mark its violation with the most awful penalty available. . Those who assert that capital punishment is wrong because the state should not itself take on the guilt of murder completely miss the ‘point For by failing to take the life of those who murder their fellow men, the state becomes a passive accessory after the fact. The state says, in effect, that murder is no more serious an offense than embezzlement or shoplifting. When children grow up in a state that often releases even the most sadistic murderer after a relatively short prison sentence, or, in the extreme, no sentence at all, how can these children fail to get the message: that neither their elders nor their society gives great weight to human life or its destruction.” * Nettie Leef, “Respect for Life and Capital Punishment, Too,” New York Times, 30 June 1975.English 105 59 On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions about the passage by Nettie Leef. 1. This passage is from a longer essay by Nettie Leef on capital punishment. What do you think is the thesis of the essay? 2. What is the opponent’s point that the author addresses and refutes? Writing Assignment. For Exercise 12-4, you wrote out the opponent’s reasons. Choose one of those reasons and refute it in one or two ‘paragraphs. 2 4. If an opponent does have a valid point, concede that point It does little good in an argument to ignore any valid points the other side may have. You can concede them and then go on to show that your points are more important anyway. Although it is true that we have had no real damage from any nuclear power plant breakdowns, the potential for devastation still exists. 5. The conclusion should logically follow from the argument As discussed in earlier chapters, the conclusion can summarize the main points and reassert the thesis. In an argumentative essay, however, the conclusion often makes a demand for some action. For-example, an argument against the construction of nuclear power plants might conclude with a demand that all plants in construction now be closed down. Another way to wrap up an argument is to offer alternatives. In your antinuclear power plant essay, for instance, you might suggest that the funds now used for those plants be used for an alternative source of energy, such as nuclear fusion or solar power. = ORGANIZING THE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY Although there is no set pattern for organizing the argumentative essay, there is a basic, workable approach that is commonly used: 1. Introduction, Writers sometimes break down the introductory material into two paragraphs: the first one introducing the problem and the thesis, and the second one explaining additional information, providing definitions, and giving background information necessary for the argument, 2. Reasons. It is a good idea to spend one paragraph on each reason, Two or three reasons are typical.60 English 105 3. Refutation. Depending on how many points the writer wishes to address, the refutation can take from one to three paragraphs. 4. Conclusion. It is not uncommon, however, to see arguments in which the refutation comes , before the reasons section, Read the following essay. Note if the writer clearly states the case or issue under discussion, locate the thesis, and evaluate the support and the argument. Is it convincing? SCIENCE: WHO NEEDS IT? ‘At our school all students are required to take a minimum of six courses in the natural sciences: three in the biological sciences and three in the physical sciences, regardless of the student's major. Students majoring in the humanities often have to struggle to get through these demanding courses, and their grade-point averages usually suffer as a result, It has been suggested that the requirements be modified, reducing the number of natural science courses required so that students can take more courses directly related to their majors. As a humanities major, | admit this would make college life a lot easier for me, but I still oppose the measure because natural science courses provide us with a crucial part of our education, Students majoring in the humanities usually object to taking such science courses because they claim the courses are irrelevant to their majors. “What good will physics do me when I'm teaching Spanish?” a friend of mine asked. It's true that physics, chemistry, biology, and the like may not have a direct application to most careers in the humanities, but this objection ignores one of the key issues of a university education. A university is not simply a training facility; it is an institution of higher learning where students are educated, not merely trained. Even the term university implies that it’s a place to obtain a general knowledge base; a university education means the student has been educated in many subjects. Since part of our universal knowledge is science, it is and logically should be a part of the university curriculum. : Humanities students might accept this argument and agree that they should take some natural science, but not as many courses as are now required. They might suggest a one-semester course in biological science and a one-semester course in physical science, along with perhaps one semester of math for non-majors. This, they argue, would expose them sufficiently to the universe of science. If the point of a university education were merely to expose students to a variety of subjects, then I might agree. But a university education implies more than mere exposure. After all, people can be exposed to subjects by watching television. Again, the purpose of going to a university is to get an education. What does that mean? It means more thanEnglish 105 61 just training and exposure, it means that students learn enough to become critical thinkers in the various disciplines. It means that they should gain enough understanding of the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and the arts to be able to discuss issues in these areas intelligently and to be able to question other people’s views rather than just accept what people tell them. One or two semesters of general science cannot sufficiently educate _ students in this field. What one learns in natural science courses is more than mere factual information. One learns to think critically, to approach problems logically, to use reasoning. And this takes time. It takes work. Tt takes studying different areas of science and applying the, general principles in laboratory situations. Developing a critical ability in science is important, but why? In addition to providing the student with a universe of knowledge, an understanding of science is vital in our highly technological society We are all confronted with issues involving Auclear waste, chemical pollutants, medical advances, exploration in space, and so forth. In order to make intelligent decisions—in fact, even to be involved in the decision-making process— people need to have an understanding of these issues that goes beyond mere “exposure.” Otherwise, the uneducated become mere puppets who, out of ignorance, can but nod in agreement with anyone who professes expertise. Finally, I contend that science courses do have relevance to the humanities, and this is through the critical thinking approach of the scientific method. The scientific method is an approach to solving problems, an approach that has been tried and proven. It is an approach that demands that the researcher, obtain support for his or her hypotheses. Courses in the humanities demand critical thinking as well. Students of literature must support their interpretations with “evidence” from the literary work; art majors must test their ideas —or hypotheses by experimenting and drawing conclusions. True, in these fields one does not follow the formal scientific method, but it is the practice with that way of thinking that can benefit students in other fields. Science courses, then, provide us not only with knowledge that is crucial for intelligent functioning in our society, but they also provide us with the opportunity to develop our critical, logical reasoning skills. Although these courses, are difficult for the nonscience majors, they are well worth the effort. The knowledge and thinking skills gained from these courses make us less vulnerable to charlatans and politicians as we more intelligently and critically evaluate the propositions offered to us.a English 105 On a separate sheet of papgr, answer the following questions about “Science: Who Needs It?” What is the issue discussed by the writer? What is the thesis statement? What is the topic of the sixth paragraph? ‘What is the major premise of the essay? Where does the refutation begin in he essay? What is the first point that the writer refutes? 6. Does the writer refute all possible objections to the thesis? Can you think of any others that someone might make? a eae 7. Is the argument convineing? Why, or why not? 8. Does the conclusion logically follow? 9. Does the writer concede any points? Should some points be conceded? Which ones? - 10. Make an outline of this essay. Eee ed @ Choose one of the topics from Exercise 12—4 and write ‘your first draft of an essay.English 105 63 17. The manufacture of cigarettes should be prohibited. 18, Automatic advancement to the next grade level must be eliminated from our schools. E-Mail Is Not-for-Me Mail Anya C. Naxos (student) Thesis: E-Mail is inconvenient, inefficient, and unimportant. I. Inconyenience ‘A. Compared to Post-its B. Compared to answering machines C. Compared to postal service D. Compared to telephone IL. Inefficient ‘A. Complexity of addresses : B. Change of carriers C. User nares D. Passwords . II. Unimportant A. Junk mail B. Chain letters C. Jokes D. Techno-messages IV. Few good points A. Business uses B. Personal life Conclusion: Since the main thing offered by e-mail is irritation, I'm going back to the telephone. E-mail is everywhere. The technology which began as a way for businesses to -help their employees keep in close contact with each other and with their bosses, no matter where they travelled, has become commonplace. Numerous help wanted ads specify that they will accept only applications sent by e-mail, Professors use the technology to give students their grades, parents to keep in touch with their children, young lovers to sustain a relationship over long distances. E-mail is everywhere, and unlike everyone else I know, I hate it. E- mail is inconvenient, inefficient, and just plain unimportant. The technological wonder of the twentieth century is nothing but a pain in the neck. The first problem with e-mail is its startling inconvenience. A computer message is much less eye-catching than a Post-it note stuck on someone’s desk. It's nowhere near as easy to spot as the blatantly blinking light on an answering machine. And a silent computer terminal will never catch anyone’s attention the64 English 105 way, a mailman’s knock or a ringing phone will. In facf, unless you tum on your computer and log into your mail program, you'll never know if you have messages waiting or not. Your mail could wait forever for all the computer cares. E-mail is also inefficient, Despite its claims to make our lives easier, all it has done for us is to create a whole new set of complicated things for us to remember. My brother’s e-mail address consists of four letters, none of which are in his name, three equally random numbers, an obscure system name, and the word “.com,” whatever that means. If I want to e-mail him, I have to get the whole string of information correct. I’d rather write a note. Then there’s my friend Tim, who changes e-mail carriers as often as some people change their clothes, Each new carrier he experiments with means a new e-mail address for me to try to remember. It’s so much easier to phone him. Aside from the inefficiency of its addresses, e-mail has given each of us a meaningless user name (mine is ANAXO2, if you can believe it), and easily forgotten passwords. It has complicated log-on procedures, no step of which can be neglected if you hope to successfully retrieve your mail. And, oddly enough, though it promised to reduce the need for phone calls it has, instead, produced a brand-new kind. Have you gotten a “Have you checked your e-mail?” phone call yet? If I have to call to tell my correspondents to check their e-mail, why don’t I just skip it, and actually tell them by phone or U.S. post what I e-mailed them about in the first place? Finally, most e-mail is simply unimportant. In any given day, for every message of importance I get, there are four junk e-mail messages waiting. I get chain letters promising fame and fortune if I e-mail twelve copies to my closest friends long lists of the latest jokes about how many computer programmers it takes to screw in a light bulb, and incomprehensible techno-messages from the computer system administrators. This is the kind of phone call I hang up on. This is the kind of mail I throw away unopened. I will admit that e-mail probably has legitimate business uses. It costs too much for businesses to use it otherwise. For me, however, it has only one real virtue, Now that my parents have e-mail, they do most of their parental nagging over the computer. My father no longer calls me at nine o’clock on Sunday mornings to make sure I’m going to church. Instead, he e-mails me a reminder on Saturday nights. My mother no longer gives my phone number to her friends’ eligible young sons. Instead, she gives them my e-mail address, and they contact me by computer. I could never hang up on my father when he woke me up on Sundays, and I could never be rude to the guys my mother set me up with. My computer. however, lets me delete or ignore such messages in peace and quiet. Aside from this advantage, however, I can see nothing good about e-mail. I’ve tried it. I don’t like it. It promised me ease, speed, and efficiency. It gave me irritation. I’m going back to the phone.English 105 65 Health and Healing at Your Fingertips Throw out the bottles and boxes of drugs in your house. A new theory suggests that medicine could be bad for your health, which should at least come as good news to people who cannot afford to buy expensive medicine. However, it is a blow to the medicine industry, and an even bigger blow to our confidence in the progress of science. This new theory argues that healing is at our fingertips: we can be healthy by doing Reiki on a regular basis. Supporters of medical treatment argue that medicine should be trusted since it is effective and scientifically proven. They say that there is no need for spiritual methods such as Reiki, Yoga, Tai Chi. These waste our time, something which is quite precious in our material world. There is medicine that can kill our pain, x-rays that show us our fractured bones or MRI that scans our brain for tumors. We must admit that these methods are very effective in the examples that they provide. However, there are some “every day complaints” such as back pains, headaches, insomnia, which are treated currently with medicine. When you have a headache, you take an Aspirin, or Vermidon; when you cannot sleep, you take Xanax without thinking of the side effects of these. When you use these pills for a long period, you become addicted to them: you cannot sleep without them. We pay huge amounts of money and become addicted instead of getting better. How about a safer and more economical way of healing? When doing Reiki to yourself, you do not need anything except your energy, so it is very economical. As Tor its history, it was discovered in Japan in the early 1900s and its popularity has spread particularly throughout America and Wester Europe. In quantum physics, energy is recognized as the fundamental substance of which the universe is composed. Reiki depends on the energy within our bodies. It is a simple and effective way of restoring the energy flow. There are no side effects and it is scientifically explained. : Opponents of alternative healing methods also claim that serious illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and cancer cannot be treated without drugs. .They think so because these patients spend the rest of their lives in the hospital taking medicine, How can Reiki make these people healthy again? It is very unfortunate that these patients have to live in the hospital losing” their- hair because of chemotherapy, losing weight because of the side effects of the medicine they take. Actually, it is common knowledge that except for when the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, drugs also cannot treat AIDS or cancer. Most of the medicine these patients use are to ease their pain and their sufferings66 5 English 105 because of the medical treatment they undergo. Instead of drugs which are expensive and have many side effects, you can use your energy to overcome the hardships of life, find an emotional balance, leave the stress of everyday life and let go of the everyday worries. Most of the chronic.conditions such as eczema or migraine are known to have causes such as poor diet and stress. Deep-rooted anger or other strong emotions can contribute to viral infections as well. Since balancing our emotions and controlling our thoughts are very important for our well-being, we should definitely start learning Reiki and avoid illnesses before it is too late. Some people may still maintain that in our material world, everything depends on time. It is even “lacking time” that causes.much of the stress that leads to the illnesses we mentioned. How would it be possible to find time to do Reiki to ourselves and the people around us when we cannot even find time to go to the theater? This is one good thing about Reiki; it does not require more than 15 minutes of our time. There is no need for changing clothes or special equipment. It is a wonderfully simple healing art, an effective method of relaxation anid stress-relief. Most important of all, it is less time consuming than medicine if we think of all the time we spend taking medicine for some complaints and taking some more for the side effects as well. Having said these, resistance to Reiki would be quite illogical. Reiki is natural and drug-free. What is more, it is easy to learn by anyone, regardless of age and experience. It can be used anywhere, anytime. It also enhances physical, mental, emotional. and spiritual well-being and the benefits last a lifetime. It is definitely high time to get away from the drug boxes we store in our drug cabinet! Written by Oya Ozagaé, September 2004English 105 67 A University in Every Town The Turkish government is planning to open 15 new universities in developing provinces of Turkey: This is a response to pressure coming from local MPs who in turn voice the demands of their constituencies. However, while the already existing 85 universities are wrestling with financial and academic difficulties, it does not seem to be a good idea to add new universities to the system of higher education. First ofall, the new universities will experience staffing problems. That is, they will have difficulty finding faculty that is qualified to teach in these budding universities, In our country the number of academicians who meet the academic requirements is limited, New universities will have two choices: either to draw from the existing pool or to employ under qualified people. To attract those instructors from other universities they will have to offer attractive incentives. However, since these will be state universities they will not have the necessary funds and most academics will be unwilling to go to small town universities where academic and life standards are below par. The only avenue open to these universities will be to employ local professionals or under qualified instructors. The inevitable result will follow: a drop in the quality of education. In addition to recruitment problems, small town universities will have financial difficulties. The funds allocated to them by the state will not be enough to build from scratch all the facilities that make a university a “real university”. A uniyersity is more than a few classrooms. Students will need dorms, gyms, cafeterias, sports facilities, labs and computers for their academic and social development. How many new universities can claim to have only a few of these facilities on their campuses? The result will be a small town “university” which consists of a sole building that houses classrooms and offices. and nothing more. It is argued that the establishment of a university in a developing town will contribute to the development of local culture, community and economy. However, if a university is wrestling with staff recruitment problems, or if it cannot solve its financial difficulties it means that it cannot be of any help to the local community or economy either. It will only employ’a few locals, provide -substandard education to a few local youth, and it will not fulfill the aim for * which it was initially established. Universities are institutions of higher education and they need to provide education to satisfy certain standards. In order to provide such quality education they need to have qualified teachers and must provide minimum social and academic facilities. Since funds are limited, we should raise the standard of our existing universities first. Only after that, should we invest in establishing new ones.68 a English 105 THE STRUCTURE OF AN ARGUMENT : EXERCISES After reading the editorial below, identify and explain the following: [i] the claim being made and its type [ii] the supports that are provided for the claim and the types [iii] the warrant underlying the claim Proof of Learning at College Americans generally accept on faith that this country has the best higher ‘education system in the world, and presume that everything is going just fine when it comes to student achievement. The business community has long disputed this view, citing the large numbers of college graduates who lack what should be basic skills in writing, problem solving and analytical thinking — the minimum price of admission to the new global economy. The most recent findings from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy revealed distressing declines in literacy, especially among those with the most education. For example, fewer than a third of college graduates — down from 40 percent a decade ago — were deemed “proficient” in terms of literacy as defined by the ability to read and understand lengthy passages placed before them. A small but still alarming percentage of college graduates scored “below basic,” meaning that they were incapable of all but the simplest tasks. In response, the chairman of the Bush administration’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education recently suggested that standardized tests be used to determine how much college students are actually learning. The higher education community is up in arms about the suggestion, arguing that what colleges teach cannot be fully tested and that standardized tests would only dumb down an excellent education system. Those arc important arguments, but they will not end the controversy, as long as business leaders keep complaining about the suspect. quality of many college graduates from both public and elite colleges. Indeed, more than,40 states have now created accountability systems aimed at having colleges prove that their students are actually learning. Colleges and universities should join in the hunt for acceptable ways to measure student progress, rather than simply fighting the whole idea from the sidelines. Unless the higher education community wakes up to this problem — and resolves to do a better job — the movement aimed at regulating colleges and forcing them to demonstrate that students are actually leaming will only keep growing. (New York Times Editorial, Feb. 2006) —English 105 69 Read the text given below and answer the accompanying questions. [a] the claim being made in the passage and its type [b] the supports that are provided for the claim and the types {c] the warrant that underlie the argument [a] your evaluation of the effectiveness of the supports provided Students Who Push Burgers Walter S. Minot A college freshman squirms anxiously on a chair in my office, his eyes avoiding mine, those of his English professor, as he explains that he hasn’t finished his paper, which was due two days ago. “I just haven't had the time,” he says. . “Are you carrying a heavy course load?” “Fifteen hours,” he says—a normal load. “Are you working a lot?” : “No, sir, not much. About 30 hours a week.” “That's a lot. Do you have to work that much?” “Yeah, I have to pay for my car.” “Do you really need a car?” “Yeah, I need it to get to work.” This student isn’t unusual. Indeed, he probably typifies today’s college and high school students. Yet in all the lengthy analyses of what's wrong with American education, I have not heard employment by students being blamed. i I have heard drugs blamed and television—that universal scapegoat. I haye heard elaborate theories about the decline of the family, of religion, and of authority, as well as other sociological theories. But nobody blames student employment. The world seems to have accepted the part-time job as a normal feature of adolescence. A parochial school in my town even had a day to honor students who held regular jobs, and parents often endorse this employment by claiming that it teaches kids the value of the dollar. 2 But such employment is a major cause of educational decline. To argue my case, I will rely on memories of my own high school days and contrast them with what I see today. Though I do have some statistical evidence, my argument’ depends on what anyone over 40 can test through memory and direct observation. When J was in high school in the 1950s, students seldom held jobs. Some ‘of us babysat, shoveled snow, mowed lawns, and delivered papers, and some ‘of us got jobs in department stores around Christmas. But most of us had no segular source of income other than the generosity of our parents.10 English 105 The only kids who worked regularly were poor. They worked to help 14 their families: If I remember correctly, only about five people in my class of 170 held jobs. That was in a working-class town in New England. As for the rest of us, our parents believed that going to school and helping around the house were our.work. . : In contrast, in 1986 my daughter was one of the few students among 15 juniors and seniors who didn’t work. According to Bureau of Labor statistics, ‘more than 40 percent of high school students were working in 1980, but sociologist Ellen Greenberger and Laurence Steinberg in “When Teenagers Work” came up with estimates of more than 70 percent working in 1986, though I suspect that the figure may be even higher now. \/ ‘My daughter, however, did not work, her parents wouldn't let her. Interestingly, some of the students in her class implied that she had an unfair advantage over them in the classroom. They were probably right, for while she was home studying they were pushing burgers, waiting on tables, or selling dresses 20 hours a week. Working students have little time for homework. / Lattended a public high school, while she attended a Roman Catholic preparatory school whose students were mainly middle class. By the standards of my day, her classmates did not “have to” work. Yet many of them were working 20 to 30 hours a week. Why? They worked so that they could spend $60 to $100 a week on designer jeans, rock concerts, stereo and video systems, and, of course, cars. They were living lives of luxury, buying items on which their parents refused to throw hard-eamed money away. Though the parent would not buy such tripe for their kids, the parents somehow convinced themselves that the kids were leaning the value of money. Yet, according to Ms. Greenberger and Mr. Steinberg, only about a quarter of those students saved money for college or other long-term goals How students spend their money is their business, not mine. But as a 19 teacher, I have witnessed the effects of employment I know that students who work all evening aren’t ready for studying when they get home from work. Moreover, because they work so hard and have ready cash, they feel that they deserve to have fun—instead of spending all their free time studying. Thus, by the time they get to college, most students look upon ‘studies as 20 a spare-time activity. A survey at Perinsylvania State University showed that most freshmen believed they could maintain a B average by studying about 20 hours a week. (I can remember when college guidebooks advised two to three hours of studying for every hour in class—30 to 45 hours a week.) Clearly individual students will pay the.price for lack of adequate time 21 studying, but the problefn goes beyond the individual. It extends to schools and colleges that are finding it difficult to demand quantity or quality of- work from students. Perhaps the reason American education has declined so markedly is 22 ‘because America has raised a generation of part-time students. And perhaps our economy Will continue to decline as full-time students from Japan and Europe continue to out-perform our part-time students. 6 T 8English 105 a COMMON FALLACIES In this necessarily brief review it would be impossible to discuss all the fallacies listed by logicians, but we can examine the ones most likely to be found in the arguments you will read and write. Fallacies are difficult to classify, first, because there are literally dozens of systems for classifying, and second, because under any system there is always a good deal of overlap. Our discussion of the reasoning process, however, tells us where faulty reasoning occurs. Inductive fallacies, as we know, result from the wrong use of evidence: That is, the arguer leaps to a conclusion on the basis of an insufficient sample, ignoring evidence that might have altered his or her conclusion. Deductive fallacies, on the other hand, result from a failure to follow the logic of a series of statements. Here the arguer negleets to make a clear connection between the parts of his or her argument. One of the commonest strategies is the introduction of an irrelevant issue, one that has little or no direct bearing on the development of the claim and serves only to distract the reader. It’s helpful to remember that, even if you cannot name the particular fallacy, you can Jeagn to recognize it and not only refute it in the arguments of. one but avoid it in your own as well 1. Hasty Generalization In Chapter 5 (see pp. 146-48) we discussed the dangers in drawing conclusions on the basis of insufficient evidence. Many of our prejudices area result of hasty generalization. A prejudice is literally a judgment made before the facts are in. On the basis of experience with two or three members of an ethnic group, for example, we may form the prejudice that all members of the group share the characteristics that we have attributed to the two or three in our experience. (See Gordon Allport, “The Nature of Prejudice,” on p. 116.) Superstitions are also based in part on hasty generalization, As a result of a very small number of experiences with black cats, broken mirrors. Friday the Ahinteenth, or spilled salt, some people will assume a cause-effect relation between these signs and misfortunes. Superstition has been defined as “a notion maintained despite eyidence to the contrary.” The evidence would certainly show that, contrary to the superstitious belief, in a lifetime hundreds of such “unlucky” signs are not followed by unfortunate events. To generalize about a connection is therefore unjustified. 2. Faulty Use of Authority The attempt to bolster claims by citing the opinions of experts was discussed in Chapter 5. Both writers and readers need to be especially aware of the testimony of authorities who may disagree with those cited. In circumstances where experts disagree, you are encouraged to undertake a careful evaluation and comparison of credentials.2 English 105 3. Post Hoc or Doubtful Cause The entire Latin term for this fallacy is post hoc, ergo propter hoc, meaning. “After this, therefore because of this.” The arguer infers that because one event follows another event, the first event must be the cause of the second. But proximity of events or conditions does not guarantee a causal relation. The rooster crows every ‘moming at 5:00 and, seeing the sun rise immediately after, decides that his crowing has caused the sun to rise. A month after A-bomb tests are concluded, tornadoes damage the area where the tests were held, and residents decide that the tests caused the tornadoes. After the school principal suspends daily prayers in the classroom, acts of vandalism increase, and some parents are convinced that failure to conduct prayer is responsible for the rise in vandalism. In each of these cases, the fact that one event follows another does not prove a causal connection. The two events may be coincidental, or the first event may be only one, and an insignificant one, of many causes that have produced the second event, The reader or writer of causal arguments must determine whether another more plausible explanation exists and whether several causes have combined to produce the effect. Perhaps the suspension of prayer was only one of a number of related causes: a decline in disciplinary action, a relaxation of academic standards, a change in school administration, and changes in family structure in the school community. In the previous section we saw that superstitions are the result not only of hasty generalization but also of the willingness to find a cause-effect connection in the juxtaposition of two events. A belief in astrological signs also derives from erroneous inferences about cause and effect. Only a very few of the millions of people who consult the astrology charts every day in newspapers and magazines have submitted the predictions to statistical analysis. A curious reader might try this strategy: Save the columns, usually at the beginning or end of the year, in which astrologers and clairvoyants make predictions for events in the coming year, allegedly based on their reading of the stars and other signs. At the end of the year evaluate the percentage of predictions that were fulfilled. The number will be very small. But even if some of the predictions prove true, there may be other less fanciful explanations for their accuracy. In defending simple explanations against complex ones, philosophers and scientists often refer to a maxim called Occam’s razor, a principle of the medieval philosopher and theologian William of Occam. A modern science writer says this principle“urges a preference for the simplest hypothesis that does all we want it to do. Bertrand Russell, the twentieth-century British philosopher, explained it this way: It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer. That is to say, if everything in some science can be interpreted without assuming this or that hypothetical entity, there is no ground for assuming it. I have myself found this a most fruitful principle in logical analysis.° “Martin Gardner, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener (New York: Quill, 1983), p. 174. $ Dictionary of Mind, Matter and Morals (New York: Philosophical Library, 1952), p. 166.English 105 73 In other words, choose the simpler, more credible explanation wherever possible. We all share the belief that scientific experimentation and research can answer questions about a wide range of natural and social phenomena: evolutionary development, hurricanes, disease, crime, poverty. It is true that repeated experiments in controlled situations can establish what seem to be solid relations suggesting cause and effect. But even scientists prefer to talk not about cause but about an extremely high probability that under controlled conditions one event will follow another. In the social sciences cause-effect relations are especially susceptible to challenge. Human experiences can seldom be subjected to laboratory conditions. In addition, the complexity of the social environment makes it difficult, even impossible, to extract one cause from among the many that influence human behavior. 4, False Analogy Many analogies are merely descriptive and offer no proof of the connection between the two things being compared. In recent years a debate has emerged between weight-loss professionals about the wisdom of urging overweight people to lose weight for health reasons. Susan Wooley, director of the eating disorders clinic at the University of Cincinnati and a professor of psychiatry, offered the following analogy in defense of her view that dieting is dangerous. We know that overweight people have a higher mortality rate than thin people. We also know that black people have a higher mortality rate than white people. Do we subject black people to torturous treatments to bleach their skin? Of course not. We have enough sense to know skin-bleaching will not eliminate sickle-cell anemia. So why do we have blind faith that weight loss will cure the diseases associated with obesity?” But it is clear that the analogy between black skin and excessive weight does not work. The color of one’s skin does not cause sickle-cell anemia, but there is an abundance of proof that excess weight influences mortality. Historians. are fond of using analogical arguments to demonstrate that particular circumstances prevailing. in the past are being reproduced in the present. They therefore feel safe in predicting that the present course of history will follow that of the past. British historian Arnold Toynbee argues by analogy that humans’ tenure on earth may be limited. © New York Times, April 12, 1992, Sec. C, p. 43.14 English 105 On the evidence of the past history of life on this planet, even th. extinction of the human race is not entirely unlikely. After all, the reign of man on the Barth, if we are right in thinking that man established his present ascendancy in the middle paleolithic age, is so far only about 100,000 years 1d, and what is that compared to the 500 million or 900 million years during which life has been in existence on the surface of this planet? In the past, Sther forms of life have enjoyed reigns which have lasted for almost inconceivably longer periods—and which yet at last have come to an end.” ‘Toynbee finds similarities between the limited reigns of other animal species and the possible disappearance of the human race. For this analogy, however, we heed to ask whether the conditions of the past, so far as we know them, at all Tesemble the conditions under which human existence on earth might be {erminated, Is the fact that human beings are also members of the animal kingdom sufficient support for this comparison? 5. Ad Hominem The Latin term ad hominem means “against the man” and refers to an attack on the person rather than on the argument or the issue. The assumption in such a fallacy is that if the speaker proves to be unacceptable in some way, his or her statements must also be judged unacceptable. Attacking the author of the statement is a strategy of diversion that prevents the reader from giving attention where it is clue—to the issue under discussion. You might hear someone complain, “What can the priest tell us about marriage? He’s never been married himself.” This accusation ignores the validity of the advice the priest might offer. In the same way an overweight patient might reject the advice on diet by an overweight physician. In politics it is not tmcommon for antagonists to attack each other for personal characteristics that may not be relevant to the tasks they will be elected to perform. They may be accused of infidelity to their partners, homosexuality, atheism, or a flamboyant social life. Even if certain accusations should be proved true, voters should not ignore the substance of what politicians do and say in their public offices. ‘This confusion of private life with professional record also exists in literature and the other arts. According to their. biographers, the American writers Thomas Wolfe, Robert Frost, and William Saroyan—to name only a few —and numbers of film stars, including Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, and Bing Crosby, made life miserable for those closest to them. Having read about their unpleasant personal Characteristics, some people find it hard to separate the artist from his or her ‘creation, although the personality and character of the artist are often irrelevant to the content of the work. ” Civilization on Trial (New York: Oxford University Press, 1948), pp. 162-163.English 105 5 Accusations. against the person do nor constitute a fallacy if the characteristics under attack are relevant to the argument. If the politician is irresponsible and dishonest in the conduct of his or her personal life, we may be justified in thinking that the person will also behave irresponsibly and dishonestly in public office. 6. False Dilemma As the name tells us, the false dilemma, sometimes called the black-white _fallacy, poses an either/or situation. The arguer suggests that only two alternatives exist, although there may be other explanations of or solutions to the problem under discussion. The false dilemma reflects the simplification of a complex problem. Sometimes it is offered out of ignorance or laziness, sometimes to divert attention from the real explanation or solution that the arguer rejects for doubtful reasons. You may encounter the either/or situation in dilemmas about personal choices. “At the University of Georgia,” says one writer, “the measure of a man was football. You either played it or worshiped those who did, and there was no middle ground.” Clearly this dilemma—‘Love football or you're not a man” — ignores other measures of manhood. Politics and government offer a wealth of examples. In an interview with the New York Times in 1975, the Shah of Iran was asked why he could not introduce into his authoritarian regime greater freedom for his subjects. His yeply was, “What's wrong with authority? Is anarchy better?” Apparently he considered that only two paths wete open to him—authoritarianism or anarchy. Of course, democracy was also an option, which, perhaps fatally, he declined to consider. 7. Slippery Slope If an arguer predicts that taking a first step will lead inevitably to a second, usually undesirable step, he or she must provide evidence that this will happen. Otherwise, the arguer is guilty of a slippery slope fallacy. Asked by an inquiring photographer on the street how he felt about censorship of a pornographic magazine, a man replied, “I don’t think any publication should be banned. It’s a slippery slope when you start making decisions on what people should be permitted to read, . . It s a dangerous precedent.” Perhaps. But if questioned further, the man should have offered evidence that a ban on some things leads inevitably to a ban on everything. * Phil Gailey, “A Nonsports Fan,” New York Times Mamzine, December 18, 1983, sec. VI. p. 96.16° English 105 Predictions based on the danger inherent in taking the first step are commonplace: Legalization of abortion will lead to murder of the old and the physically and mentally handicapped. The Connecticut law allowing sixteen-year-olds and their parents to divorce each other will mean the death of the family. If we ban handguns, we will end up banning rifles and other hunting weapons. Distinguishing between probable and improbable predictions—that is, recognizing the slippery. slope fallacy—poses special problems because only future developments can verify or refute predictions. For example, in 1941 the imposition of military conscription groused sortie opponents to predict that the draft was a precursor of fascism in this country. Only after the war, when 10 million draftees were demobilized, did it become clear that the draft had been an insufficient sign for a prediction of fascism. In this case the slippery slope prediction of fascism might have been avoided if closer attention had been paid to other influences pointing to the strength of democracy. Slippery slope predictions are simplistic. They ignore not, only the dissimilarities between first and last steps also the complexity the developments in any long chain of events. 8. Begging the Question If the writer makes a statement that assumes that the very question being argued has already been proved, the writer is guilty of begging the question. Ina letter to the editor of a college newspaper protesting the failure of the majority of students to meet the writing requirement because they had failed an exemption test, the writer said, “Not exempting all students who honestly qualify for exemption is an insult” But whether the students are honestly qualified is precisely the question that the exemption test was supposed to resolve. The writer has not proved that the students who failed the writing test were qualified for exemption. She has only made an assertion as if she had already proved it. In an effort to raise standards of teaching, some politicians and educators have urged that “master teachers” be awarded higher salaries. Opponents have argued that such a proposal begs the question because it assumes that the term “master teachers” can be or has already been defined. Circular reasoning is an extreme example of begging the question: “Women should not be permitted to join men’s clubs because the clubs are for men only.” The question to be resolved first, of course, is whether clubs for men only should continue to exist.English 105 zi oh 9. Straw Man This fallacy consists of an attack on a view similar to but not the same as the one your opponent holds. It is a familiar diversionary tactic. The name probably derives from an old game in which a straw man was set up to divert attention from the real target that a contestant was supposed to knock down. One of the outstanding examples of the straw man fallacy occurred in the famous Checkers speech of Senator Richard Nixon. In 1952 during his vice- presidential campaign, Nixon was accused of having appropriated $18,000 in campaign funds for his personal use. At one point in the radio and television speech in which he defended his reputation, he said: One other thing I probably should tell you, because if I don’t they will probably be saying this about me, too. We did get something, a gif, after the election. A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog, and, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog, in a crate that he had sent all the way from Texas, black and white, spotted, and our little girl, Tricia, the six-year- old, named it Checkers. And, you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the dog, and I just want to say Ts right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it.’ i Of course, Nixon knew that the issue was the alleged misappropriation of funds, not the ownership of the dog, which no one had asked him to return, 10. Two Wrongs Make a Right This is another example of the way in which attention may be diverted from the question at issue. After a speech by President Jimmy Carter in March 1977 attacking the human rights record of the Soviet Union, Russian officials responded: “Radio and television address of Senator Nixon from Los Angeles on September 23, 1952.78 English 105 ‘As for the present state of human rights in the United States, it is characterized by the following facts: millions of unemployed, racial discrimination, social inequality of women, inftingement of citizens’ personal freedom, the growth of crime, and so on.” The Russians made no attempt to deny the failure of sheir human rights record; instead they attacked by pointing out that the Americans are not blameless either. 11. Non Sequitur The Latin term non sequitur, which means “it. does not follow.” is another fallacy of irrelevance. An advertisement for a book, Worlds in Collision, whose theories about the origin of the earth and evolutionary development haye been challenged by almost all reputable scientists, states: Once rejected as “preposterous!” Critics called it an outrage! it aroused incredible antagonism in scientific and literary circles. Yet half a million copies were sold and for twenty-seven years it remained an outstanding bestseller. ane We know, of course, that the popularity of a book does not bestow scientific respectability. The number of sales, therefore, is irrelevant to proof of the book's theoretical soundness. 12, Ad Populum Arguers guilty of this fallacy make an appeal to the prejudices of the people (populum in Latin). They assume that their claim can be adequately defended without further support if they emphasize a belief or attitude that the audience shares with them. One common form of ad populum is an appeal to patriotism, which may allow arguers to omit evidence that the audience needs for proper evaluation of the claim. In the following advertisement the makers of Zippo lighters made such an appeal in urging readers to buy their product. It’s a grand old lighter. Zippo — the grand old lighter that’s made right here in the good old U.S. A. We truly make an all-American product; The raw materials used in making a Zippo lighter are all right from his great land of ours. Zippo windproof lighters are proud tobe Americans. ” New York Times, March 3, 197. p. 1English 105 m9 13. Appeal to Tradition In making an appeal to tradition, the arguer assumes that what has existed for a ong time and has therefore become a tradition should continue to exist because it is a tradition, If the arguer avoids telling his or her reader why the tradition should be preserved, he or she may be accused of failing to meet the real issue. The following statement appeared in a letter defending the membership policy of the Century Club, an all-male club established in New York City in 1847 that was under pressure to admit women. The writer was a Presbyterian minister who opposed the admission of women. 1am totally opposed to a proposal which would radically change the nature of the Century. ... A club creates an ethos of its own over the years, and |* would deeply deplore a step that would inevitably create an entirely different kind of place. A club like the Century should surely be unaffected by fashionable whims....!! s 14, Faulty Emotional Appeals Tn some discussions of fallacies, appeals to the emotions of the audience are treated as illegitimate or “counterfeit proofs.’” All such appeals, however, are not illegitimate. As we saw in Chapter 5 on support, appeals to the values and emotions of an audience are an appropriate form of persuasion. You can recognize fallacious appeals if (1) they are irrelevant to the argument or draw attention from the issues being argued or (2) they appear to conceal another purpose. Here we treat two of the most popular appeals — to pity and to fear. Appeals to pity, compassion, and natural willingness to help the unfortunate are particularly hard to resist. The requests for aid by most. charitable organizations — for hungry children, victims of disaster, stray animals — offer examples of legitimate appeals. But these appeals to our sympathetic feelings should not diyert us from considering other issues in a particular case. It would be wrong, for example, to allow a multiple murderer to escape punishment because he or she had experienced a wretched childhood. Likewise, if you are asked to contribute to a charitable cause, you should try to learn how many unfortunate people or animals are being helped and what percentage of the contribution will be allocated to maintaining the organization and its officers. In some cases the financial records are closed to public review, and only a small share of the contribution will reach the alleged beneficiaries. "David H. C Read, letter to the New York Times, January 13, 1983, p. 14:80 English 105 ‘Appeals to fear are likely to be even more effective. But they must be based on evidence that fear is an appropriate response to the issues and that it can move an audience toward a solution to the problem. (Fear can also have the adverse effect of preventing people from taking a necessary action.) Insurance companies, for example, make appeals to our fears of destitution for ourselves and our families as a result of injury, unemployment, sickness, and death. These appeals are justified if the possibilities of such destitution are real and if the insurance will provide relief. It would also be legitimate to arouse fear of the consequences of drunk driving, provided, again, that the descriptions were accurate. On the other hand, it would be wrong to induce fear that fluoridation of public water supplies causes cancer without presenting sound evidence of the probability. It would also be wrong to instill a fear of school integration unless convincing proof were offered of undesirable social consequences. ‘An emotional response by itself is not always the soundest basis for making decisions. Your own experience has probably taught you that in the grip of a strong emotion like love or hate or anger you often overlook good reasons for making different and better choices. Like you, your readers want to be given the opportunity to consider all the available kinds of support for an argument.ALTERNATING PATTERN Chick Movies and Guy Movies Edith Renaldo (student) Thesis: Chick movies and guy movies are different in almost all respects. 1. Settings A. Chick movies B. Guy movies Il, Lead Characters ‘A. Chick movies B. Guy movies IIL, Plots A. Chick movies B. Guy movies Conclusion: Men and women keep coming closer together in the real world, but their tastes in movies will probably stay far apart. Ever since that wonderful scene in Sleepless in Seattle when a group of male and female friends discuss the movie An Affair to Remember, everyone has known that there are only two kinds of movies: guy movies and chick movies. While many of us may object to the sexist terminology of this statement, we know that the distinction in the movie choices of men and women still exists. In addition to my long-standing addiction to movies, a recent heat wave and a stifling city apartment caused me to spend big chunks of time at the local movie theater and made me something of an expert on the wild differences in the settings, lead characters, and plots of these two kinds of movies. Consider, first of all, where the movies are likely to take place. Chick movies are set in small town beauty parlors, in the English ‘countryside, or anywhere that looks like a postcard of someplace you'd like to go on vacation. Everything except beauty parlor scenes, crying scenes, and sex scenes happens outside on beautiful sunny days. Guy movies, on the other hand, take place in prisons, big cities, spaceships, or anywhere that's filthy, sweaty, and filled with machinery. Nothing ever happens outside unless it involves a car chase. Every movie requires a lead character to fill up the setting. In a chick movie, the lead character is always a woman. She is named something like Kat—short for Katherine—or Emerald, or Sparkle. Sometimes she is ah administrative assistant in an office, but usually she does something glamorous, but not too glamorous, like photography or radio announcing or freelance writing. She is always beautiful, but her last boyfriend left because he was married, or insensitive, or unable to appreciate her intelligence. In a guy movie, the lead character is always a man. He is named Mike or Spike, Chance or Lucky, or is simply nameless and mysterious. He is probably a cop or used to be one. If not,English 105 — 5 83 he’s a soldier, a spy, a private detective, or an ordinary guy who just happens to know seven languages and sixteen ways to kill people with a socket wrench. He is always ruggedly handsome and muscular, but his girlfriend died in the last movie, right after she turned out to be working for the other side. Then, of course, something must happen to the main character. The plot of a chick movie involves four women seeking meaningful relationships with their mothers, their sisters, their lovers, their husbands, or their cats. The final scene is a soft focus on a wedding or at least a passionate kiss. The plot of a guy movie centers on one man seeking violent revenge on the bad guys who got him fired, killed his girl, killed his. buddy, stole a nuclear wartiead, or shot his dog. The finat scene is a tight close-up of our sweaty hero smiling as he contemplates a building he has just blown up. While everyone knows that men and women are daily coming closer in real life, our tastes in movie fantasy are as far apart as ever and will probably stay that way. That’s fine with me. As long as none of the men I know expect me to watch the Rambo series with them, I won't ask them to watch any movie based on Jane Austen novels.How I Discovered Words: A Homemade Education MALCOLM X On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, the controversial Black Muslim leader, was showered with bullets and shoigun pellets as he addressed an afternoon rally in Harlem. He was dead at the age of thirty-nine. He hiad begun his life in obscurity and had risen from the world of thievery. pimiping, drug pushing, and prison to become one of the most articulate and powerful blacks in America during the early 1960s. With the assistance of Alex Haley, who later wrote Roots, Malcolm X told his story in The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964), a moving and dramatic account of his search for personal and social fulfilment. In the following selection taken from the autobiography, Malcolm X narrates a ‘major turning point in his life. : It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education. I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, | had been the most articulate hustler out there—I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn't even functional. How would I sound writing in slang, the way I would say it, something suchas, “Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat. Elijah Muhammad—*English 105 85 ‘Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those 3 who read something I've said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies. It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first 4 made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him, But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn't contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did. I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary—to 5 study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn't eyen write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school. T spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary's pages. 6 I'd never realized so many words existed! I didn't know-which words T needed to learn. Finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying. _In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet 7 everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks. [believe it took mea day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything. 8 I'd written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting. I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words— immensely 9 proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I'd written words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn’t remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary first page right now. that “aardvark” springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants. =86 English 105 Iwas so fascinated that I went on—I copied the dictionary’s next page. 2 And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary’s A section had filled a whole tablet—and I went on into the B’s. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words. I suppose it was inevitable that as, my word-base broadened, I could for 1 the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read, a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me fell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad’s teachings, my correspondence, my yisitors—usually Ella and Reginald— and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life, FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION Questions on Subject 1. What motivated Malcolm X “to acquire some kind of a homemade education” (1)? 2. What does Malcolm X mean when he says that he was “going through only book-reading motions” (4)? Haw did he decide to solve this problem? 3. Why did the word aardvark (9) spring to mind when Malcolm X recalled his study of the first page of the dictionary? 4. In what way is the dictionary like a “miniature encyclopedia” (10)? 5. What is the meaning of the last sentence of the narrative?English 105 87 Questions on Strategy 1. What is the organizing principle of Malcolm X’s narrative? 2. What is the effect of the relative shortness of paragraphs 6 through 8? Could they be combined into a single paragraph? What would be gained or lost if they were to be combined? 3. How does the first paragraph function in this essay? 4, The last sentence in this selection makes a dramatic and powerful statement about Malcolm X’s passage from illiteracy to literacy. How does the narrative prepare the way for this dramatic ending? Questions on Diction and Vocabulary 1. Why does Malcolm X italicize the words say (2) and which (6)? 2. Why is the relatively simple vocabulary Malcolm X uses in this selection appropriate for his narration of this particular experience? 3. Refer to your desk dictionary to determine the meanings of the following words as they are used in this selection: stumble (1), articulate (2), functional (2), emulate (4), tablets (5), immensely (9), inevitable (11). CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES AND APPLICATIONS Like Malcolm X, each of us can tell of an experience that has been unusually significant for us. Think about your experiences, identify one incident that has been especially important for you, and write several paragraphs about it, In preparing to write your narrative, you may find it helpful to ask such questions as: Why is the incident important for you? What details are necessary for you to re-create the incident in an interesting and engaging way? How can your narrative of the incident be most effectively organized? Dinte: Writing Suggestions for Narration appear on pages 40-41.)I Want a Wife JUDY SYFERS Born in San Francisco in 1937, Judy Syfers studied painting at the University of Iowa, where she received her B.F.A. in 1960. Now a free- lance writer interested in a number of humanitarian causes, Syfers lives in San Francisco with her husband and two daughters. In the following essay, which first appeared in the December 1971 issue of Ms., Svfers tells us why she wants a wife and, in the process, defines a wife. I belong to that classification of people known as wives. | am A Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, | am a mother. Not too Jong ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is obviously looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occusred to me that I, to0, would like to havea wife. Why do I want a wife? I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I am going to school I want a wife to take care of my children. I want a wife to keep track of the children’s doctor and dentist appointments. And to keep track of mine, too. I want a wife to make sure my children cat properly and are kept clean. | want a wife who will wash the children’s clothes and keep them mended. I want a wife who is a good nurturant attendant to my children, who arranges for their schooling, makes sure that they have adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, the “zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school. My wife must arrange to lose time at work and not lose the job. It may mean a small cut in my wife's income from time to time, but I guess I can tolerate that. Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care of the children while my wife is working.English 105 89 I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after me. I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it. 1 want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife who is a good cook. I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly,” and then do the cleaning up while | do my studying. I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with ‘my pain and loss of tithe from school. I want a wife to go-along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and change of scene. T want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about'a wife’s duties. But I want a wife who will listen to me when I feel the need to explain a rather difficult point I have come across in my course of studies. And I want a wife who will type my papers for me when I have written them I want a wife who will take care of the details of my social life. When 6 my wife and I are invited out by my friends, I want a wife who will take care of the babysitting arrangements. When I meet people at school that I like and want to entertain, I want a wife who will have the house clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my fiends, and not interrupt when Ttalk about the things that interest me and my friends. I want a wife who will have arranged that the children are fed and ready for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. I want a wife who takes care of the needs of my guests so that they feel comfortable, who makes sure that they have an ashtray, that they are passed the/hors d’oeuvres, that they are offered a second helping of the food, that their wine glasses are replenished when necessary. that their coffee is served to them as they. like it. And I want a wife who knows that sometimes I need a night out by myself. I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a‘wife who makes 7 love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure that 1 am satisfied. And, of course, I want a wife who will not demand sexxiial attention when I am not in the mood for it. I want a wife who assumes the complete responsibility for birth control, because I do not want more children. I want a wife who will remain sexually faithful to me so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies. And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more than striet adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible. If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife T already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new Life; my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free.90 English 105 When I am through with school and have a job, I want my wife to quit 9 working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely take care of a wife’s duties. My God, who wouldn't want a wile? FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION Questions on Subject s 1. What is Syfers’s intention in defining wife? Explain. 2. What kind of definition of wife does Syfers present? 3. What tasks does Syfers assign to a wife? What is her attitude toward these tasks? In your opinion, is her description of a Questions on Strategy 1. What is the function of the short narrative about the author's friend? "2. What is the function of the question that ends paragraph 2? the question that concludes the essay? 3. How does the author develop her definition? Do you see any pattern of development in the list of services she expects from a wife? Questions on Diction and Vocabulary 1. Syfers italicizes the words my (4), good (4), my (7), and wouldn't (10). What is her purpose in each instance? 2, Syfers carefully avoids using the pronoun he or she when referring to the wife. Why? 3. What do the phrases “not altogether incidentally” (1) and “of course” (2) tell you about the author’s attitude? 4, Refer to your desk dictionary to determine the meanings of the following words as they are used in this selection: nurturant (3), peers (3), replenished (6), entail (7), monogamy (7).CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES AND APPLICATIONS ‘One way of defining a term is to place it in a class of similar terms and than show how it is different from the other items in that class; for example: ‘WORD CLASS CHARACTERISTICS, Awatch is a small timepiece designed to be carried in the pocket or worn. Semantics is an area of linguistics concerned with the study of the meanings of words. Certainly such definitions are not complete, and one could write an entire paragraph, essay, or book to define these terms more fully. Nonetheless, this process is useful both for thinking and for writing. One or more of us always tried to sneak a sparkler into the kitchen to share with Mom, but she always chased us out, sending us off to clean up for dinner, ‘We moved pretty fast when we heard the word dinner, because there was never anything better than a plate filled with Dad’s barbecued chicken and Mom’s conce-a-year-and-l-only-do-it-because-I-loye-you potato salad. After dinner, when the dishes were cleaned up and put away, and the sky was getting dark and the bugs were coming out, and just when we kids were starting to worry that we might miss the main event, Mom and Dad would pile us into’ the car. Like all the other families from our neighborhood, we drove out to the top of the hill overlooking the town. We kids climbed up on the roof of the car for the best possible view, and Mom and Dad handed up cookies and lemonade when they weren’t talking with old friends. Then, as the night got darker and quieter, we'd wait for the fireworks. When the fireworks started and everyone else oohed and aahed, I would lie ‘on my back on the top of the car, on the top of the world, and try to hang on to all the beauty and excitement, I knew they couldn’t last, not any more than the sparks that made the fireworks could, but I still tried to hang on.LEVIS Marilyn Sebiel As you might guess, this essay gives a memorable description of Levis. Marilyn Schiel doesn’t think Levi’s are just long-lasting work pants, however. What else does she deserine? Words t6 check: shirtwaist (paragraph 4) chamois (12) anachronism (4) trestle (14) acumen (9) worldliness (15) 1. They weren’t boot cut, or spiked leg, or 501. They weren’t stone washed, or acid bleached, or ice black. They weren’t Guess, or Zena, or Jordache. They were just blue jeans—old, worn Levi's. 2 My ten-year-old brother wore blue jeans. 1 wore slacks, In summer, cotton pastel pants with embroidered bunnies or ducks. In winter, grey corduroys with gitl-pink flannel lining. I wanted to wear blue jeans. a AS a five-year-old I didn’t understand the difference between cause and coincidence. My brother’s jeans meant he could wander his two-wheel bike blocks from home after school; he could, with a crew of blue-jeaned boys, build a tree house in the oak in the vacant lot next door; he could carry a BB gun all the way tothe cemetery to shoot at squirrels. I had to be content ttiking my embroidered bunnies up and down the driveway; I had to settle for building domino houses on the living room floor; I could shoot only caps at imaginary black-hatted cowboys in the basement. I wanted to wear blue jeans. s 4. But little girls in my 1950 world didn’t wear blue jeans. Big gitls didn’t wear them either. Big girls didn’t even wear pastel cotton slacks or winter corduroys. At least my mother, the big girl I knew best, didn’t, When the family gathered for breakfast, seven days a week sharp at 7:30, Mom was already in uniform, a shirtwaist dress garnished with a colored, beaded necklace that matched clip-on earrings. By the 1960s June Cleaver! may have been an anachronism, but In the early 1950s she lived at my house. ae Mothers stayed home. Unlike dads, mothers didn’t work. Mothers made the beds, cooked the meals, cleaned the house, baked the cookies, tended the garden, canned the vegetables, squeezed the clothes through the wringer- washer, hung washed clothes to dry on lines strung through the basement, ironed everything—including sheets and towels—scrubbed the floors while 1 The perfect mother of the perfect family on the television program Leave It 10 Bearer.English 105 93 kneeling on pink rubber pads, walked seven blocks pulling an empty Red- flyer wagon to buy groceries, struggled seven blocks home with a week’s worth. of carefully budgeted supplies, and picked-out the clothes their children would wear. My brother got blue jeans. I got embroidered bunnies. 6. Then, in 1953, my world changed. Elvis took us all to Heattbreak Hotel; Eisenhower brought us home from Korea; and my mother went to work. The hardware store Dad bought pulled Mom from the home to the business. Her transition from the breadbaker to a breadwinner taught my mother that women, big or little, didn’t have to wear embroidered bunnies anymore. Ag The change was more evolutionary than revolutionary. She still wore the housewife uniform—but now she wore it to work. She still did the laundry, but now with an automatic washing machine and electric dryer. We still ate breakfast together at 7:30, but now cereal and milk replaced eggs and bacon. The ironing went out every Tuesday night to a house on the hill behind the railroad tracks and came back folded every Wednesday evening. And as a businesswoman, my mother discovered that sometimes function was more important than fashion, at least for little girls. 8 Those old, worn Levi’s of my brother’s met the expectations of the advertisements. They survived an entire season of his hard wear and, unlike most of his clothes, were outgrown before worn out, And as mother used to say about anything that might be salvaged for use, “These old pants still have a little life left in them.” 9. Not only did they have some life left in them, but they were going to give that life to me. A year earlier they would have been boxed with other we- don’t-want-them-anymore clothes for the “naked children” of some foreign country I’d never heard of or, if the postage wasn’t too expensive, shipped off to my poor cousins in South Dakota. With her newfound economic acumen and with her slowly evolving awareness of a woman’s place, my mother looked at those blue jeans differently than she would have the year before. Maybe she looked at me a little differently, too. 10. “Marilyn, come here,” she called from my brother’s room. That in itself tripped anticipation. Now that Bob was approaching adolescence, his room held the mystery earned of secrecy. The door to his room was open; my mother leaned over the bed folding and sorting boy-clothes. Shirts in one stack, pants in another, worn to see-through-thin garments in still a third pile. « But smoothed out full length along the edge of Bob’s bed were a pair of old, worn Levi’s. Il, “Here, try these on.” She held them up against my seven-year-old middle. “I think these will fit you if you roll up the legs.”94 12. English 105 ‘And fit they did, more like a gunnysack than a glove, but they were blue jeans and they were my brother’s—and they were now mine. Cinched tightly with an Indian-beaded belt scrounged from my brother’s dresser, the chamois-soft denim bunched in unplanned pleats at my waist. No more sissy elastic for me. Triple-roll cuffs still scuffed the ground by my shoe heels when I walked—my excuse for the swaggering steps those Levi's induced, ‘Afier a time sidewalk burns ‘frayed the bottom edge, finally denoting my singular ownership. Metal rivets marked the pockets and seam overlaps. Gone were the telltale girl-white oyerstitching outlines. And those pockets. Real pockets. Not that patch pocket pretend stuff of girl-pants, but deep inside pockets of white, soft, gather-in-my-fist material that could be pulled inside out in search of the disappeared dime. But those Levi’s marked more than my move from little-girl clothes to big-brother clothes. Indeed, they were the only hand-me-downs ever handed” down. Instead, those old ratty pants marked my move to freedom, freedom from the conventional girl-stuff my mother had so carefully fostered only one year earlier. Maybe my mother—who was learning the difference between roofing nails and wood screws, who was learning to mix paint in the vise- gripping shake-machine bolted to the floor in the back room of the hardware store, who would later teach me to cut glass, make keys, and clean Surge milk pumpers—wanted me to know what she was learning about women’s work and men’s work. I don’t know. I just know that those Levis—old, worn, with a difficult-to-manage button fly—meant the world to me, at least the limited world offered by my neighborhood. ‘The next summer I got my first two-wheeled bike, a full-size, blue, fat- tire Schwinn off the store’s showroom floor. It was Mother who convinced Dad that I didn’t need training wheels. “If you want her to learn to ride, put her on it and let her ride.” Oh, I dented the fenders some that summer and suffered some scars from the inescapable tip-overs, but I learned to ride as well as the boys. And by the end of the summer, Mom was packing peanut butter sandwiches for me to take on fishing expeditions down at the Chippewa River. Along with the traditional dolls’ and play cookware, Christmas Eve brought chemistry kits and carpenter tools. Even my brother acknowledged my newfound worldliness. Better than any gift were the after-school hours spent helping him rebuild an old auto engine in the basement. I didn’t do ‘much, but watching him work and occasionally fetching wrenches taught me where pistons went and what they did, and that my big brother didn’t mind having me around.English 105 95 16. By junior high, I had my own 22. Our family Sundays in the fall found three of us in the woods searching for squirrel. My brother elected to hunt a more dangerous game, senior high school girls. Dad wore that goofy brown billed hat with cold-weather earflaps; I wore wool side-zipping slacks from the juniors department at Daytons, topped by a crew-neck matching “ sweater—style in a seventh-grade girl mattered even in the woods; Mom wore a turtleneck under one of Dad’s wool shirt-jacs pulled out to hang over her blue jeans—old, worn Levi’s. WHAT DID THE WRITER SAY AND WHAT DID YOU THINK? 1. Whatis the thesis? How does the author contrast herself with her brother? How did Schiel make her brother’s jeans uniquely hers? Does the author really believe that “mothers didn’t work?” How do you know? What was the author's mother leaning about “women’s work and men’s work?” How are Schiel and her mother alike? Naw ee DP Does the author believe that “clothes make the man (or woman)?” HOW DID THE WRITER SAY IT? 1. The first three sentences are almost exactly alike and the fourth is only slightly different. Why is such a simple paragraph so effective? R What details emphasize the mother’s growing independence? 3. Why does Schiel bother telling her audience about her first bike, her experiences watching her brother fix a car, and her squirrel hunts? Do these, things relate to her first blue jeans at all? EEE To avoid monotony, the good writer varies sentence length. Long and short sentences are neither good sior bad in themselves: Variety is the key. In the Schiel selection, notice how paragraph 3, ending with a sentence of merely six words, is preceded by two much longer sentences of fifty-twoTHAT LEAN AND HUNGRY Look’ Suzanne Britt First published in Newsweek in 1978, “That Lean and Hungry Look” has become something of a humorous classic. The author has taught college.and written for newspapers. In addition to collections of her essays, she has published an English textbook. 4 Writer's Rhetoric (1988). Words to check: metabolism (paragraph 3) cerebral (10) inert@) machinations (10) wizened (4) pat (10) nebulous (5) prognose (11) fiscal (7) convivial (12) 1. Caesar was right. Thin people need watching, I’ve been watching them for most of my adult life, and I don’t like what I see. When these narrow fellows’ spring at me, I quiver to my toes. Thin people come in all personalities, most of them menaéing. You’ve got your “together” thin person; your mechanical thin person, your condescending thin person, your tsk-tsk thin person, your efficiency-expert thin person. All of them are dangerous. In the first place, thin people aren't fun. They don’t know how to goof off almost in the best, fat sense of the word, They've always got to be “ adoing. Give them a coffee break, and they'll jog around the block. Supply them with a quiet evening at home, and they'll fix the screen door and lick S&H green stamps. They say things like “there aren’t enough hours in the day.” Fat people never say that. Fat people think the day is foo damn long already. 3: Thin people make me tired. They’ve got speedy little metabolisms that cause them to bustle briskly. They’re forever rubbing their bony hands together and eyeing new problems to “tackle.” I like to surround myself with sluggish, inert, easygoing fat people, the kind who believe that if'you clean it up today, it’ll just get dirty again tomorrow. 4. Some people say the business about the jolly fat person is a myth, that all ‘of us chubbies are neurotic, sick, sad people. I disagree. Fat people may not be chortling all day long, but they’re a hell of a lot nicer than the wizened and v | ‘The title alludes to the words from Act I, Scene ii of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar spoken by the title character: Let me have men about me that are fat; Sleek-headed men and such as sleep 0 nights: ‘Yond’ Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. 2 “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” is the first fine of an Emily Dickinson poem about snakes.English 105 97 shriveled. Thin people turn surly, mean and hard.at a young age because they never learn the value of a hot-fudge sundae for easing tension. Thin people don’t like gooey soft things because they themselves are neither gooey nor soft. They are crunchy and dull, like carrots. They go straight to the heart of the matter while fat people let things stay all blurry and hazy and vague, the way things actually are. Thin people want to face the truth. Fat people know there is no truth. One of my thin friends is always staring at complex, unsolvable problems and saying “The key tiling is ...” Fat people never say that. They know there isn’t any such thing as the key thing about anything. 5. Thin people believe in logic. Fat people see all sides, The sides fat people see are rounded blobs, usually gray, always nebulous and truly not worth worrying about. But the thin person persists. “If you consume more calories than you burn,” says one of my thin friends, “you will gain weight. Its that simple.” Fat people always grin when they hear statements like that. ‘They know better. 6. Fat people realize that life is illogical and unfair. They know very well " that God is not in his heaven and all is not right with the world. If God was up there, fat people could have two doughnuts and a big orange drink anytime they wanted it. 7. __ Thin people have a long list of logical things they are always spouting off to me, They hold up one finger at a time as they reel off these things, so I won't lose track. They speak slowly as if to a young child. The list is long and full of holes. It contains tidbits like “get a grip on yourself," “cigarettes kill,” “cholesterol clogs.” “fit as a fiddle,” “ducks in a row,” “organize” and "sound fiscal management.” Phrases like that. 8. They think these 2,000-point “plans lead to happiness. Fat people know happiness is elusive at best and even if they could get the kind thin people talk about, they wouldn’t want it. Wisely, fat people sec that such programs are too dull, too hard, too off the mark. They are never better than a whole cheesecake. 9. Fat people know all about the mystery of life. They are the ones acquainted with the night, with luck, with fate, with playing it by ear. One thin person I know once suggested that we arrange all the parts of a jigsaw puzzle into groups according to size, shape and color. He figured this would cut the time needed to compete the puzzle at least by 50 per cent, I said I wouldn't do it. One, I like to muddle through. Two, what good would it do to finish early? Three, the jigsaw puzzle isn’t the important thing. The important thing is the fun of four people (one thin person included) sitting around a card table, working.a jigsaw puzzle. My thin friend had no use for my list. Instead of joining us, he went outside and mulched the boxwoods. The three remaining fat people finished the puzzle and made chocolate, double-fudged brownies to celebrate.98 English 105 10. The main problem with thin people is they oppress. Their good intentions, bony torsos, tight ships, neat corners, cerebral machinations and pat solutions loom like dark clouds over the loose, comfortable, spread-out, soft world of the fat. Long after fat people have removed their coats and shoes and put their feet up on the coffee table, thin people are still sitting on the edge of the sofa, looking neat as a pin, discussing rutabagas. Fat people arc heavily into fits of laughter, slapping their thighs and whooping it up, while thin people are still politely waiting for the punch line. Thin people are downers. They like math and morality and reasoned evaluation of the limitations of human beings. They have their skinny little acts together. They expound, prognose, probe and prick, 12. Fat people are convivial. They will like you even if you're irregular and have acne. They will come up with a good reason why you never wrote the great American novel. They will cry in your beer with you. They will put your name in the pot. They will let you off the hook. Fat people will gab, giggle, guffaw, gallumph, gyrate and gossip. They are generous, giving and gallant. They are gluttonous and goodly and great. What you want when you're down is soft and jiggly, not muscled and stable. Fat people know this. Fat people have plenty of room. Fat people will take you in. WHAT DID THE WRITER SAY AND WHAT DID YOU THINK? 1. How accurate do you feel the comments are about fat and skinny people in general? To what extent do you feel the author is contrasting two different temperaments rather than two different body types? 2. Ona more serious level, do you think that illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia help confirm any of the comments about skinny people? 3. How can we be reasonably sure that the observations in paragraph 6 are not intended to express Britt’s serious thoughts on the existence of God? HOW DID THE WRITER SAY IT? = 1. Britt mixes the altemating and block pattems. Which pattern dominates? 2. Why is the jigsaw puzzle story worth telling? 3. Do you feel the heavy use of alliteration in the last paragraph is effective or overdone? ‘English 105 99 Ad eas 8) YOUR WRITING: Skinny people “arc crunchy and dull, like carrots,” Suzanne Britt writes. The comparison works well in a number of ways. It connects the abstract idea of skiniy people in general with the everyday specific reality of a actual item in the reader’s refrigerator. It communicates the author’s attitude toward skinny people by calling to mind the distant respect and utter lack of interest that most members of the public feel for carrots. Finally, skinny people and carrots go together because carrots are a standard dreary diet food, so different from cheesecakes and chocolates. Comparisons can sometimes add a spark to your own writing. Instead of settling for “I was embarrassed,” for example, you might try to finish off the thought with a comparison: I was as embarrassed as a poolroom hustler hitting the cue ball off the table. Thadn’t been so embarrassed since I was six and my mother caught me playing doctor with Jimmy Fisher next door. Twas so embarrassed it was like having a simultaneous attack of dandruff, noisy stomach, and underarm perspiration. The two most common kinds of comparisons are similes and metaphors. Similes make the comparison explicit by using like or as. A few words by George Orwell describe a man trampled by an elephant: The friction of the great beast’s foot had stripped the skin from his back as neatly as one skins a rabbit. Metaphors are sometimes defined as similes without the /ike or as. The simile, “The moon was like a silver dollar,” becomes a metaphor when expressed, “The moon was a-silver dollar.” A metaphor can be more sophisticated than that, however, and the term is best defined as a word or phrase ordinarily associated with one context that is transferred to another. Some metaphors have become part of the language—so much so that they are either hopelessly trite or barely recognizable as metaphors. Life is a rat race. He ought to come down from his ivory tower. Keep your paws off me. She has a good nose for news. _. branches of knowledge _.. key to the problem _.. legs of a table .. hit below the belt Other metaphors are waiting to be created to add impact, originality, and excitement to your writing.100 English 105 William K. Zinsser: American Humor Today RHETORIC AND IDEA 1, In paragraph 3, what does William K. Zinsser say his basic theory about humor is? What docs ‘he add to his theory in paragraph 10? 2. In what ways does he say the humor of Mort Sahl was related to the life of the fifties? What was Sahl responding to? 3. In which paragraph docs Zinsser state what he thinks would have to be the basic rule about humor? What is the rule? 4, Are Art Buchwald and Jules Feiffer said to be more or less bitter than Sahl? Why? What change later occurred in their humor during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson? 5, What paragraphs are devoted to the topic of Negro humor? 6. Which paragraph marks the transition to the broader qualities of American humor today? What key function word does it begin with? 7. Current humor, Zinsser says, is a response to what qualities of today’s life? 8. In this response, humor today has developed what basic characteristic and approach? 9, What is the purpose of Zinsser’s description of current news events in paragraphs 45-51? 10. What ig Zinsser’s definition of the humorous techniquies of Catch 22 and Dr. Strangelove? To what were they a response? VOCABULARY What is the meaning of the italicized word in each phrase? 1. one of those aphorisms (par. 1) 2. his humor is servile (par. 6) 3. sophisticated and cynical (par. 11) 4. That urbane wit (par. 12) 5. those bland years (par. 14) 6. equally sardonic (par. 17) 7. the frontier of pompousness (par. 23) 8. more far out, more surrealistic (par. 31) 9. something that was grolesque (par. 33) 10. their ludicrous detail (par. 50) WRITING ASSIGNMENTSEnglish 105 101 show on television to the qualities of its audience and its time. What needs does he or it meet? 3. Write an attack on something you consider evil, dangerous, or harmful by exaggerating it into something grotesque, going beyond reality in the manner of our contemporary humorists. E VOTE FOR THIS AGE OF ANXIETY MARGARET MEAD [1] When critics wish to repudiate the world in which we live today, one of their familiar ways of doing it is to castigate modern man because_anxiety is his chief problem. This, they say, in W. H. Auden’s phrase, is the age of anxiety This is what we have arrived at with all our vaunted progress, our great technological advances, our great wealth—everyone goes about with a burden of anxiety so enormous that, in the end, our stomachs and our arteries and our skins express the tension under which we live. Americans who have lived in Europe come back to comment on our favorite farewell which instead of the old goodbye (God be with you), is now “Take it easy,” each American admonishing the other not to break down from the tension and strain of modern life. [2] Whenever an age is characterized by a phrase, it is presumably in contrast to other ages. If we are the age of anxiety, what were other ages? And here the critics and carpers do @ very amusing thing. First, they give us lists of the opposites of anxiety: security, trust, self-confidence, self-direction, Then, without much further discussion, they let us assume that other ages, other periods of history, were somehow the ages of trust or confident direction. [3] The savage who, on his South Sea island, simply sat and let bread fruit fall into his lap, the simple peasant, at one with the fields he ploughed and the beasts he tended, the crafisman busy with his tools and lost in the fulfillment of the instinct of workmanship— these are the counter-images conjured up by descriptions of the strain under which men live today. But no one who lived in those days has returned to testify how paradisiacal they really were. [4] Certainly if we observe and question the savages or simple peasants in the world today, we find something quite different. The untouched savage in the middle of New Guinea isn’t anxious; he is seriously and continually /rightened— of black magic, of enemies with spears One Vote For This Age of Anxiety by- Mead, from The New York Times. who may kill him or his wives and children at any moment, while they stoop to drink from a spring, or climb a palm tree for a coconut. He goes warily, day and night, taut and fearful,102 English 105 [5] As for the peasant populations of a great part of the world, they aren’t so much anxious as hungry. They aren’t anxious about whether they will get a salary raise, or which of the three colleges of their choice they will be admitted to, or whether to buy a Ford or Cadillac, or whether the kind of TV set they want is too expensive. They are hungry, cold and, in many parts of the world, they dread that local warfare, bandits, political coups may endanger their homes, their meager livelihoods, and their lives. But surely they are not anxious. [6] For anxiety, as we have come to use it to describe our characteristic state of mind, can be contrasted with the active fear of hunger, loss, violence, and death. Anxiety is the appropriate emotion when the immediate personal terror— of a voleano, an arrow, the sorceref’s spell, a stab in the back, and other calamities, all directed against one’s self — disappears. [7] This is not to say that there isn’t plenty to worry about in our world of today. The explosion of a bomb in the streets of a city whose name no one had ever heard before may set in motion forces which end lip by ruining one’s carefully planned education in law school, half a world away. But there is still not the personal, immediate, active sense of impending disaster that the savage knows. There is rather the vague anxiety, the sense that the future is unmanageable. [8] The kind of world that produces anxiety is actually a world of relative safety, a world in which no one feels that he himself is facing sudden death. Possibly sudden death may strike a certain number of unidentified other people —but not him. The anxiety exists as an uneasy state of mind, in which one has a feeling that something unspecified and undeterminable may go wrong. If the world seems to be going well, this produces anxiety—for good times may end. If the world is going badly—it may get worse. Anxiety tends to be without locus: the anxious person doesn’t know whether to blame himself or other people. He isn’t sure whether it is 1956 or the Administration or a change in climate or the atom bomb that is to blame for this undefined sense of unease. [9] It is clear that we have developed a society which depends on having the right amount of anxiety to make it work. Psychiatrists have been heard to say, “He didn’t have enough anxiety to get well,” indicating that, while we agree that too much anxiety is inimical to mental health, we have come to rely on anxiety to push and prod us into seeing a doctor about a symptom which may indicate cancer, into checking up on that old life insurance policy which may have out-of date clauses in it, into having a conference with Billy’s teacher.even though his report card looks all right. [10] People who are anxious enough keep their car insurance up, have the brakes checked, don’t take a second drink when they have to drive, are careful where they go and with whom they drive on holidays. People who are too anxious either refuse to go into cars at all—and so complicate the ordinary course of life—or driye so tensely and overcautiously that they help cause accidents. People who aren’t anxious enough take chance after chance, which increases the terrible death toll of the roads.English 105- 103 [11] On balance, our age of anxiety represents a large advance over savage and peasant cultures, Out of a productive system of technology drawing upon enormous resources, we have created a nation in which anxiety has replaced terror and despair, for all except the severely disturbed. The specter of hunger means something only to those Americans who can identify themselves with the millions of hungry people on other continents. The specter of terror may still be roused in some by a knock at the door in a few parts of the South, or in those who have just escaped from a totalitarian regime or who have kin still behind the Curtains. [12] But in this twilight world which is neither at peace nor at war, and where there is insurance against certain immediate, downright, personal disasters, for most Americans there remains only anxiety over what may happen, could happen. [13] This is the world out of which grows the hope, for the first time in history, of a society where there will be freedom from want and freedom from fear. Our very anxiety is bom of our knowledge of what is now possible for each and for all. The number of people who consult psychiatrists today is not, as is sometimes felt, a symptom of increasing mental ill health, but rather the precursor of a world in which the hope of genuine mental health will be open to everyone, a world in which no individual feels that he need be hopelessly brokenhearted, a failure, a menace to others or a traitor to himself, [14] But if, then, our anxieties are actually signs of hope, why is there such a voice of discontent abroad in the land? I think this comes perhaps because our anxiety exists without an accompanying recognition of the tragedy which will always be inherent in human life, however well we build our world. We may banish hunger, and fear of sorcery, violence or secret police; we may bring up children who have learned to trust life and who have the spontaneity and curiosity necessary to devise ways of making trips to the moon; we cannot —as we have tried to do —banish death itself. [15] Americans who stem from generations which left their old people behind and never closed their parents’ eyelids in death, and who have experienced the additional distance from death provided by two world wars fought far from our shores are today pushing away from them both a recognition of death and a recognition, of the tremendous significance —for the future —of the way we live our-lives. Acceptance of the inevitability of death, which, when faced, can give dignity to life, and acceptance of our inescapable role in the modern world, might transmute our anxiety about making the right choices, taking the right precautions, and the right risks into the sterner stuff of responsibility, which ennobles the whole face rather than furrowing the forehead with the little anxious wrinkles of worry.104 English 105 [16] Worry in an empty context means that men die daily little deaths. But good anxiety —not about the things that were left undone long ago, that return to haunt and harry men’s minds, but active, vivid anxiety about what must be done and that quickly — binds men to life with an intense concern. [17] This is still a world in which too many of the wrong things happen somewhere, But this is a world in which we now have the means to make a great many more of the right things happen everywhere. For Americans, the generalization which a Swedish social scientist made about our attitudes on race relations is true in many other fields: anticipated change which we feel is right and necessary but difficult makes us unduly anxious and apprehensive, but such change, once consummated, brings a glow of relief, We are still'a people who— in the literal sense — believe in making good: Margaret Mead: One Vote for This Age of Anxiety RHETORIC AND IDEA Answer each of the following questions. Wherever possible, support your answer by referring directly to the text of the essay. 1, Whit is the basic reason for Mead’s giving her vote for this age of anxiety? 2. Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, and 5 are developed by contrast. What point does Mead make through contrast? 3. Explain how the key words savages and simple peasants and pronouns that take their place supply coherence in paragraphs 4 and Ss 4, What does Mead claim in paragraph 7 causes modern man’s anxiety? 5. Which is the topic sentence of paragraph 82 6. In sentence 2 of paragraph 5 and the last sentence of paragraph 8. why does the writer use three or’s instead of the customary one to end a series? 7. In paragraphs 9 and 10. Mead makes it clear that anxiety is really a beneficial commodity. How is it beneficial? 8. Why-does the author begin each sentence in paragraph 10 with People? 9. Point out the parallelism in the last sentence of paragraph 14. 10. What does Mead mean in paragraph 16 by “good anxiety”?