Using Types of Argument to Plan Your Essay Using the Rhetorical Triangle Presented by Suzi Van Steenbergen, Modified from E. Wanczuk (La Costa Canyon High School) AP English Language and Composition

Arguments of Fact What do you want your audience to THINK? State that something IS or IS NOT the case. Causal arguments = one event or condition leads to (or is likely to lead to) another Examples: –AP students do better in college –Computers enhance learning in the classroom –Media is responsible for the shortening of our attention spans

Arguments of Value What do you want your audience to BELIEVE? State that something is or is not desirable. Evaluations of quality or worth according to accepted criteria. Examples: –To Kill a Mockingbird is the greatest novel of all time. –Health concerns take precedence over profits.

Arguments of Policy What do you want your audience to DO? States that something should or should not be done. Recommendations for practice or implementation. Examples: –The minimum wage should be increased. –Stem cell research should be funded. –The designated hitter should be eliminated from baseball.

So… Examine your issue. What do you hope your audience will DO, THINK or BELIEVE as a result of your argument? This becomes your PURPOSE.

Given your purpose, who is your audience? What is the most appropriate audience to accomplish your purpose? –Individuals or officials –Organizations (specific) –Groups of people (voters, parents, teachers, politicians, etc.)

Work Cited Scanlon, Lawrence. “Using the Toulmin Model of Argument in the Classroom.” AP English Language and Composition Workshop Materials Print.

Writing your Claim What kind of claim should I make? –Argument of fact (changing the audience’s thinking) –Argument of value (changing the audience’s belief) –Argument of policy (changing the audience’s behavior) Is it specific enough? Will readers think it is significant enough to need an argument supporting it?

Making your Claim Specific TV inflates estimates of crime rates. Graphic reports of violence on local TV news lead regular viewers to overestimate by as much as 150 percent both the rate of crime in their neighborhood and the personal danger to themselves and their families.

Making Your Claim Specific Make sure your claim has the right qualifiers to make it reasonable. Although violent crime is actually decreasing, regular viewers overestimate their neighborhood crime rate by as much as 150 percent and therefore misjudge personal danger to themselves and their families, because local TV evening news regularly opens with graphic reports of mayhem and murder in family locations, making many believe that crime happens nightly outside their front doors.

More on Qualifiers Aviation manufacturing will not match its late twentieth-century levels, unless new global conflicts increase military spending. Although, while, might, etc. They Say, I Say…