New Unit, New Teams! Please sit by your teammates. McKenna K., Rob, Sam, Sydney Regina, Logan, Kyle M., Dylan Collin W., Jacqui, Kyle V., Remy Lexie, Dillon, Nolan, Vidas Macy, Luke, McKenna B., Tanner Ryan, Rico, Joe, Colin G. New Unit, New Teams!

Assessing cause & effect Identifying fallacies Day 18 of English 15

Causal Arguments Evaluation: What is its quality? Proposal: What to do about it? Causation: What caused it? Evaluation: What is its quality? Definition: What is its nature? Fact: Does it exist? Did it happen? Is it true?

3 Types of Causal Arguments 1 2 3 3 Types of Causal Arguments

Tracing Effect to Causes (EA 245-6) Do you understand the causes of the following phenomena well enough to spell them out to someone else? Explain the causes. earthquakes/tsunamis popularity of the Transformers films popularity of Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift or the band Wolf Alice swelling caused by a bee sting Cold War sharp rise in cases of autism or asthma Edward Snowden’s leak of CIA documents climate change Ebola crisis in western Africa Tracing Effect to Causes

Causal Arguments Often part of other arguments Proposals Complex – rarely a single cause or consequence Explore! Often based on definitions Define your phenomenon Yield probable rather than absolute conclusions Use qualifiers Causal Arguments

Project #4: Proposal Film STEP 1: Choose your issue. Locate a local issue of limited scope that you wish to resolve—for example, the curriculum of your high school’s “Health” class; the hygiene in your dorm building; or the social environment at your workplace. Avoid general problems like climate change, racism, and poverty, because they are impossible to comprehensively address in a short video Project #4: Proposal Film

Got a problem? Mom’s diet soda addiction Defunding of arts in Philadelphia’s schools Overcrowding at Penn State’s gyms Inequity in GPA calculation at Huntingdon Area HS Secondhand smoke on campus Cheating in large Penn State classes Plastic waste in dining commons Sleep deprivation of Penn State freshmen Burnout of youth softball players Rift between Grosse Pointe and Detroit schools Lack of driver’s ed at Manheim Central HS Heroin epidemic among Upper St. Clair teens Turf grass erosion on campus Lack of cybersecurity training at Liberty HS Got a problem?

Write a brief causal argument about a phenomenon you consider problematic—ideally, one you’d consider using for Project #4. For instance, What accounts for the high amount of fast food served on campus at Penn State? What are the likely consequences of my high school’s failure to offer a driver’s education course? How does the arrangement of LEAP affect the way my cohort and I learn? Why don’t more students visit campus facilities like the art museum, spiritual center, and cultural center? Explore the potential—and probably multiple—causes and consequences of the phenomenon you call into question. PE #7: Causal Analysis

Starting PE #7 Use EA 248-9 to guide your analysis Make a list of either… phenomena you’d like to know the causes of phenomena you’d like to know the effects of Choose one phenomenon Map out the causal relationship(s) X might cause (or be caused by) Y for the following reasons: Reason 1…2…3 X might also cause (or be caused by) Y for the following reasons: Starting PE #7

Fallacies of Argument Be true to your pathos, ethos, and logos!

bookofbadarguments.com

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc Respond Activity on EA 254 Because causal arguments can easily fall prey to faulty causality, you might find it instructive to create and defend an absurd connection of this kind. Begin by asserting a causal link between two events or phenomena that likely have no relationship: The enormous popularity of Doctor Who is partially due to global warming.  Then spend a page or so spinning out an imaginative argument to defend the claim. It’s OK to have fun with this exercise, but see how convincing you can be at generating plausibly implausible arguments. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc

bookofbadarguments.com

bookofbadarguments.com

1 2 Artist 2 completely misrepresented the colorful, energetic toucan. Later, Artist 2 showed people her painting and complained about how dull and lifeless the toucan had looked. From bookofbadarguments.com

Identifying Fallacies Refer to EA Ch. 5 (71-86): Fallacies of Argument Canvas Page Identifying Fallacies

Fun with Fallacies Write an example of your rhetorical fallacy. Share it with your team without saying which rhetorical fallacy it represents. Teammates try to identify the fallacy or at least the appeal it abuses: emotional, ethical, or logical. If they can’t guess it, disclose the fallacy’s name, and explain why your statement exemplifies that type. Fun with Fallacies