Sugary Drinks Ban Begs the Question: An Analysis of Persuasive Text

Sugary Drinks Ban Begs the Question: Who has the right to decide what you consume A Common Core Lesson By Dean Berry, Ed. D. Gregg Berry, B. A. Common Core Curriculum Solutions

Common Core Reading Standards Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on- one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

What does a good reader look for?

Take a Few Notes Complete the chart below using the information provided in the following frame. Author’s Claim: Evidence: Reasoning:

Author’s Claim : May be an answer to the question posed, a proposed solution to the problem, or the thesis of the persuasive text. Evidence : Could include appropriate analogies, clearly presented facts, statistical data, quotations or testimonials, or anecdotal examples. Reasoning : Should explain how the evidence supports the claim and needs to avoid using logical fallacies. Three Essential Requirements for a Persuasive Argument

Recognizing the thesis sentence and author’s claim

Let’s Practice Writing Some Claims

What does the research say?

What do you think? Use your imagination What are some possible types of statistical evidence? For deodorant? Air Pollution? Poor Math Grades?

What do the experts say?

Stand and Deliver Who can give us a testimonial about one of these? Jennifer Lopez Clothing Android Smart Phone Alberto’s Carne Asada Fries Gucci’s High Priced Hand Bag

Do personal observations support the claim?

Use Your Imagination Create an anecdote or personal observation about a situation and solution that seems to work very well. Use one of the following topics: Home Security Alarm Systems Replacing Textbooks with On Line Learning Animal Cruelty Facebook Problems

Do similar situations provide evidence?

Take the following example: You work for a company that is considering turning some land into a theme park. On that land there happens to be a river that your bosses think would make a great white-water rafting ride. They’ve called on you to assess whether or not that ride would be a good idea.

How do you evaluate the author’s claim?

Let’s Review These Ideas

When we read the article, use these phrases to record your notes showing the evidence used in the text. According to the text… The author stated… For instance… For example… Because…

Annotating the text as you perform close reading is a great way to ensure effective critical reading.

As you take margin notes and mark up the text, identify assumptions, opinions, faulty arguments, weak or strong evidence, and key words or phrases.

Sugary drinks ban begs the question -- who has the right to decide what you consume? Published September 14, 2012 FoxNews.comFoxNews.com

Check your notes and share your information from the text. How did you answer the following? According to the text… The author stated… For instance… For example… Because…

Share Your Annotations Read the claim you identified to the class Read one of the supporting arguments Explain of type of evidence, if any, that the author used

Let’s Talk How might you summarize the article you just read? What was the author’s main point in writing the article?

Verbalize Your Summary Using several sentences, turn to another student and tell them the main point of the article.

Quick Write

Let’s learn about logical fallacies before we read this article for a second time. Understanding how fallacies can be used to convince readers to accept arguments with little evidence, is essential for good reading skills. r

Slippery Slope Definition

Slippery Slope Example

Is this a slippery slope fallacy? Why or Why Not?

Pair Share Turn to your neighbor and discuss your answer to this question. If we allow the government to implement any gun control laws such as background checks or assault riffle bans, before you know it, ordinary citizens will lose their right to have any weapons to protect themselves from criminals and the government.

Is this a slippery slope fallacy?

Pair Share Giving the government the power to view people’s telephone records in order to identify potential terrorists should not be done because it will reduce people’s right to privacy.

Is this a slippery slope fallacy?

Pair Share "We've got to stop them from censoring materials used in classrooms. Once they start banning one form of literature, they will never stop. Next thing you know, they will be burning all the books!"

Is this a slippery slope fallacy?

Pair Share Turn to your neighbor and discuss your answer to this question. "We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be charging $40,000 a semester!"

Quick Write

Sugary drinks ban begs the question -- who has the right to decide what you consume? Published September 14, 2012 FoxNews.comFoxNews.com

Let’s Talk Which phrase do you think is an example of the slippery slope fallacy? Explain why you believe the phrase is a slippery slope fallacy.

Take a Closer Look at the Text As you read the next page, identify what the author says to move the argument away from the sugary soda ban issue to another, bigger, scarier issue?

Discuss the Text What did the author say to move the argument away from the sugary soda ban issue to another, bigger, scarier issue?

Sugary drinks ban begs the question -- who has the right to decide what you consume? Published September 14, 2012 FoxNews.comFoxNews.com

Additional Common Core Standards Covered

Reading Standards Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Writing Standards Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

82 Copyright Protected © 2015 Dean R. Berry All Rights Reserved No part of this document may be reproduced without written permission from the author

Sugary drinks ban begs the question -- who has the right to decide what you consume? Published September 14, 2012 FoxNews.comFoxNews.com

Furthermore, the new regulations will hurt smaller drink makers like Honest Tea, whose product is sold in 16.9 ounce bottles—standard in the industry—and has only 70 calories per bottle. While larger manufacturers might be able to create special bottles for New York City, some smaller companies may not be able to do the same and will simply have to suffer the loss of sales. As Honest Tea CEO and co-founder Seth Goldman noted in his Wall Street Journal op-ed, even if his company did sell its product in special bottles for New York City, what happens when city officials decide to arbitrarily reduce allowable bottle sizes again? Goldman hits on a fundamental underlying driver in Bloomberg’s proposal: if less sugar is good, no sugar is better. Public health advocates like Mayor Bloomberg assign value judgments to products like sugar, fat, salt and alcohol: bad in any measure. They see no benefits to the consumption of certain products. They believe that adults are unable to make responsible decisions and control their own consumption choices, so the government must do it for them—in the name of public health, of course.Wall Street Journal op-ed

Through close reading it is possible to determine the perspective and point of view of the author.

What is the author’s point of view? Cite evidence from the text that clearly indicates the author’s point of view.

Identify the author’s claim and supporting evidence. Is the evidence adequate to support the claims that the author is making?

. What is the author’s message? Did she/he provide sufficient evidence to support the claims made in the text? Explain why you think that the evidence was or was not strong enough to support the claims.