Sample Analyses Courtney Love does the math, by Courtney Love

Early in her article, Courtney Love asks the question, " What is piracy?" She answers with an analytical definition: "Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it." Moore and Parker explain that an anlytical definition specifies two things about the term being defined: (1) the type of thing the term applies to and (2) the difference between the things the term applies to and other things of the same type. (p. 56) In this case, the type of thing Love is defining is an act of stealing. What she says distinguishes this act of stealing from others is that there is no intention of paying for it, though, of course it goes without saying that in any acto of stealing, there is no intention of paying for what is stolen. Since this definition is strange in a way that engages emotions, I would say it is also a rhetorical definition. And since this definition is narrowly targeted at making the rest of her article work and would not be likely to show up in a dictionary, it is best thought of as a stipulative definition. All of these things are worth noticing because the definition starts her discussion off with a position that is both impossible to argue against and emotionally engaging. Analytical Definition

Controversial Premise In response to record industry assertions that they need legal protections from downloading copyrighted work, Love writes, "There were a billion music downloads last year, but music sales are up. Where's the evidence that downloads hurt business? Downloads are creating more demand." Here she is saying that a key premise in the record industry's argument for new law is simply false. As presented in the class lectures, one of the things that is necessary for a successful argument is that premises be acceptable. Love's claim that the central premise of the record industry's argument is false obviously violates that condition. It's important to recognize the need to evaluate premises for truth because even if they look reasonable on the surface, there may be good reason not toaccept them. In this case, Love points out sales are actually up even with increased downloading. This lowers the credibility of the record industry's spokespeople in other instances in which they attempt to make factual claims.