1. Empirical or Rhetorical?
Shakespeare died in 1616.

2. Empirical or Rhetorical?
Kids in foster care are more likely to have behavioral issues as teenagers than other children.

3. Empirical or Rhetorical?
Foster parents must take special care
to ensure their foster kids don’t end up in juvenile detention.

4. Empirical or Rhetorical?
Foster parents should take special care to ensure their foster kids don’t end up in juvenile detention.

5. Empirical or Rhetorical?
The United States must reduce social spending in order to balance the budget.

6. Empirical or Rhetorical?
The earth’s climate is gradually changing, getting progressively warmer.

7. Empirical or Rhetorical?
Humans are responsible for climate change.

8. Empirical or Rhetorical?
The government should pass legislation to reduce our impact on climate change.

9. Empirical or Rhetorical?
The Hunger Games was the best
movie of the past decade.

10. Empirical or Rhetorical?
The incidence of breast cancer has gone up in the past 50 years.

11. Empirical or Rhetorical?
A 55-mph speed limit reduces accident rates on local highways.

12. Empirical or Rhetorical?
We should reduce highway speed limits to 55 mph.

13. Argument
noun. a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea should or should not be adopted or accepted.

14. Convincing or Not Convincing Effective or Ineffective
Argument
noun. a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea should or should not be adopted or accepted.
Right or Wrong
True or False
Convincing or Not Convincing
Effective or Ineffective

15. Different Theses Informative: Argumentative:
Recent research has found strong evidence that apples are indeed the best fruit; researchers have focused their inquiries on three main areas: nutrition, taste, and affordability.
Apples are the greatest fruit in the world because they are the most nutritious, most delicious, and most affordable fruit in the world.
Doesn’t present the writer’s opinion
Describes empirical results
Focus on claims
Presents rhetorical conclusions (i.e., the writer’s opinion, which may be informed by empirical results)

16. Apples are the greatest
THESIS: Apples are the greatest fruit in the world because they are the most nutritious, most delicious, and most affordable fruit in the world.
Apples are the greatest
fruit in the world
CLAIM
because
REASONS
Most nutritious
Most delicious
Most affordable
EVIDENCE
intuition
personal experiences
case examples
testimonials
appeals to authority
personal observation
research studies
analogies

17. CLAIMS REASONS EVIDENCE
are inherently rhetorical, thus they are either convincing or not convincing
REASONS
take both forms, and they aren’t always clearly stated
EVIDENCE
is often empirical (and if so, can be argued to be either true or false)

18. How well do these reasons support their claims?
Attendance policies should be abolished because sometimes I don’t like to go to class.
One reason you should watch less TV is that it would free up time for you to pursue other hobbies.
Mom, I love you so so much. Can I borrow fifty bucks?

19. Argument Analysis Analyze an argument to determine
Where is it effective or convincing?
Where is it ineffective or not convincing?
Analyzing an argument has nothing to do with whether you agree with the argument or not—it’s entirely possible to disagree with someone’s conclusions while still respecting their use of rhetoric.

20. Analysis Paper Part I: Reading with the Grain
Summary
Audience
Part II: Reading Against the Grain
Ethos
Pathos
Key Terms
Value Assumptions
Evidence
Logic
Part III: Final Assessment