JOURNAL DESCRIPTION

FORMAT
1. Write in pen on 8 1/2 x 11" looseleaf [notebook] paper (do not skip lines) and keep all entries in a light folder with a pocket or fasteners. I will collect the folder for seven weeks beginning next Friday. Late folders will be penalized. Answer all questions asked for each entry.
2. Put a date on each entry and indicate which article or item it is responding to. Also put the journal number (1, 2, etc.) Page numbers refer to Rottenberg. Do not be overly concerned with correct or polished writing structure. I want you to focus on your thinking process rather than on a finished product. Your response journal is the place to analyze, explore, argue, or question.

CONTENTS

What's an argument, and what goes into an argument?

Definition 1 An argument is a form of writing or speaking which attempts to "persuade readers or listeners to accept a claim, whether acceptance is based on logical or emotional appeals or as is usually the case, on both." (Rottenberg, p. 9-10)

Definition 2 "An argument is a statement or statements offering support for a claim." (Rottenberg, p. 10)

Question:Do you agree with one of the above statements more than the other? Why?

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Journal 1 week 2: Keep your ears and eyes open for "arguments" happening in your environment. Listen at lunch in the UB, at work, on the bus. Do you hear anyone trying to convince someone else of a point? Do you hear anyone trying to present or uphold a case for their viewpoint?

Those are arguments! 1. Jot them down in your journal. What was the general topic being discussed?
2. Did you feel convinced? Tell why or why not in terms of the strength of the support the arguers used.

Journal 2 week 4: Select several (2 or 3) examples of what you think are successful and unsuccessful editorials and 2-3 letters from the The NY Times and record your response to those editorials and letters. Write a sentence or two on each saying what the major claim is and what evidence in the piece makes it convincing or unconvincing. Note--try to divorce your analysis of the strength of the argument from your tendency to take a side.

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An argument contains three parts:
(i) the claim, (ii), the support, (iii) the warrant

CLAIMS

Claim defined: The claim is what you're trying to prove. (p. 10)
ex. Assisted suicide should be legalized in America.
Gated communities are elitist.

The three types of claims: (i) fact, (ii) value, (iii) policy

1. Claims of fact: "assert that a condition has existed, exists, or will exist and are based on facts or data that the audience will accept as being objectively verifiable" (p. 10).

ex. The present cocaine epidemic is not unique. From 1885 to the 1920s cocaine was as widely used as it is today. (p. 10)

ex. Horse racing is the most dangerous sport. (p. 10)

2. Claims of value: "attempt to prove that some things are more or less desirable than others. They express approval or disapproval of standards of taste and morality." (p. 10). the good, bad, and the ugly.

ex. One look and Crane (writing paper) says you have a tasteful writing style. (p. 10, Rottenberg, 5th ed.)

ex. Football is one of the most dehumanizing experiences a person can face -- Dave Meggyesy. (p. 10)

3. Claims of policy: "assert that specific policies should be instituted as solutions to problems. The expression should, must, or ought to usually appears in the statement." (p. 11).

ex. Prisons should be abolished because they are crime-manufacturing concerns. (p. 11)

ex. The New York City Board of Education should make sure that qualified women appear on any new list (of candidates for Chancellor of Education). (p. 11)

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Journal 3 week 5: Claims: How would you recognize a claim if you saw one? Well, it would be a simple statement, a "declarative sentence." That is, a claim is not a question, or a command. It's a statement of what someone asserts is the case or should be the case.

So... hear any claims happening around you? What kinds of claim are they (fact, value, policy)? Which happens most often?

Jot those claims down, identify them, and tell which happens most often! (hint: if you carry your journal around with you, you can make note of arguments, claims, etc. discretely after you encounter them).

Journal 4 week 7: Collect two or more editorials and two or more letters from The New York Times. Find one or two major claims in each and try to determine what kind of claims they are. Can you see any pattern to the type of claim that appears in a particular newspaper or newsmagazine? I leave it to your ingenuity to decide what makes a pattern, but can you figure out the editorial policy from the particular pieces?

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The Support

Support defined: "Support consists of the materials used by the arguer to convince an audience that his or her claim is sound." (p. 11).

Two types of support: (i) evidence and (ii) motivational appeals

Evidence: (a) facts, (b) statistics, (c) testimony from experts.

Motivational appeals: "[m]otivational appeals are the ones that the arguer makes to the values and attitudes of the audience to win support for the claim." (p. 11, emphasis added).

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Journal 5 week 8: Support: At this point, I'd like you to mainly notice, in the world around you (conversations, readings, TV, movies, etc.), whether people are supporting their claims. Give an impression of the kind of support they are using.

Journal 6 week 11: Collect several more editorials and several more letters, some from the NY Times and some from Time or Newsweek magazine. What support and what kind of support is occuring in each? 1. Evaluate the type of support that occurs in the newspaper and magazine(s). 2. Does one medium seem to better support its claims than the other?

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The Warrant

Warrant defined: "The warrant is an inference or an assumption, a belief or principle that is taken for granted. A warrant is a guarantee of reliability; in argument it guarantees the soundness of the relationship between the support and the claim." (p. 11).

Basically, a warrant signals a credible relationship between the claim and the support for that claim. We'll see that there is a range of types of warrants: authority, cause/effect, comparison/contrast, analogy, etc.

Example: (comparison warrant)
claim: The behavior of many middle-class Americans today threatens our future.

support: The same kind of behavior by the Germans in the twenties and thirties and by the French in the thirties and forties led to disaster.

warrant: Because such behavior brought disaster to Germany and France, it will bring disaster to America.

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Journal 7 Week 12: Consider an ad in a magazine or on television. Given that most ads claim that an object or service is good or necessary for you, determine the specific claim, the support provided by the ad, and the (most probably hidden) warrant that connects the supporting data to the claim.