In Chapter 48 we look at evaluating arguments and how to analyze them and unbiasly add them into our papers. First we look at determining between reasonable and fallacious argumentative tactics. These are generalizations, sometimes formed hastily, through inductive reasoning. Generalizations are made based on probability, not certainty, and are concluded upon by insufficient and unrepresented data. Stereotypes are a form of hasty generalizations and are common because our tendency to see what we want to see. We next looked at drawing analogies or similarities between two things that are different. As a writer we have to have the ability to differentiate between analogies that make sense and false analogies that portray false information.
Next we looked at causes and effects, weighing options, making assumptions and deducing conclusions. Cause and effect reasoning is over simplified most of the time because when one event follows another it is assumed that the first event caused the second when they merely happened close to one another. When stating a problem, a writer must weigh all of the options not just provide the simplest ones or the most cost effective ones. An assumption is a claim that is taken to be true, and is not supported by proof. There is a need for proof when making claims to support your paper to be true. A writer may appeal to the emotional side of the reader but some of those emotional appeals maybe be unfair to use in your paper.
This chapter was very useful in helping to identify the types and ways we argue when writing our papers. In both essays that I have written I have had a hard time using the readings and incorporating them into my essay. This chapter showed the right way to use quotes by other authors and how to use arguments to your advantage along with making sure that they are true or have enough proof to support them. It also showed how to appeal to the reader both intellectually and emotionally and how to appeal to the right emotions.
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