Linking Compelling Claims, to Strong Evidence

Paul M. Rogers PhDEnglish 101

Persuasive Communication• Rhetoric: The ability in any particular case to

see all the available means of persuasion (Aristotle, The Rhetoric). – Being persuasive is an ability

• It can be developed through study and practice– Will give you more options to accomplish your communication

goals

– There are multiple means of persuasion• But, first be clear about your purpose• Know your audience• Use ethos, logos, and pathos

Three Means of Persuasion: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

I Ethos (Writer/Spe

aker)

It Logos(Text/Message/Medium)

You Pathos (Audience(s))

Purpose

Kairos(Urgent and Non-Trivial)

In College Writing You Must Develop Your Logical Argumentation Abilities

I Ethos (Writer)

LOGOS = LOGICAL ARGUMENTATION

You Pathos (Audience(s))

Purpose

Kairos(Urgent and Non-Trivial)

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Let’s look at some data: Which of the images shows more light on the road and surrounding area?

Xenon Headlight

Halogen Headlight

SilverStar Ultra TM

Standard Halogen

Xenon

Xenon headlights illuminate signs better than halogen headlights do

[Sylvania, 2008 ]

Xenon Headlight

Halogen Headlight

SilverStar Ultra TM

Standard Halogen

Xenon

My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke The whiskey on your breathCould make a small boy dizzy;But I hung on like death:Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pansSlid from the kitchen shelf;My mother's countenanceCould not unfrown itself. 

The hand that held my wristWas battered on one knuckle;At every step you missedMy right ear scraped a buckle. 

You beat time on my headWith a palm caked hard by dirt,Then waltzed me off to bedStill clinging to your shirt.

4 Steps

1. Write a brief one or two sentence summary of this poem

2. Make an assertion: What is this poem about?3. What evidence do you have to back up your

claim? – What is your strongest evidence?

4. Link your claims and evidence together in a single statement

Is Queenie Lying?

1. Your thesis is the response to this question.2. Identify all of the evidence you can find to

support your claim3. Rank your evidence from strongest to

weakest

Aristotle’s Rhetoric provides a solid foundation for practicing, learning, and teaching communication, including writing

I Ethos (Speaker)

LOGICAL ARGUMENTATION

You Pathos (Audience)

Purpose

Kairos(Urgent and Non-Trivial)

A Process for Creating Compelling Arguments

• Start with data and data analysis• Form your questions• Make a claim or a thesis that is worth arguing• Make explicit the connections between the

data and the claims

Qualifications/Hedge Words• Possible• Conceivable • Could• May • Might • Perhaps• Almost certain• Virtually certain • All but certain • Highly probable • Highly likely • Odds [or chances]

overwhelming

• Probable• Likely • We believe • We estimate• 50-50 chances • About even • Chances a little better

[or less] than even • Improbable • Unlikely• Probably not• We believe that . . . not • We estimate that . . .

not • We doubt, doubtful• Almost certainly• Virtually impossible • Almost impossible • Some slight chance • Highly doubtful

Arguments that links claims and evidence are more persuasive than those that don’t!

[Sylvania, 2008 ]

Xenon Headlight

Halogen Headlight

SilverStar Ultra TM

Standard Halogen

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Exchange your change maker paper with a partner

• Treat the paper as data • Is this individual making a significant and

positive impact in the world?• Can you make a case based on the evidence in

the paper.• Using their paper as data, make an argument

that links together your claims and their most compelling evidence.

Three Means of Persuasion: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

I Ethos (Speaker)

It Logos(Text)

You Pathos (Audience)

Purpose

Kairos(Urgent and Non-Trivial)

Purpose

• INFORM: What do I want my audience to know?

• ENTERTAIN: What do I want my audience to feel?

• PERSUADE: What do I want my audience to do?

Writing as discovery

• Our ideas change as we write• We gain content knowledge• Our purpose can become clearer as we write

and revise• Multiple purposes in one piece of writing, but

a dominant one will probably emerge

Means of Persuasion

• Ethos• Logos• Pathos

Ethos = credibility

• What counts as credibility differs among groups of people

• O'Keefe (1990) defined credibility as "judgments made by a perceiver concerning the believability of a communicator"

• In other words “credibility is in the eye of the beholder”

• The two most important elements in establishing credibility are expertise and trustworthiness

Credibility is subject to change over time

What will compromise your credibility in the short and long term?

• A single spelling error on a resume of cover letter could seriously undermine your competitiveness in applying for an internship or job.

Two kinds of credibility

Extrinsic: what people know about you before they read your work or

hear you speak

Intrinsic: what we do within a communication setting through our

actions.

Putting ethos to work in your writing• Know your material• Cite evidence (Reinard, J.C. (1988) Human Communication Research,

15,3-59).

• Share your interest, experience, and expertise• Have your reader’s best interest in mind• Identify similarities with your reader• If you lack extrinsic credibility increase your reader’s

involvement with the topic, which will help focus them on the topic more than the messenger (Petty and

Cacioppa, 1986).