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Greer Hutchison

Mrs. Miller

AP Language

August 30, 2013

Component 1: Thank You for Arguing Persuasion in Action Project

Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinriches is a novel that gives you the inside scoop as to

how to form a credible argument by using the art of persuasion. Throughout the summer, I was

able to put some of the techniques I learned into action. One of the techniques that I found rather

doable was the first “Try This” activity presented in the book in chapter one. When I was at

Starbucks with my brother, we both ordered our separate drinks that we both believed we had a

taste for at the time. He ordered a “Grande iced mocha” as I ordered a “Grande black iced tea

lemonade”. We then scampered on over to a table in order to sit and satisfy our taste buds. The

following is the dialog to what happened next.

“I just remembered something.” My brother Raymond said after he took a sip of his

coffee with a disappointed expression.

“What’s wrong?” I inquired.

“I don’t like Starbucks coffee” He stated.

Feeling bad that his expectations weren’t met, I allowed him a sip of my tea.

“Do you like it?” I questioned, preparing to offer a trade if the answer was yes.

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“No…” He said with a hesitant linger to contradict his statement.

I then went on to give him my drink, but being the people pleaser he is, he refused to allow me to

willingly give up my beverage to make him happy. Then again, being the person I am, I didn’t

mind switching drinks, nor did I want him to be disappointed. With that said, I decided to see if I

could put my new persuasive knowledge to good use.

“I’ve never actually ordered this before you know? I don’t really think I like it.” I said

deceitfully. “What would you say if I wanted your drink? I haven’t had coffee yet today and I’m

really tired.”

“Then what would you do with your drink if you take mine? He questioned hoping for

the answer I was ready to give him.

“Well, I suppose you could have it, if you like it better than your drink that is!” discreetly

indicating that he should take it.

The plan to use rhetorical jujitsu was definitely beneficial when trying to convince my

stubborn brother of anything. He then snatched my drink from right out in front of me with a grin

rising from cheek to cheek. Instead of trying to convince him to stop lying to himself and take

what was offered to him, I switched the roles and made it seem as if I wanted his drink. In the

end I was happy with my mocha and even happier that my brother was happy. I plan to use this

technique much more often on him.

In chapter eleven on page 111, the “Try This” situation suggests that “It is better to

employ your opponents language than to deny it.” In other words, it proposes that you throw

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your opponent a bone as opposed to setting a negative tone for the argument that is to follow. I

frequently have these kinds of arguments with many people. One person in particular that I used

this technique on is my Mom. As you may have concluded from my previous dialogue, I am not

against a good cup of coffee. In fact, I thrive on coffee. At home, my Mother insists on buying

Folgers Breakfast Blend to make in our old coffee pot. In my opinion, every time I drink it, it

gets worse and worse. I thought of trying to get her to simply switching to a Keurig coffee maker

but she had previously said it would be too expensive. I thought about it quite a bit and came

back to her ready to give every bit of evidence in order to persuade her in my direction.

“Mom, may we have a talk? I have a proposal for you” said in my most mature and

confident tone.

“Uh-oh, what do you want” Mother replied in a playful yet serious attitude.

“I think that we should discuss getting a Keurig coffee maker, and I have various reasons

as to why we should” I again stated with confidence.

“Alright, let’s hear it.” She says with an expression of doubt.

“As you know, I constantly complain about the coffee you buy but you say that this way

of making coffee is easier and cheaper. Well, I have reason to believe that this is not true and a

way to fix all the problems we may have when it comes to our coffee needs. First of all, since we

like different kinds of coffee, this machine allows us to make the brands we like without forcing

ones we don’t on one another. With the current coffee pot we have, we also can never make the

right amount that we will have enough for the both of us without having to leave a bunch behind

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that we never drink. If we add up the price of the coffee we end up actually not drinking, it

would probably end up being more expensive than investing in this machine that makes one cup

of coffee at a time.” I argued.

“But what about when we have company over? It will take so much longer to get

everyone coffee.” She said thinking she had put my argument at rest.

“I understand where you would think that, but here is the thing. If we have a few guests

over for company, take Mike’s parents (my stepdad’s parents) as an example. As long as

someone, such as myself, is standing there interchanging the single cups of coffee, it won’t take

very much longer to make the individual cups than the big pot. With the big pot it took about ten

to fifteen minutes to brew while the Keurig only takes about thirty seconds per cup. That would

be approximately three minutes to make six cups of coffee. When making coffee this way, we

can also have regular coffee for those who want regular and decaf for those who want decaf

without forcing someone to compromise. We will not be wasting any extra coffee that has to be

poured out because we overestimated the amount of coffee everyone would want as well.” I said

proud of how things were going.

“We have a bunch of containers of coffee around the house that I would be wasting if we

got this machine. Your plan was not thought out that far.” She assumed

I followed with, “I can see why you would think that but one thing that I don’t think you

know about this coffee maker is that it comes with a little cup and filter that you can put the

coffee you already have around the house and brew it separately along with the cups with coffee

already in them that you get made specifically for the machine.”

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“I didn’t know about that actually. That may change things now. I think I may look into

that.” My mother said to end this argument.

Using this technique I was able to convince my Mother to look into getting a Keurig

coffee maker. I didn’t disagree with her language to aggravate her. I kept calm and, like

Heinrichs said to, “employ her opinion”. No one yelled and everyone ended up with their voices

heard and needs met. This scenario was a success and I don’t think I’ve ever had such a calm and

productive argument.

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Component 2: Book of Choice Vocabulary Analysis

“Running parallel to this pairing of essentialist and incremental conceptions is the

contrast between dispositional and situational causes of behavior.” (The Lucifer Effect 7)

Definition: Incremental, adj.

1) Increasingly or adding on, especially in a regular series

Analysis:

This sentence itself is a contradiction. It is written as so for us to see how backwards and

contradicting our ways of thinking are. The word incremental is used in order to display the

inconsistency in our observations of other’s behavior. We regularly continue to misconceive the

basic characteristics of others that we don’t understand.

“In a kind of ‘lucid dream’, where one is aware of being an actor in a dream while

still dreaming, I envision that word of this of this incident gets back to the guards.” (The

Lucifer Effect 153)

Definition: Lucid, adj.

1) Readily understood; clear

2) Shining or glowing

3) Psychiatry of or relating to a period of normality between periods of insane or

irresponsible behavior

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Analysis:

I chose this sentence because when I saw this word “lucid” I didn’t know what it meant

and I was curious. This word kind of makes the sentence because it is describing the dream that

he was having and how scary it felt to him because it seemed so real. It brought upon that weird

feeling you get when you know you’re having a dream but you can’t wake up. Describing the

dream as “lucid” showed us as to why he would think the guards would be curious to find out.

They were looking for something to occupy their time and maintain order to the crazies in the

jail, as stated after this sentence.

“The banality of heroism means that we are all heroes in waiting” (The Lucifer Effect

488)

Definition: Banality, noun.

1) The condition or quality of being banal, or devoid of freshness or originality

Analysis:

Without this word in the sentence, you are totally unclear to what exactly they are

referring to. By describing unoriginal idea of heroism, or banality, is bring us to think about

how we all look to be heroes but do not act upon the thought. Instead, we sit around acting

as if we are going to stand up for what we feel is right when the time comes. In actuality, I

take this statement as a technical way of saying we are cowards who do not trust we

believe enough.

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“Most of us have a tendency both to overestimate the importance of dispositional

qualities and to underestimate the importance of situational qualities when trying to

understand the causes of other people’s behavior” (The Lucifer Effect 8)

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Definition: Dispositional, adj.

1) Nature, tendency, final settlement of a matter

Definition: Situational, adj.

1) Conditional, under the circumstances

Analysis:

I was instantly intrigued by this sentence when I came across this page. It really

opened my eyes as to how we actually look at other’s who we hear did wrong. Instead of

searching for the real truth as to the reason behind what happened, we look to blaming

others and judging the book by its cover…which don’t they say not to do? I felt the need to

mention both of these words in my analysis because without them you couldn’t understand

the full point that Zambardo is accusing us to do. By looking just at the dispositional

qualities in people’s behavior, we can tend to misjudge and inaccurately accuse of wrong. If

we were to take the time to look at the situational evidence, we could see into the true

reason as to why the person does what they do. In that case, we would all make informed

and more credible points.

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“For those suffering the mortal malady called cudipidas, whatever exists outside of

one’s self has worth only as it can be exploited by, or taken into one’s self” (The Lucifer

Effect 4)

Definition: Cupididas; noun

1) Avarice, greed, the strong desire for wealth or power over another.

Analysis:

The use of this word in the book is to describe Lucifer’s sin or “sin of the wolf”.

It was used to portray those in the Middle Ages as greedy selfish people that looked to

other’s selves and use them for selfish use. Rape and lust were examples of this because

they were using another to satisfy their own desire. This sentence was used in a sentence

to a paragraph going on about the ways that Satan can get under the skin of the human.

This being by forcing them to focus solely on themselves, they grow futher away from love

and harmony.

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Component 3: Book of Choice Sentence Analysis

“‘Our ability to selectively engage and distinguish our moral standards…helps

explain how people can be barbarically cruel in one moment and compassionate the next’ -

Albert Bandura” (The Lucifer Effect 18)

Analysis:

This quote brings me back to when the difference between dispositional and

situational was brought to the table. Depending on the situation we are in, we choose which

moral code we choose to follow. When other’s opinions come into play, there is a possibility

that we allow their thoughts to overrule our own. No matter what the reason being, by

having the ability to alter our moral standards, we give proof to the fact that we can be

weak beings and really show why Satan tends to look to humans to pay his revenge.

“You are not the same person working alone as you are in a group; in a romantic

setting versus an educational one; when you are with close friends or in an anonymous

crowd; or when you are traveling abroad as when at home base.” (The Lucifer Effect 8)

Analysis:

Previously in the paragraph where this sentence above is pulled from, Zambardo

brings up how we think that our personality is consistent and always the same. He is

correct in saying that that is not true. There is a time and a place for everything and we

adjust ourselves accordingly. With that being said, if you are susceptible to simple changes

in personality for minor reasoning’s, who’s to say you cannot make a drastic change in

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heart in a drastic situation? It is the introduction into his further argument that the most

unexpected person can make a turn for the worst that no one saw coming.

“The evil that persists in our midst must be countered, and eventually overcome, by

the greater good in the collective hearts, and personal heroic resolved of Everyman and

Everywoman.” (The Lucifer Effect 488)

Analysis:

For the most part, many of us hope to affect people in a positive way with our

personality, heart, caring acts and more. This sentence from The Lucifer Effect says no

matter what we do, evil will always be around us, haunting us everywhere we go. Being

human, we are prone to falling captive of sin. It also goes on to say that we must resist the

temptation to do wrong and to do bad. We are tasked with helping the world be the place

that it could be if we all stayed true to our moral code and because the heroes we claim to

be.

“No person is incapable of evil” (The Lucifer Effect 12)

Analysis:

This idea may incline to be very difficult for many to accept. You would never

assume the worst of a person who has shown you nothing but kindness in the past.

Zambaro is simply trying to bring us to accept that we as humans are all susceptible to

extreme wrong doing, there is not one type of person that ends up in jail or on the street,

that there is a chance for all of us to go down that road. I believe that no matter how

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prevalent evil is in our society, as long as we keep a positive attitude on life, have a little

faith, and do our best to remain calm in tough times, we can escape the evil that will forever

attempt to possess us.

Component 4: Article Analysis

Article #1

http://www.judithbarr.com/PowerAbusedPowerHealed/pages/articles-

there.is.bully.in.us.htm (full PDF)

“There Is A Bully in All of Us!” By Judith Barr, September 15, 2010

Topic: Bullying

Who: Parents and Adolescence

What: Explaining how though it is very unfortunate that children get bullied, however, they

bully due to something from their past that is in a sense satisfied by bullying.

When: September 15, 2010

Where: USA

Why: Understand what bullying is and how rampant bullying is in our world.

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The article “There Is a Bully in All of Us!” written by Judith Burr, attempts to explain

the reasoning behind why children my bully. She brings up the ideas that bullying intense

feelings for the victim and bestow so much worry in them that they are too afraid to ask for

help. She goes on to discuss how children that are considered “the bullies” more than likely

had some sort of event in their life occur that caused them to act out in this way. For

example, when a little boy is smacked around when he is a child when he cries for a need,

he will then proceed to grow up and put someone down over their needs or conflicts of

needs. This can be tied in to my book of choice “The Lucifer Effect” because the book also

draws upon how some even that occurred in someone’s life can eventually bring them to

their breaking point as they switch on over from good to bad and commit an evil act.

Article #2

http://nation.time.com/2013/08/30/teen-guilty-of-murdering-georgia-baby-in-stroller/

“Teen Guilty of Murdering Georgia Baby in Stroller” By AP/ Kate Brumback, August 30

2013

Topic: Murder of baby report

Who: Everyone

What: Reporting the brutal murder of a baby in Georgia.

When: August 30, 2013

Where: Marietta, Georgia

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Why: To inform the world a violent and appalling incident

An eighteen year old man was accused of murdering a baby in a stroller in Georgia.

The fact that this was a hurtful and violent act, this is not the reason I chose this article. An

interesting fact about this trial is that the man’s mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial along

with him because of an accusation of tampering with evidence and acquitted of lying to the

police. She was brought to commit an illegal and immoral act in an attempt to save her son

from a crime he commited himself. This relates back to my book of choice “The Lucifer

Effect” because it brings back the idea that no matter who you are, you will bend your back

over and surrender yourself to evil temptation if this situation sees fit. In this case, the

reasoning behind her eventual jail time, was to save her son.

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Component 5: Reflection

By reading Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs, I was able to break down and

comprehend the key points and arguments presented in The Lucifer Effect. “No person is

incapable of evil.” This thought is a crucial statement that is brought up in The Lucifer Effect.

That declaration alone is one that any person could argue with in agreement or disagreement.

The author, Philip Zimbardo, gave several pieces of evidence to back up his accusations during

the course of this book, this statement included.

In Thank You for Arguing, we learn about Aristotle’s form of Rhetoric. This system of

argument is broken down into three branches including Ethos, a credible appeal, Logos, a logical

appeal, and Pathos, the emotional appeal. Rhetoric is a concept that is used to persuade others of

an opposite view to genuinely see you view point as correct. He goes on to teach us all the inside

secrets in “the arts of persuasion”. We learn how to appeal to various audiences, flip the script on

our listeners, use the proper tools in order to illustrate integrity, and all while leaving your

audience in awe with no other option but to agree with you.

In The Lucifer Effect (Understanding How Good People Turn Evil), Mr. Zambardo walks

us through his journey to prove to us that the title of his book is one that is very accurate. By

leading us though the hallways of the Stanford prison, the raping of the Tutsi people of Rwanda,

and many more taboo topics, the real stories of those whose evil acts were exposed to judgment

by ignorant onlookers are put under the microscope and dissected to reveal the meanings behind

why they committed these evil acts. We are forced to look past society’s perceptions of these

“evil” people and sink deep down to the core evidence that allows us to understand what can

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drive us all a little mad. He explains how we as humans have the ability to do good and rescue

the world from their impulsive rushes of torment and anger that pushes us to malevolent acts.

The complex topics of The Lucifer Effect explored the idea of morality and Zimbardo’s

argument that one life altering act can challenge one’s beliefs and test their moral code. With

possessing the knowledge that was attained through reading Thank You for Arguing, it was easier

to grasp the message that Zimbardo was appealing to. Throughout first section of the book, he

uses Pathos, in order to grab our attention and get a taste as to why we should believe that we

could be provoked to go against our values and principles. In the core of the book, after grabbing

our attention, he proceeded to explain his in depth research proving credibility to his argument

by meeting with real people who have been subject to a turn for the worst. In the conclusion of

the book, he goes back to the emotional appeal in order to finally seal the deal as far as believing

that we are all susceptible to evil. Although at the end of the day we are fully aware of what is

wrong, we have to ask ourselves if we judge people too harshly for acting on their compulsions

as there may be a deeper reason for doing what they do when we know nothing of their inner

motive. Would you steal someone else’s innocents in an act of revenge for having yours taken

when you were young? How about avenge your family that was murdered? We all say that we

are not capable of placing hurt on others due to our moral code, but until we are put in that

situation, how could we know? By having us question our mind set at the beginning of the book,

it left our mind open to the idea throughout each and every argument. Towards the end of the

book, he had used so much evidence to back up his theory that even if you didn’t believe it

before, there was no way you could acknowledge that his argument was legitimate.

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Between Thank You for Arguing and The Lucifer Effect I was able to put myself in the

mindset of the authors and really appreciate and recognize the ideas presented in these texts.

Without one or the other, I don’t believe that I would have as deep of an understanding as to the

art of persuasion.