Sign in

English 9

Unit 7

Argument and Rhetoric

6 topics · 24 practice questions · Free responseNot yet reviewed

Take the unit testFlashcards

Notes

Building an argument

  • A claim is a debatable position. Reasons and evidence support it; reasoning explains the link.
  • A counterclaim is the opposing view; a rebuttal answers it.
  • Good evidence is relevant, sufficient and credible.

Appeals and devices

  • Ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), logos (logic and facts); kairos is good timing.
  • Devices: rhetorical questions, repetition and anaphora, parallelism, antithesis, loaded language.

Fallacies

  • Ad hominem (attack the person), straw man (distort the argument), bandwagon (everyone does it), false dilemma (only two choices).
  • Slippery slope (chain of extreme results), hasty generalization (too little evidence), red herring (distraction), circular reasoning (claim proves itself), false authority (non-expert).

Topics in this unit

Each topic has its own short notes and practice.

Practice

"As a firefighter for 15 years, I urge you to check your smoke alarms." The main appeal is:
Which is a rebuttal in an essay arguing for school uniforms?
"You either support the new stadium or you don't care about our city." This is a:
When asked about rising lunch prices, the principal says, "Let's not forget our football team won the championship!" This is a:
In the Gettysburg Address (1863), Lincoln said, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." This line mainly uses:
Claim: "Teens should get part-time jobs." Which evidence is strongest?

Free response

Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.

Free-response question

Read this original speech excerpt: "Every day, our school throws away 200 pounds of food. Think of the families in our own town who go to bed hungry. As president of the student council, I have met with the cafeteria staff, and they agree a food donation program is possible. Some say it will cost too much, but local food banks have offered to pick up donations for free. Why waste food when we can feed our neighbors?"

(a) Identify the speaker's claim.

Show the answer and scoring guide

The school should start a program to donate leftover cafeteria food instead of throwing it away.

Check off the points you earned:

(b) Identify an example of ethos, pathos and logos in the excerpt.

Show the answer and scoring guide

Logos: "our school throws away 200 pounds of food." Pathos: "families in our own town who go to bed hungry." Ethos: "As president of the student council, I have met with the cafeteria staff."

Check off the points you earned:

(c) Identify the counterclaim and evaluate the rebuttal.

Show the answer and scoring guide

The counterclaim is that the program will cost too much. The rebuttal, that food banks will pick up donations for free, is effective because it directly answers the cost concern with a specific fact, though more detail about other costs would make it stronger.

Check off the points you earned:

Previous unitUnit 6: Reading Nonfiction