[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi, everyone. I'm MacKenzie. And today we're learning about reading for argument. Have you ever noticed that strong arguments tend to be rather complex? In this tutorial, we'll learn about the definition of and we'll look at examples of argument. We'll learn how to identify an argument. And we'll learn how to use the rhetorical situation to analyze an argument.
We'll begin by discussing the definition of argument. An argument is the point the author is trying to make in the writing. The author is trying to convince the reader of something. And that something is the argument. It's important for us to study argument because many of the readings we'll study while learning about composition will include some sort of argument. And the better we are at identifying the different parts of an argument, the better we'll be at determining the quality and effectiveness of the argument itself.
Here are some examples of what arguments typically sound like. I may argue that Facebook is unhealthy for teenagers. Perhaps I argue that alcohol advertising should be banned. Maybe I argue that zoos are valuable educational resources. Or I could argue that global warming is a serious environmental concern.
Each of these or points that could be argued one way or the other. I could argue that they are true or not true. I could argue that they are good or not good. I could argue that they should be done or should not be done. That's the basis of an argument.
Now that we know what an argument is, we can learn how to identify different components of an argument so that we can assess the effectiveness of an argument. . The first thing we'll look for is a thesis, which is one very specific statement in which the author tells us what the argument is and why it's being made. There will also be a central claim. This is the general idea of what the argument is. It will likely appear in the thesis and other places throughout the argument as well.
We then look for key instances of reasoning. These are pieces of logic or other forms of reasoning that explain why the author has this particular viewpoint for the argument. And key pieces of evidence will help to explain the author's reasoning for the argument. I'm going to show us an example of an argument. Take a moment to pause the video and read the example. Then we'll discuss.
To analyze this argument, first we're looking for the thesis-- one very specific statement that tells us what the argument is and why it's being made. In this case, the thesis is the last sentence of the paragraph. This tells us that the argument is that parents should not purchase pets for their children.
And now we have the reason for the argument-- because the benefits of providing a pet for children are overshadowed by the numerous costs and consequences of allowing children to have pets. The thesis tells us what the argument is and why it's being made. That makes it easier for us to locate the central claim, which is the general idea of what the argument is. Not only is it mentioned in the thesis itself, but it's also mentioned previously. The author also alludes to it earlier in the paragraph.
And now we look for key pieces of evidence and reasoning. Here the author says pets are messy, expensive, and time consuming-- that's the evidence-- each of which puts strain on busy parents. That's the reasoning. The author's explaining to us why he or she feels this way, giving a valid reason and evidence to support that reason. Now that we know how to identify the different components of an argument, we can evaluate the effectiveness of the argument itself.
Aside from identifying the different components of the argument to assess the effectiveness of the argument, we can also use the rhetorical situation to further examine the argument. We think critically about the purpose, audience, context, and author's background to give us more insight into the argument.
The purpose is the reason why the author is writing the information. The audience is the person or people for whom the author wrote the information. The context is the reason why the author wanted to write the information. And the author's background helps us to understand where the author's coming from. I'm going to show us the same example we had just looked at previously. Let's use this example to analyze the rhetorical situation of this argument.
We first think about the author's purpose. Is it to inform, to persuade, to entertain? It appears as though this is a persuasive topic. The author wants to write in such a way that we will agree with his or her viewpoint on the topic.
Now we think about the audience. Who did the author write this information for? It appears as though the author wrote this information specifically for parents of children. It does not appear as though the essay was written for the children themselves. If that were the case, the essay would be written in a much different way. It's clear that the audience is parents of children because the topic is very specifically geared toward the behavior of parents and that they should not purchase pets for their children.
Now we think about the context. The author alludes to the context by saying that pets are messy, expensive, and time consuming, which puts strain on busy parents. The key reasoning and evidence helps to give us a context. Why did the author want to write this information?
And the argument even gives us a little information about the author's background to help us to understand where the author's coming from. The author said, when I was young, I wanted a pet cat. And my brother wanted a pet dog. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized why our parents never allowed us to have any pets while we were growing up.
So the author is explaining that he or she used to feel differently about the topic but has since changed his or her mind and has a different viewpoint. Analyzing the argument using the rhetorical situation gives us more insight with which we can determine the effectiveness of this argument.
In this tutorial, we looked at the definition of and examples of argument. We learned how to identify an argument. And we learned how to analyze an argument using the rhetorical situation. Strong arguments are rather complex. I'm MacKenzie. Thanks for listening.