class twelve

Hero/Advocate Essay: Details

Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade—Review

Examples: Topic Generation

Non-Fiction Rough Draft: Editing/ Peer Review

HERO/ADVOCATE UNIT

EN 102 -- COMPOSITION

DETAILS: LAST PAPER!!!!!!!!

Hero/ Advocate Unit

EN 102 --COMPOSITION

Using the same template we used for our other assignments

(MAJOR), word-processed, 5-page, 6

source MLA style paper-- based either on a “Hero” (a person who is well documented, and

has historical significance—but is not without controversy), or

for you to be an “advocate” of an

issue,either pro/con.

DUE: 7995 -- April 22 (Last Day of Class) 7766—April 27 (Last Day of Class) … 100 Points … Minimum Word Count: 1000.

Hero/ Advocate Unit


HeroDescribe: DeedsEvaluate: Consequences

AdvocateDescribe: Issue

Evaluate: Pros/ Cons

HERO: Describe: Early—Mid—Late Life; Influences; Defining Moments (When did our Hero decide to commit to the task they are known for? When did our Hero accomplish their task(s)?) Consequences: How has the accomplishment changed the field they contributed to? Is the accomplishment still relevant?

ADVOCATE: Describe: The issue you are taking on; how does it affect people? How many people? What is the fallout from this issue (cost of lives, cost in $$)? What solutions are people looking at, and what achievements have been made? Is there a solution? What are (or were) the barriers to the solution? What is the consequence of the issue being solved (not solved)?

Hero/ Advocate Unit


Examples: Hunter S. Thompson: Interview on anniversary of 9/11:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TowJkhpRaxo

9/11 Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9RJJ66MDaY&feature=relmfu

9/11 Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kilZ9M6UITk&feature=relmfu

Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson

Hunter Thompson’s “masterpiece” is considered by most to be a humorist: “Fear And Loathing In Las

Vegas” , a drug addled road trip to the lurid canvas of Las Vegas, a journalist whose vision was cemented into

our culture with his “gonzo” viewpoint.

Hero/ Advocate Unit


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TowJkhpRaxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9RJJ66MDaY&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9RJJ66MDaY&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kilZ9M6UITk&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kilZ9M6UITk&feature=relmfu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson

Hunter discusses his pet subject, (and one he wrote most passionately about): politics. His books “Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail”, “Generation of Swine”, and myriad other writings. Films have been made about him, but have emphasized the “druggy, crazy” aspect of Thompson.

Notable Quotes: "While Tom Wolfe mastered the technique of being a fly on the wall, Thompson mastered the art of being a fly in the ointment.“

• In a letter to William Kennedy, Thompson confided that he was "coming to view the free enterprise system as the single greatest evil in the history of human savagery“.

• "I'm never sure which one people expect me to be. Very often, they conflict — most often, as a matter of fact. ...I'm leading a normal life and right along side me there is this myth, and it is growing and mushrooming and getting more and more warped. When I get invited to, say, speak at universities, I'm not sure if they are inviting Duke or Thompson. I'm not sure who to be."

Hero/ Advocate Unit


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kennedy_%28author%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_enterprise

Examples: “He told me 25 years ago that he would feel real trapped if he didn't know that he could commit suicide at any moment. I don't know if that is brave or stupid or what, but it was inevitable. I think that the truth of what rings through all his writing is that he meant what he said. If that is entertainment to you, well, that's OK. If you think that it enlightened you, well, that's even better. If you wonder if he's gone to Heaven or Hell, rest assured he will check out them both, find out which one Richard Milhous Nixon went to — and go there. He could never stand being bored. But there must be Football too — and Peacocks..."[37]

While the Washington Post was lamenting Nixon's "lonely and depressed" state after being forced from the White House, Hunter wrote that '[i]f there were any such thing as true justice in this world, his [Nixon's] rancid carcass would be somewhere down around Easter Island right now, in the belly of a hammerhead shark.'[29

Hero/ Advocate Unit


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon





After Nixon's death in 1994, Thompson famously described him in Rolling Stone as a man who "could shake your hand and stab you in the back at the same time" and said "his casket [should] have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. [He] was an evil man—evil in a way that only those who believe in the physical reality of the Devil can understand it.”

Hunter was a contradiction, a rebel, an iconoclast, and a searing voice that spoke against the power structures, and authoritarian mindset. The “myth” of the “druggy” Thompson, was true, but was not what will ultimately last as his legacy.

Hero/ Advocate Unit


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil

Explicit arguments: “Discrimination at Large” (p.198)

Jennifer Coleman tries to persuade people to change attitudes towards heavy people; “such harassment should not be tolerated or perpetuated by anyone who is sensitive and reasonable.”

Implicit arguments: “OK So I’m Fat”(p. 201)

He tries to persuade by humor, using his perceptions about the “superior attitude” of thin people: not to reform his readers’ opinions or behavior.

Chapter 10: Writing To Persuade


Logos: Logic

Pathos: Emotional appeal

Ethos: Ethics, or credibility or authority of the writer



Avoiding Logical Fallacies: (p. 419)

Appeal to false authority

Appeal to fear

Appeal to pity

Bandwagon Appeal

Begging the Question (circular reasoning)

False analogy: false cause: false dilemma

Hasty generalization

Personal (“ad hominem”)

Unqualified generalization

Slippery slope (domino theory)



Illustrations from the Text (p. 412)

In the introduction: help readers see that there is a problem.

Make sure you support your claims with plenty of evidence, analyzed fully.

Anticipate your opponent’s objections, and counter them.

Clarify your view as you provide reasons and analysis

Offer a concession to your opponent that doesn’t undermine your argument and then use it as a way to strengthen your position.

Use sound reasoning and avoid logical fallacies



How do you appeal to your audience?

What is the problem? What is the thesis?

What are the supporting points?

What are the strengths of the argument?

Anticipate, and refute objections?

What are the weaknesses? Any logical fallacies?

Does the ending bring closure to the essay?



Good luck! Finish your Non-Fiction essay, and let’s wrap this semester UP!


…And don’t fall for any of the usual tricks by faulty reasoning…


class twelve

Education