Welcome to Seminar 2We will begin on time.

Meanwhile, enjoy chatting.

Welcome to Unit 2!

Making the Pitch: How to Win Friends and Influence Audiences

Focus: advertising and persuasion strategies, including those that lack logical and ethical underpinnings.

You will develop your “big idea” into a mission statement and pitch in this unit’s project.

UNIT 2 reading• Unit 2 overview with discussion of advertising and

deceptive argument• The Kaplan Guide to Successful Writing, pp. 36, 43, 156-

166• Fallacy Gallery [posted in Doc Sharing, Unit 2]• Netemeyer, Andrews, and Burton article on antismoking

advertising [available in Kaplan library, Academic Search Premier database]• O’Hegarty, et. al article on cigarette warning labels [find

link at end of overview reading]3

Unit 2 activities• Invention Lab (Discussion): Develop research questions and a

potential working thesis statement

• Project: “Elevator pitch” of big idea and research strategy

• Tech Lab: Slide presentations, traditional and animated options

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Tech Lab: Slide Presentations

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What is a THESIS?• The main idea expressed in a written or visual work• It may be stated or implied• The author’s hypothesis or argument encapsulated in

a sentence is the THESIS STATEMENT

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Thesis statement • A thesis statement is composed of two parts:

your topic + some point you want to make about your topic.

• Once you’ve chosen your topic, find a research question that you’d like to answer. That will give you your point.

• Without a thesis, your paper lacks direction.

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Thesis statement• What question are you asking?• What is a “big idea” and what are possible solutions for this?• What is a problem/issue in my community/world and how can it

be solved?

Research question• This is a question YOU would like to answer through

your research. • It can help you LIMIT your topic/big idea and provide

you with a focus for a paper or argument.• It should be appropriate to the subject and

limitations of the assignment.

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Sample research questions• WHO benefits from decreased dependence on foreign

oil?• WHAT is the best type of alternative fuel vehicle?• WHEN is the best time to invest in alternative fuel

vehicles?• WHERE is the engine in an electric car?• HOW does an electric car work?• WHY does the US support offshore drilling?• SHOULD the US government offer tax incentives?

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Research question to thesis

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Preliminary thesis (hypothesis)• This is your INITIAL argument, what you think may be the

answer to your research question. • Remember that a preliminary thesis CAN and WILL

change.• It will be TESTED and REFINED through research. • If you are arguing a position, that position should be

clear in the thesis.• Good persuasive thesis statements often include clauses

beginning with “since, because, therefore” that indicate why you feel something should or should not be done.

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Thesis workshop• Share your ideas. What are some potential BIG IDEAS you

might like to focus on this term? • What are some possible RESEARCH QUESTIONS you might like

to explore with this topic?• What are some PRELIMINARY THESIS STATEMENTS you might

wish to pursue?

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What is an ARGUMENT? • An argument is an issue that has at least TWO SIDES.• In order to present your side of the argument, you must know

the various positions on your issue. If you don’t know the arguments for the other side, you leave yourself open to be blindsided by an attack. This is true for everything in life

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What is a DECEPTIVE ARGUMENT?• Deceptive arguments may mislead you, causing

you to believe the wrong information.• Because deceptive arguments often confuse and

distract people, they may take attention from important issues. Deceptive arguments are often more emotionally charged, gaining bigger headlines.

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Recognizing and Avoiding Deceptive Arguments• When researching, you need to read the

information carefully and to apply your best critical thinking skills to what the author is saying. • Analyze and find the “holes” in the arguments

that you are reading. Decide which arguments are valid and which are not.• With practice, you will become better at

detecting deceptive arguments.

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Logical Fallacy: Emotional appeal• Straw man

• False authority

• Appeal to fear

• Bandwagon• Slippery slope

• Someone presents a misleading view of an opposing argument in order to refute the weak or fake argument

• Representing someone as an expert who is not an expert

• Seeking to persuade an audience by scaring them

• Value is placed on popularity• Claim that one event, action

or idea will inevitably lead to another—usually with terrible consequences

Logical Fallacy/Emotional Appeal• Either/or

• Ad hominem

• Hasty generalization

• Appeal to force

• False analogy

• falsely claim that there are only two sides of an argument or two possible outcomes.

• Latin for “to the man.” It generally refers to argument that attacks an individual or group with names or negative insinuations rather than addressing the actual arguments of the individual or group. It is often used as a tactic of diversion or ridicule

• a logical fallacy to make a very broad claim that has little or no support

• suggests that violence will be the consequence of not doing as the speaker says.

• two things are improperly compared in order to make a claim

Bandwagon: the idea that everybody does it or believes it80 percent of Americans dislike the idea of increased taxes;

therefore, the government should reduce taxes in order to improve our economy.

What is weak in this argument?

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Slippery Slope: If A happens, then B will occurIf we legalize same sex marriage, then eventually people will be

allowed to marry their family members or even more than one person; therefore, same sex marriage should not be legalized.

What is weak in this argument?

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Ad hominem: an attack on the character of a person rather than her/his opinions or arguments

Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all liberals and hippies.

What is weak in this argument?

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Post hoc ergo propter hoc: assumes that if 'A'

occurred after 'B' then 'B' must have caused 'A.'

After President Clinton raised taxes, our economy went into decline; therefore the increase in taxes caused our economic downturn.

What is weak in this argument?

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Appeal to Authority: If X says so, it must be so. President Ronald Reagan supported the death penalty;

therefore, we should continue to support capital punishment.

What is weak in this argument?

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Begging the Question: accept this conclusion without evidence (also may present an argument where the premise and conclusion are the same)

Active euthanasia is morally acceptable. It is a decent, ethical thing to help another human being escape suffering through death.

What is weak in this argument?

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Applying what you know. . .Let’s review the article by O’Hegarty, et al. • The article concludes that the U.S. should use graphic

warnings on cigarette packages because these are likely to be effective in encouraging people not to smoke. • Is their research valid? Does it have any weaknesses?

Could the hypothesis be tested further? Would the use of graphic warnings be an example of the “appeal to fear” fallacy and, if so, would using them in an anti-smoking campaign be ethical?• What were drawbacks that study participants noted with

some of the ads?• Does their argument rely on any LOGICAL FALLACIES?

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Canadian warnings

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How do we AVOID fallacies in our own writing? • Imagine you disagree with your own argument. Which of your

arguments would not convince you and why? Which arguments are “fishy” or weak?• List your argument. List the evidence you provide for each

claim. Look critically at this evidence.• Ask yourself which fallacies you are prone to make. Look for

these in your arguments. • Review your argument for absolutes and sweeping

generalizations (all, every, never, always)• Review the types of Logical Fallacies listed in the handbook on

pp. 5-6 and review your argument for these problems.27

Unit 2: Evaluating research & logic• Academic arguments use credible research and sound logic.

Research: provides evidence to support or refute claims. Logic: guides how we conduct research, how we put the pieces

of research together, and how we present our arguments.

Unit 2: Analyzing argument• Claim: the main idea of the argument

• Is argumentative: arguing a certain point• debatable

define the essays goals, directions, scope is supported by evidence, quotations, argumentation, statistics, telling details is specific

Research• Credible research starts with a provisional idea (hypothesis.)

Then research is conducted to test the idea. If the research does not support the idea, that is what the researcher reports to the reader.

Research• Academic writers generally seek to base their arguments on

credible research and sound logic. That does not mean that they always succeed.

• You should read every argument carefully and evaluate it on its own merits.

Unit 2 Discussion• Part 1:• Brainstorm four research questions related to your topic.

These questions are what you would like to find out in the process of your research. After writing the four questions, write down what you think the answer will be to each question, based on what you already know.

• (Naturally, your answers to these questions might change as you continue your research, and that is fine!)

Unit 2 Discussion• How much money is spent yearly in the United States on anti-smoking

campaigns? [Provisional answer: I really don’t know yet, but I read that anti-smoking campaign funding is going down and anti-obesity funding is going up.]

• How do researchers determine how well an anti-smoking campaign works? [Provisional answer: Researchers can determine whether an anti-smoking campaign works by using focus groups or surveys to find out if smokers think that the campaign message influences them to change their behavior. Maybe they could also track a study group and a control group over time to see if exposure to certain anti-smoking messages causes the study participants to smoke fewer cigarettes or stop smoking.]

• Is second-hand smoke really harmful? [Provisional answer: Yes. Second-hand smoke is harmful.]

• Should the United States require tobacco companies to include graphic warnings on cigarette packs? [Provisional answer: Yes. The United States should require tobacco companies to include graphic warnings on cigarette packs.] Notice how the first two or three questions may lead to factual answers. However, any answer to the fourth question would probably be a debatable claim, which would make it an appropriate thesis statement for a persuasive argument.

Unit 2 Discussion• Part 2:• Do you think any of your provisional answers might be your

working thesis statement? Which one might be a good thesis? • Please post your first attempt at a thesis statement. • What challenges will you face in trying to prove this thesis?

Unit 2 Discussion• Your response to the two parts of discussion should be

approximately 200-250 words. • Respond to two classmates with posts of a minimum of 100

words each. • In those responses, note any challenges you think your

classmate may face in proving the thesis and any recommendations you have for overcoming those challenges.

Unit 2 Project• Create a “pitch” for your big idea1. Revise the provisional thesis statement that you generated in

the unit 2 discussion, turning it into a concise mission statement that identifies your big idea and its purpose

Unit 2 Project• Do you think this thesis will be an effective one?• If so, discuss a research strategy for finding sources that could

help you to answer your research question. • How will you avoid biased research that uses logical fallacies?

Unit 2 Project• If you feel the thesis statement will not be effective, try

working backwards. • Come up with a working thesis statement and then write the

research question(s) that could lead to that claim. • Discuss a research strategy for finding sources that could help

you to answer that research question. • How will you avoid biased research?

Unit 2 Project• Once you have established a possible thesis statement and

research strategy, write a paragraph creating a “pitch” for your big idea.

• You could write this to a local organization such as a PTA, a larger one like a state legislature, or the audience you imagine you could have on your blog.