Class 12 THU FEB 23
Life Choices

Mandatory Conference 2
A reminder. Your 2nd Mandatory Professor Conference, “Evaluate Your Thesis Progress” was to have been completed by today, THU OCT 13.” If you haven’t had a conference, follow the link to the Conference Chart and set one up. Make a note of this in your Agenda Notes for today so I know you’ve seen it.
Writing Mechanics
DUE TODAY IN CLASS or by 11:59 pm today
Lecture
The Bobblehead Strategy

Claims Work
The sales pitch version of the LASIK story designed to be soothing while acknowledging the slightly barbaric-looking process of carving a flap into a patient’s cornea.

The hilarious result of grabbing whatever graphic is available for inclusion in your sales material:

Our actual class work

- Link to the Lasik Surgery Claims Demonstration
- A lecture on claims that includes a chart for applying several claims types to your own hypothesis.
Aristotle: Logos Ethos Pathos
Lasik Surgery
-Took time to perfect
-very dangerous in beginning stages
-went from man power (surgeon with scalpels), to computer controlled machines with precision
-Images for sales show a very safe and secure depiction
-Hides the apprehension of what the procedure actually is.
-Second image does an incredibly horrible job of persuading people to undergo lasik
Claims Demonstration
Aristotle made appeals to audience’s:
Reason (logos)
Emotions(Pathos)
Ethics, Character and authority (ethos)
Toulmin
-made claims and supported them with grounds
-based his arguments on warrants (value of which argument rest)
-backing adequately explains and which perplexes readers
Rogers
-concetrated on finding areas of common ground
-shared problems
-difference of opinion or misunderstanding
-how to resolve these issues
Claims are open to challenge
-not all claims need to be proved
-your audience isn’t everyone, it is a specific group you’re targeting
-don’t focus on persuading, but supporting your own claim
-looking for common ground/goals
-minimize disagreement and promote conversation.
Resemblence Claims to Parents
-Both have gotten the best technology at the time regardless of side affects or cost
-Lasik is best technology and risk are minimal in relation to proven results
-What type of claim supports this argument?
-You could fill this out in the chart to find out what claims supports which topic.
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Nice Notes.
I like that you took the time to record the Resemblance claims.
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In class today, we discussed different types of claims through the claims made in LASIK surgery sales pitches. We also went over a graphic from a LASIK eye surgery site, that doesn’t support the intentions or claims of the website. We then went over the models of argument, which are the Classical Model, Toulmin Model, and Rogerian Model. In the Classical Model, Aristotle made appeals to his audience’s reason (logos), to their emotions (pathos), and to their sense of authority (ethos), without ever calling anything a claim. Toulmin made claims and supported them with backing. Rogers concentrated on finding areas of common ground and solving shared problems. Not all claims need to be proved, as unstated claims often go unnoticed. We identified different types of claims in an example situation of a student convincing others to pay for her LASIK surgery. We identified categorical claims, definitional claims, causal claims, resemblance claims, evaluation claims, and proposal claims in this argument. We discussed how the claims made to her parents would not be the same ones she makes to the insurance company. We then went over a model definition essay.
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This might be the most important Note of the day, ZZBird.
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English Comp II Lecture Notes (10.12.21)
Claims Work (lecture and task)
• LASIK example
o sales site
• Claims Demonstration
o types of claims
o modes of arguments
Classical model
Toulmin model
Rogerian model
o Aristotle
logos (reason)
ethos (ethics, character, and authority)
pathos (emotions)
o Steven Toulmin
made claims supported by grounds (evidence), based on warrants (the values which the arguments rests) which rests on backing (no adequate textbook definition)
o Rogers
common ground
shared problems
differences of opinions
solutions and limitations
resolve differences
o Your argument is the calm voice in the room
o Example Claim
Claim to parents
• “Lasik belongs to the category effective surgeries.”
• “Lasik belongs to the category safe procedures for twenty-year-olds.”
• “Ava belongs to the category good candidates for Lasik.”
o categorical claims
• “Radial keratotomy is a discredited experimental procedure using scalpels.”
• “Lasik is advanced technologically-proven laser surgery”
o definitional claims
• “Glasses and contacts cause serious problems for divers.”
• “Lasik would solve a serious problem for Ava.”
• “Easier access to underwater research would result in professional advantages.”
o casual claims
• “Lasik today resembles eyeglasses and contacts lenses of yesterday.”
• “Ava’s situation resembles her parents’ situations in their youth.”
• “The best solution for Ava resembles the best solution for earlier generations.”
• “The costs and risks of Lasik now resemble the costs and risks of earlier remedies”
o resemble claims
• “Risks are minimal compared to proven results.”
• “The high initial investment is a bargain compared to a lifetime of escalating expenses.”
• “The psychological and career benefits are not balanced by any benefits of glasses.”
o evaluation claims
• Proposal Argument
o Ava’s arguments will follow a problem/solution/and justification structure
o Not everyone will be interested in your own paper (but write for the person who is or reel them in)
Definitional/Categorical Unit
• Model Definition Essay
• “A Protected Class that Deserves Heightened Scrutiny”
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Very thorough.
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Today in class we are talking about claims. We began with a comedic example using a graphic about LASIK surgery. We discussed models of argument and how they can improve our paper. All models of arguments make claims – your thesis itself is a claim. Not all claims need to be proved (ex. Readily accepted claims, unstated claims, etc). You should know your audience before you write your paper to improve your claim.
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Covers the essentials.
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Claims work:
-Models of argument
-Aristotle: Made appeals to his audience’s reason, to their emotions, and to their sense of ethics, character, and authority, without ever calling anything a claim
-Toulmin: Made claims, supported them with grounds, based his arguments on warrants, which in turn rest on backing
-Rogers: Concentrated on finding areas of common ground and solving shared problems. After identifying where we agree, he examined differences of opinion or perhaps misunderstandings, compared recommended solutions and their limitations, then offered ways to resolve differences
-Claims are assertions open to challenge
-All three argument models make claims through only Toulmin uses the term
-Not all claims need to be proved
-Unstated claims often go by unnoticed and require no proof
-Claims to which no readers would be likely to object can safely be made without proof
-Claims that would be readily accepted by your intended audience require no proof
-Your paper is a calm voice from the back that asks “what are we actually disagreeing about here?”
Model Definition Essay:
-A protected class that deserves heightened scrutiny
-Class is presence required but some are excused
-Those with covid
-Those unvaccinated due to underlying conditions
-What do these students have in common
-Must be cleared to go to class
-Categories of students
-Have been vaccinated and cannot attend
-Have no been vaccinated and cannot attend
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This “protected class” stuff won’t make sense until Thursday’s class.
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– we started class by going over what lasik is and david showed us a funny picture that “supports” lasik surgery that was very funny
– aristotle appealed to his audience’s logos, pathos, and ethos
– logos : reason, pathos: emotions, ethos: ethics
– Toulmin made claims, supported those claims with grounds, based his arguments on warrants, which end up resting on warrants, which then rest on backing
– Carl Rogers focused on finding areas of common ground and solving shared problems
– the three different models all make claims
– not every claim needs to be proven; unstated claims, claims where readers would likely object, and claims that would be easily accepted by your audience
– the arguments will follow a problem/solution/justification structure
– purpose of a title is to communicate to their readers what your work will be about; creating a unique title will help pull the reader in
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This is nice:
Nobody else has mentioned it yet.
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-be careful when choosing a graphic. make sure it has the same agenda as you paper
Claims Demo:
-ethos, logos, and pathos: methods of proposal
-ethos: ethics, character, and authority
-logos: reason
-pathos: emotions
-make sure the reader understand your premises
-establish common ground before beginning an argument
-keep your reader engaged by setting goals that one paragraph will convince the reader to read the next
-build a claims chart for the final paper
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Four very good observations here, stated in the imperative, which makes them instructions:
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Claims work
Identifying causes (x=y or x causes y)
Aristotle
Logos – appeal to the audience’s reason (logic)
Ethos – a sense of ethics, authority, and character
Pathos – appealing to the audience’s emotions
Stephen Toulmin
– said claims were a thesis, which was followed by many other smaller claims
– Grounds = what we call evidence
– Warrants = the values where the argument would rest (ethical & moral justifications for the argument)
– Backing = adequately explains reasons (for the argument)
Carl Rogers
– Created a common ground for shared values
– All moral and ethical justifications are built on something more
– Wanted to find something that could benefit everyone (He was more interested in the common ground than shared problems)
“He did not create a winner or a loser.”
Not all claims need to be proved!
– “Don’t tell me I’m writing for everyone” (You cannot persuade everyone)
When writing, you need to make sure it is clear what you are disagreeing about
You may even hook somebody in the first paragraph (so do not waste the chance)
Definitional claims can be positive or negative
The Premise: The class is “Presence Required,” but some students will be excused from having to attend in person.
– Students that would be automatically be excused, are students that have covid. (Or students that have been exposed to covid.) Students can also be excused if they do not have the vaccine. (Such as students that cannot physically get the vaccine.)
– They can still do the work-at-home rather than physically be present in the classroom
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These prove you were paying attention:
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Class Notes-10/12/21
In essay arguments, claims are used to persuade the audience through logical reasoning as the defensive measure. That does not pose a threat to the reader and would result in a positive outcome for society. Claims that support the thesis, evidence that support the thesis, and the value of the argument for everyone to agree on a couple of solutions to resolve disagreements. Aristotle’s appeals include logic (logos), emotion (pathos), and ethics, character, and authority (ethos) are a part of. Claims must be difficult for your readers to understand and sometimes claims cannot be proven until the audience validates them. To be understood, claims should not be refuted in debates and must find a resolution between differences. For argument paragraphs, Claims must always have a hook for the reader and can be classified as definitional (what is it?) , causal (does this cause that?), or resemblance (is this like that?) as well as evaluation (is this good or bad? Or Is this a good thing or a bad thing?) as well as a proposal (should we do this?) as a resolution including category (is this a that?).
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Your phrasing is always unique, Levix.
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Aristotle is the one we owe the idea of appealing to audience’s reason (logos), to their emotions (pathos), and to their sense of character and ethics (ethos). Toulmin made claims and supported them with evidence and based his arguments on warrants (the values on which the argument rests). Evidence is only important if you rest them on warrants, the moral and justification of the evidence. Rogers focused on finding areas of common ground. Rogers wanted to achieve a common good outcome that rests on shared values. Rogers was all about compromise and about resolution of an argument that does not create a winner and a loser.
Claims are available in all models of these arguments. Not all claims need to be proved. You can’t persuade every one of every argument. It doesn’t help you if you cannot figure out your audience and who your argument is going to puzzle. Claims that are accepted by your audience do not need to be proved. With a question liked “What are we actually disagreeing about here?” sounds like a question the Rogers would propose.
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I’m unclear about the puzzle part, but this is good advice about knowing your audience.
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-Models of argument. Aristotle contributed to a lot of modern thought. He is the reason we can appeal to the reason, emotions, and authority of an audience.
-Steven Toulmin first describes claims as to the thesis and all the smaller claims that support the thesis that rests on grounds. We have claims that are being supported by evidence.
-Rogers wasn’t interested in winning arguments, he wanted to achieve a common good outcome that rest on shared values.
– Claims are available in all the models of argument, and it’s open to challenge. And not all claims have to be proved.
-Ava is trying to get laser eye surgery, she’s trying to convince either her parents or insurance company to pay for the full cost. But sh will not use the same argument in order to convince both parties.
-Avas mom read serious complications, her mom is going through regular mom overthinking. Ava needs categorical claims such as being a good candidate for eye surgery.
-Avas dad believes that a shakey guy would cut into her eye. And needs a definitional claim to convince her father that the surgery procedure is different.
-Ava now needs to explain why she needs it in the first place. But she needs casual arguments like using her hobbies in order to convince her parents that it would be beneficial to her.
-Now Ava has to discredit glasses and contacts and needs a resemblance claim that eye surgery would be more beneficial for her compared to glasses.
-Ava’s arguments are evaluation claims, weighing the benefits are better than the risk. And her argument would follow a problem/solution/justification structure.
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Very nice. Thorough and accurate.
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Claims
-The different types of Aristotelian claims appeal logos (reason), pathos (emotion), and ethos (ethics, character, authority)
-Claims are backed by evidence and evidence is only useful if it’s based on warrants-values of the claim such as logos, pathos, and ethos
-Some people concentrate on finding common ground, observing differences of opinion, comparing solutions, and resolving differences rather than using a harsher way of argument that convinces the reader to accept the claim
-Some claims are not worth exploring because they are universal truths
-Specifically, claims that would be accepted for the intended audience don’t require proof-tailor the claim to people who may dispute it
-The point of our writing is to be the calm voice in the room that gets people to understand the argument and find a place to agree on it
-Write for the person who wants to learn something new about your topic, not for everybody
-Persuasion will include categorical, definitional, causal claims, and others in order to convince the audience that the writer is correct
-After writing some of the paper, go back to analyze the claims used and how effective they are
-The purpose of the title of the paper is to grab reader’s attention and make them want to read the paper
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Excellent observations that you have phrased as instructions:
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The essay poses a rhetorical question immediately. We question how many kids need to be paralyzed before someone actually makes an effort to eradicate polio. How much suffering will it take to get it through peoples heads. This grabs your attention as it is blunt and borderline harsh. Now we answer the question or at least go into detail about it so that our reader knows our claim that we want to support.
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Thank you for this, Minutemen. I was expecting to see it below the “Political Paralysis” argument, but it’s fine that it’s here.
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In class we started out with a very funny example of why it’s important to pay attention to detail. The Lasik sales website clearly threw in the first graphic they found and probably lost a lot of customers without knowing it. We then went over claims and how we draw inspiration from Aristotle, Toulmin, and Rogers. The ethos, logos, pathos idea tells us to pay attention to the audience’s ethics and morals, reasoning, and emotions. Toulmin is the one who actually used claims and supported them with evidence, or grounds.
A reader who already completely agrees with your claims is not really worth talking to because they can’t be persuaded if they are on your side. The people who automatically disagree with you and don’t seem like they’re going to change their minds are not the target audience either. The best audience is the margin of people who are logical and open minded enough to have their opinions changed by strong claims with good evidence.
The example of Ava convincing her parents to pay for her Lasik eye surgery was very informative. It showed a type of problem-solution format and used many different techniques throughout to support her claims. Something Mister David said during class was that it’s good to present a problem before making any argument. This made me think of my hypothesis and how I am going to present the issue in order to lead up to the solution. I could go more in depth but basically he unintentionally gave me ideas for my intro.
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Unintentionally my ass. 🙂
This is really strong:
And the paragraph that follows is the best kind of Note-taking, where you use the space to remind yourself what you’ve learned TO DO with the subject matter. This is a performance course. Information is fine, but process is king.
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Models of Argument
Aristotle: The classic, logical approach to argument. Making appeals to logos (logic/reason), ethos (ethics/character) , and pathos (emotions).
Toulmin: Based arguments on warrants, the values that these arguments rest on. Makes claims, then backs them up at a goal to win the argument. Correlated with evidence,
Rogers: A softer approach to an argument, hoping that both sides will come out with a win. Examines difference of opinion and attempts to find middle ground.
Not all claims need to be proved. Unstated claims do not require proof. Claims which no reader is likely to object can be made without proof. Claims to be accepted by your intended audience do not need proof.
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Covers the essentials.
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What I learned in class today:
– don’t get lasik eye surgery
– Aristotle made appeals to his audience’s logos, ethos, and pathos
– logos is appealing to the audiences logic
– ethos is appealing to the audiences ethnics
– pathos is appealing to the audiences emotion
-Toulmin made claims and supported them with evidence and statistics
– Not all claims need to be proved
– don’t need to prove anything if nobody would object
– audience is people who are interested in the initial proposal
– don’t persuade anyone who already agrees with your claim
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Good to hear!
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Notes 10/12
In today’s class, we talked about logos and how it is reasoning, pathos is emotions, and ethos is ethics, character, and authority. Grounds is the evidence we gather from other sources. “Rogers concentrated on finding areas of common ground and solving shared problems.” He examined differences of opinion or perhaps misunderstandings, compared recommended solutions and their limitations, then offered ways to resolve differences. Unstated claims often go unnoticed and require no proof. Claims to which no readers would be likely to object can safely be made without proof. Claims that would be readily accepted by your intended audience require no proof. The 6 different claims are categorical, definition, consequential, resemblance, evaluation, and proposal.
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There are undoubtedly dozens of claims types.
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Claims
-It is important to use various models of arguments
-Using multiple types of claims allows you to address/appeal to the reader in different ways
-Aristotle- appealed to the audience’s reason (logos), emotions (pathos), and their ethics/morals (ethos)
-Toulmin- made claims and supported them with strong, smaller claims and evidence. Made arguments based on warrants.
-Rogers- found a common ground, identifying where an opinion is shared, then offered ways to resolve differences. Everyone wins the argument.
-All claims are assertions
-Some claims do not need to be proved, often depending on your audience
-It is important to be conscious of what types of claims need to be made and how much evidence it will take to persuade your intended audience (those whose minds you are likely to change)
-Refer to claim types chart to help identify which type of claims will be most beneficial to use for a particular argument
-A good example of an argument structure to follow is problem/solution/justification
-The goal of writing is to make each sentence interesting enough that the reader wants to read the next sentence
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Nice blend of information and prescription.
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Todays class:
Claims work on Lasik Surgery
Expensive and dangerous procedure
Lasik is an irreversible surgery
Models of argument
Usage of classical model
Toulmin model
Rogerian model
Aristotle
reasons, emotions (logos/pathos)
Ethics, character, authority (ethos)
Rogers concentrated on finding areas of common grounds and shared problems
Not all claims need to be proved
There is always an audience that you need to relate to
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If these work for you.
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We talked about the LASIK eye surgery at the beginning of class, I do t think it really related to anything besides that the website contradicted itself by putting an image that was against LASIK.
We discussed how to identify the 5% that we would be writing to convince or inform about our topic.
We talked a about Aristotle’s arguments as well as retouched on the arguments from earlier and how to use them to convince your audience.
Not all claims need to be said or proven, some are universally agreed upon and some just makes sense without needing to argue.
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Couldn’t resist the entertainment value of the anti-lasik graphic.
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We looked at two sales pitches for a Lasik procedure and looked at one example where they didn’t look at the graphic they used and had a very bad graphic for making people want to get Lasik from this place. Aristotle’s arguments and proposals were made to appeal to people’s reasons, emotions, and sense of ethics, character, and authority. Toulmin made claims based on warrants (the values of the arguments) and supported them with grounds. Rodgers said winning an argument is worth is when everyone can win the argument, and wanted to find a common ground to solve problems that people with different opinions have. Most claims/ facts have the ability to be challenged and need to be proved, but there are other claims that don’t need to be proved as no person would object to them. The audience of the arguments you are making should be people that are willing to listen and have the ability to be convinced about your view on the argument. Different claims bring the subject into the question in different ways so it’s important to use the correct claim with the argument you are making. Different parts of an effective argument use logos, pathos, and ethos to create a convincing claim to the audience of your argument.
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Nice
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Oops, I thought my comment went through yesterday.
The main point of the class that which arguments you should make depend on which audience you are targetting.
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The essay, “Heightened Scrutiny” lacked any source references that could have supported the claim that gays and lesbians are still discriminated against despite being designated as a protected class by the constitution. However, it obtains enough evidence from outside sources, in its own words and interpretation, to appeal to the audience with a logistical analysis of hate crimes based on sex orientation on how safe the government can be for these groups. It contained traces of such quotes that were used as supporting evidence with who is saying it. When introducing government cases and branches, as well as selecting people such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as subject for this essay, importance was given to both. More quotes are used in “Political Paralysis,” and the sources are incorporated into the essay so that readers can look them up including the authors’ name. The definition/claim essay strategy would be to find good definitions for important terms for the essay while providing more relevant evidence for adding information on the topic at hand.
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Claims Work
Claims demonstration:
Aristotle made appeals to his audience’s reason (logos), to their emotions (pathos), and to their sense of ethics, character, and authority (ethos), without ever calling anything a claim. Toulmin made claims (the thesis is the first claim, followed by many smaller claims), supported them with grounds (evidence), based his arguments on warrants (the values on which the argument rests), which in turn rested on backing. Rogers concentrated on finding areas of common ground and solving shared problems.
All 3 argument models make claims, though only Toulmin uses the term. Your thesis- your premise/central assumption, is a claim because what you intend to prove is an assertion that is open to challenge
Not all claims need to be proved
Arguments follow a problem/solution/justification structure
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Good Notes, CN
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DO NOT get eye surgery
Sources are important to convince your audience of your point
Appeal to the feelings and emotions of your audience in order to convince them accurately and successfully
All arguments are based off of claims which need to be backed up by evidence
Creating convincing claims is the backbone of successful arguing
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