Chapter 17: Strategies for Argumentaion and Persuasion

CHAPTER 17: STRATEGIES FOR ARGUMENTATION AND PERSUATION

1. Prepare your argument. Identify your audience and purpose, generate ideas, gather solid evidence, and develop line of reason.

2. Make and qualify your claim. Draw reasonable conclusions from the evidence and add qualifiers. Make a strong claim that is clearly arguable, defendable, responsible, understandable, and interesting. Distinguish fact from opinion. Develop supportable claims that avoid all or nothing, make truly meaningful claims, use qualifiers to temper your claim.

Types of claims

· Claims of truth

· Claims of values

· Claims of policy

3. Support your claim. Support each point. Gather evidence by using observations, anecdotes, statistics, tests and experiments, graphics, analogies, expert testimony, illustrations, examples, demonstrations, analyses, and predictions. Use evidence; go for quality and variation, not quantity, use inductive and deductive patterns of logic, and reason using valid warrants.

4. Engage the opposition. Make concessions. Develop rebuttals by pointing out the counterargument’s limits, telling the other side of the story, and addressing logical fallacies. Consolidate your claim.

5. Use appropriate appeals. Build credibility by being thoroughly honest, making realistic claims, projections, and promises, and developing and maintaining trust. Make logical appeals by: engaging readers positively, using a fitting tone, aim to motivate not manipulate, don’t trash talk the opposition, and use arguments and evidence that are understandable and readers can appreciate. Focus on readers need by knowing your real readers, picture readers that resist, and use appeals that match needs and values.