analyzing documentaries …continued. more conventions of arguments: “chapter 16 –what counts as...
TRANSCRIPT
ANALYZING DOCUMENTARIES
•…CONTINUED
MORE CONVENTIONS OF ARGUMENTS:
“CHAPTER 16 –WHAT COUNTS AS EVIDENCE?”
•EVIDENCE & ARGUMENTS• PRECEDENCE – EXAMPLES OF ACTIONS AND DECISIONS THAT ARE
SIMILAR
• DATA – GATHERING AND PRESENTING
• STATISTICS – STATS, NUMBERS, TABLES, CHARTS, GRAPHS
• DEFINITIONS, ANALOGIES, ANALYSES
• SOURCES – FIRSTHAND VS. SECONDHAND
• EXPERIENCE – PERSONAL VS. EXPERT
• QUOTES
• IMAGES – INTEGRATED OR ALONE
DOING YOUR RESEARCH…
FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE • OBSERVATIONS
• FIRST DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AND ANTICIPATE WHAT YOU WILL SEE
• THINK FIRST!
• INTERVIEWS
• CHOOSE WISELY
• HAVE A PURPOSE AND RECORD ALL INFORMATION
• SURVEYS / QUESTIONNAIRES
• HAVE PURPOSE, TEST QUESTIONS, BE CLEAR
• EXPERIMENTS
• CONTROLLED AND EXPLAIN PROCESS
SECONDHAND EXPERIENCE• LIBRARY SOURCES
• DATABASES
• WHICH ARE CREDIBLE IN THE FIELD?
• HOW RECENT SHOULD THEY BE?
• HOW DO I ACCURATELY ‘SEARCH’ / ‘ADVANCED SEARCH?’
• INTERNET
• WHICH CAN I USE?
• WHICH ARE CREDIBLE?
• HOW CAN I USE A SEARCH ENGINE?
CHAPTER 17: FALLACIES OF ARGUMENT
•FALLACIES ARE ARGUMENTS THAT ARE FLAWED – STRUCTURALLY – SO THEY TRULY LESSEN THE ARGUMENT BEING MADE
•RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ETHICS OF AN ARGUMENT, PARTICULARLY IF IT’S FAIR OR ACCURATE
EMOTIONAL FALLACIES• SCARE TACTICS
• EITHER – OR CHOICES
• SLIPPERY SLOPE (TINY MISTAKE TODAY WILL CAUSE HUGE DISASTER TOMORROW)
• SENTIMENTAL APPEAL –GUILT-RIDDEN, KEEP AUDIENCE FROM THINKING CLEARLY
• BANDWAGON – ‘EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT’ APPROACH
ETHICAL FALLACIES
•FALSE AUTHORITY – EXPERT ON ONE THING MAKES ME AN EXPERT ON EVERYTHING
•DOGMATISM – “NO RATIONAL PERSON WOULD DISAGREE…” “IT’S CLEAR TO ANYONE…”
•MORAL EQUIVALENCE – SERIOUS WRONGDOING IS SAME AS MINOR OFFENSE
•AD HOMINEM – ATTACKING THE PERSON’S CHARACTER
LOGICAL FALLACIES• HASTY GENERALIZATION – INFERENCE DRAWN FROM
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
• FAULTY CAUSALITY – FROM LATIN PHRASE ‘POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC’ – AFTER THIS, THEREFORE BECAUSE OF THIS (BECAUSE ONE EVENT FOLLOWED ANOTHER, THE FIRST ONE ACTUALLY CAUSED THE SECOND ONE)
• BEGGING THE QUESTION – CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AS TRUE BECAUSE THE GROUNDS ARE IN DOUBT (YOU CAN’T GIVE ME A “C” – I’M AN “A” STUDENT)
MORE LOGICAL FALLACIES•EQUIVOCATION – TRICK OF LANGUAGE – DOUBLE-
MEANING
•NON SEQUITUR – CLAIMS, REASONS AND WARRANTS FAIL TO CONNECT LOGICALLY; ONE POINT DOESN’T FOLLOW ANOTHER
•STRAW MAN – ATTACK AN ARGUMENT THAT ISN’T THERE
•FAULTY ANALOGY – COMPARISON TAKEN TOO FAR SO THAT IT CAN’T BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
• YOUR ASSIGNMENT: WRITE A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENTARY FILM.
• ANALYZE THE PURPOSE, THE AUDIENCE, AND THE STRATEGIES USED.
• ANALYSIS CAN SUPPORT OR DEFEND THE FILM
• ANALYSIS CAN CHALLENGE OR OPPOSE THE FILM
GETTING STARTED•THESIS = AUTHOR, AUDIENCE,
GENERAL PURPOSE
•AT LEAST 5 SENTENCES = RHETORICAL STRATEGIES AND HOW THEY ARE USED
•CONCLUSION SENTENCE = MUST INDICATE YOUR POSITION (DEFEND OR OPPOSE)
USING VARIOUS TERMINOLOGY
•DEFEND• PRESERVE
• GUARD
• SECURE
• SHIELD
• LOOK AFTER
• SUPPORT
• ENDORSE
• BACK
•CHALLENGE• OPPOSE
• CONFRONT
• DEFY
• DISPUTE
• CONTEST
• OBJECT TO
• QUESTION
• ARGUE
DEFEND: EXAMPLE INTRO PARAGRAPH
• IN AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, AL GORE WANTS TO REACH A LARGE AUDIENCE, PARTICULARLY NONSCIENTISTS, TO STRESS THE URGENCY OF RESPONDING TO GLOBAL WARNING.
• HE ESTABLISHES HIS AUTHORITY OF A PUBLIC SERVANT WHOSE CONCERN STEMS FROM ETHICAL AND MORAL RATHER THAN POLITICAL MOTIVATION.
• HE PROVIDES AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A MULTIMEDIA FORMAT.
• HE APPEALS THE AUDIENCE’S REACTIONS BY JUXTAPOSING WHAT WAS OR IS WITH WHAT MIGHT BE – AND, IN FACT, IS LIKELY TO OCCUR.
• GORE ACKNOWLEDGES SEVERAL COUNTERPARTS, BUT HE REFUTES THEM WITH HUMOR OR ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION.
• HE USES HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AS A FATHER AND BROTHER TO STRESS THE DEEP COMMITMENT THE HAS TO THIS ISSUE.
• AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH EFFECTIVELY SOUNDS THE ALARM FOR GLOBAL WARNING BY OFFERING AN ACCESSIBLE EXPLANATION THAT BLENDS SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION AND HUMAN INTEREST.
CHALLENGE: EXAMPLE INTRO PARAGRAPH• ALTHOUGH AL GORE CLAIMS THAT ONLY MORAL AND ETHICAL CONCERNS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
PROMPTED HIM TO MAKE THE DOCUMENTARY AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, THE FILM IS A THINLY DISGUISED BID FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
• THROUGHOUT THE FILM, HE ESTABLISHES THE STANCE OF A SUCCESSFUL POLITICIAN WHO HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN HIS DUE.
• HE INTERSPERSES HIS SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS WITH CRITICISMS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
• HE MANIPULATES HIS AUDIENCE INTO FEELING A SENSE OF URGENCY BY EXAGGERATING THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING THROUGH BEFORE AND AFTER CONTRASTS.
• HE MENTIONS COUNTERARGUMENTS BUT DISMISSES THEM WITH SARCASM AND DERISIVE HUMOR.
• HE USES THE ARTISTIC ELEMENTS OF DOCUMENTARY FILM TO PULL AT HIS AUDIENCES HEARTSTRINGS BY DESCRIBING THE NEAR-DEATH OF HIS SON AND THE CANCER DEATH OF HIS SISTER, NEITHER OF WHICH IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO HIS SUBJECT.
• AL GORE MAY HAVE A SINCERE CONCERN ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT, BUT AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH IS ONLY A MEANS TO FURTHER HIS AMBITIONS FOR THE PRESIDENCY BY REACHING A LARGE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL VOTERS.
ASSIGNMENT• WRITE 2 SEPARATE INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPHS, ON THAT DEFENDS /
SUPPORTS AND ONE THAT CHALLENGES / DISAGREES WITH , THE ASSERTIONS MADE IN THE DOCUMENTARY BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.
• BE SURE TO INCLUDE AT LEAST 6 SENTENCES THAT EXPLAIN THE LITERARY DEVICES THAT YOU WOULD DISCUSS IN THE PAPER AND END WITH A STRONG THESIS.
• USE ONE OF THE INTRODUCTION METHODS THAT WE LEARNED EARLIER IN THE YEAR – REFER TO YOUR NOTES!
• BRING THESE TO CLASS – TYPED OR HAND-WRITTEN - MONDAY / TUESDAY.