Mr. Stone discussed debatable claims, reading examples of debatable and non-debatable claims. He shared four goals/levels of argument/persuasion:
1. Influence people's opinions
2. Gain people's support
3. Get people to take a specific action
4. Change people's behavior
The class reviewed the classic appeals (reason/logic, emotion/feelings, values/character) and a sample argumentative essay, noting its strengths and weaknesses.
Homework: Annotate (write notes on) Toni Morrison's "Cinderella's Stepsisters." Identify her basic claim. Which of the four levels of argumentation is she is attempting? Write notes in the margin of each paragraph of the essay describing her line of argument: the kinds of appeals, the types of evidence, stated and unstated assumptions, and rhetorical devices (rhetorical questions, grammatical parallelism, repetition, restatement, etc.). Be prepared to participate in a discussion of Morrison's essay.
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