Module 3: Discussion: ARS Criteria

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Discussion: ARS Criteria

Take a recent issue from a national newspaper and look at the letters to the editor. Choose one letter whose argument you will analyze for this discussion. Either attach a copy of the article or include a link to it with your post.

For your analysis, first identify what kind of argument is being used. Then apply the critical questions regarding the acceptable, relevant, and sufficient (p. 107) premises to the article and explain your answers.

Module 3: Discussion: Social Power

Discussion: Social Power 

Take a recent issue from a national newspaper and look at the letters to the editor. Choose one letter whose argument you will analyze for this discussion. Either attach a copy of the article or include a link to it with your post. The letter you choose should use some form of social power in its argument.

Identify what social power is being used in the argument and how it is being used. Additionally, are there elements of ad hominem or ad baculum arguments in the letter? Are there arguments based on ethotic power? Finally, what is the role of social power in arguments?

Module 4: Discussion: Political Speeches

Discussion: Political Speeches 

Read one of the following speeches and look for forms of argumentation. In particular, look for and identify examples of causal argument fallacies, for narrative fallacies, for hasty generalizations, for sweeping generalizations, and for slippery slope arguments. What role do these kinds of arguments have in critical thinking and rhetoric? Be respectful and help each other learn through your feedback.

• President Truman, “Recommendation for Assistance to Greece and Turkey”: https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/documents/pdfs/5-9.pdf  Note: The argument in this speech came to be known as the “Truman Doctrine” and a foundation for the U.S. policy of containment during the Cold War in the 20th century. For more about this speech see the following link: http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war8_TrumanDoctrine.htm#1
• President Nixon, “Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam”: https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forkids/speechesforkids/silentmajority/silentmajority_transcript.pdf 

Module 4: Discussion: Affirmative Action

Discussion: Affirmative Action 

Debate View the clip “Affirmative Action Debate-Abridged-Harvard’s Michael Sandel-Justice-What is the right thing?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B17OINF_SI).

1. Describe at least one kind of argument you observed in this clip.
2. Who made the best argument? Explain your answer.

This is an excerpt of a longer lecture and discussion about the issue of affirmative action and the arguments used in favor of and against it. If you want to watch it, you can find the longer version here, though it is not required: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUhReMT5uqA