Writing2-Argumentation

January 26, 2010: Writing Persuasively

When we try to persuade we try many different strategies, some of which are effective and some of which should be avoided. A few of the least effective strategies -- the ones that create the most pitfalls and do the least to lead to convincing points -- include the use of **ungrounded hypotheticals** and **rhetorical questions**. Both //can be// very useful, when used correctly...but writers too often use them //in place of// sound logic, and end up with big holes in their arguments.


 * //**Try revising AT LEAST ONE OF THE SAMPLES, below.** Be supportive, not repetitive -- if a classmate has already taken a stab at it, you can make a comment in support instead of making your own revision, but note that there are multiple ways to revise these statements. Feel free to add or subtract details, as long as the essence of the statement remains. **Use a new bullet to insert your proposal.**//


 * A.** What I call the ungrounded hypothetical -- Mr. Neary calls it "cop-out" -- is a rhetorical technique that you should NOT be using until you get much better at it. I don't want to see it on the midterm.

When you argue that a potential outcome "would" happen if what actually happened hadn't happened, you damage your writing in three ways: (a) the statement borders on tautology, which means (essentially) that it lacks logical force -- if your main point is to say that what exists exists, as in "Thank goodness this didn't happen because then things wouldn't be as they are," you're saying something quite weak; (b) it creates inefficient sentences; and (c) it tempts you into overstatement.

A1. avoiding hypothetical s: Without a nonconformist leader such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and others of his generation, the U.S. would still be living with the stain of segregation.
 * [enter your revision here]

A2. avoiding hypotheticals: Without Gandhi's methods, India's fight for independence may not have been successful.
 * [enter your revision here] Gandhi's methods of nonconformity and peaceful resistance greatly helped India's fight for independence.

A3. avoiding hypotheticals: Had Galileo not introduced this new and more accurate way of seeing the solar system, history would not have been the same.
 * [enter your revision here]