Comp 110

relevance

the "appropriateness" of a reason for supporting a claim or a piece of evidence for supporting a reason, given the argument being made and the audience for the argument (49-50). ________requires a CLEAR LINK between the assertion and its support.

thesis

the main idea of an essay.

rhetoric

"The art of finding the best available means of persuasion in any situation" (12). It is "usually associated with how to produce effective pieces of communication" (61).

criteria

"standards used to establish a definition or evaluation" (696). They usually fall into three categories: practical, aesthetic, or ethical.

Transitions

: a type of cue: words or phrases that that takes readers from one point to another and show how those points are connected; some strategies include repetition, contrasting words (but, nevertheless), and sequencing words (first, next, finally).

•ounterarguments

An argument offering an opposing point of view with the goal of demonstrating that it is the stronger of the two arguments (696). ________ are one possible way to rebut. They accommodate an objection by conceding part of the opposing view but still persuade the reader that your argument is more valid.

sufficient

if you have enough reasons, evidence, and support for your claim, then your argument is ___________(see GRCA pp. 50).

Thesis

in a casual essay: the cause

Thesis

in a position essay: the position

Thesis

in a proposal essay: the solution

thesis

in an evaluation essay: the judgment

Documentation

information provided to readers about sources used in an essay so that the reader can judge the authority of the source and/or read the source first-hand.

Critiquing

looking at a piece of writing (your own or someone else's), analyzing it (breaking it down into parts), and thinking about how it could be strengthened. Its purpose is to determine what parts of an essay are working well, what is not working well, and how to make it work better.

Coherence

when sentences and paragraphs flow from one to another without discernible bumps, gaps, or shifts, they are said to be __________" (Bedford 91).

consistent

when your central claim, reasons, evidence, and support tie together and do not contradict each other, then your argument is _____

Cues

words or phrases that indicate to the reader what is about to happen in a piece of writing, such as a new reason, a rebuttal, or a summation of an argument

evidence

"Examples, personal experience, comparisons, statistics, calculations, quotations, and other kinds of data that a reader will find compelling and relevant" in the support of a reason (49). _______ explains why the writer believes a reason to be valid.

rhetorical analysis

"The careful study of a written argument or other types of persuasion aimed at understanding how the components work or fail to work" (699). Its purpose is "to understand how people in specific social situations attempt to influence others through language" and "every kind of important symbolic action," "to understand better how particular rhetorical acts are persuasive," to "get a better sense of the values and beliefs and attitudes that are conveyed in specific rhetorical moments," o and to get "a heightened awareness of the message and an appreciation for the ways people manipulate language and other symbols for persuasive purpose"

persuade

"To cause someone to do something by means of argument, reasoning, or entreaty"; "to win over"; "to convince" (American Heritage Dictionary. 2nd College Ed. 1982).

deduction

"a _____ argument is based on a general principle that is applied to a specific case" (Clark, Irene. The Genre of Argument. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998. 74). If your general principle, or premise, is accurate and believable, and if your specific case fits that general principle, then your argument will be persuasive. However, if your general principle if questionable and/or if your specific case does not seem to fit the principle, then your argument will be less persuasive.

refutation

"a rebuttal argument that points out the flaws in the claims of another argument" (699). A _____says, "No, you are wrong, and here is why."

induction

"an _______argument is based on a number of examples from which a writer has drawn a conclusion"; "________thus moves from the specific example to a generalization based on examples" (Clark 73 ). To have a persuasive ________ argument, you will need ample, relevant examples and be able to draw clear connections between your examples and the conclusion.

extended definition argument

"an argument made by specifying that something does or does not possess certain criteria" (697).

evaluation argument

"an argument that judges something based on ethical, aesthetic, and/or practical criteria" (697). See also GRCA 42-3 ("argument from value").

cause and effect argument/causal argument

"an argument that seeks to identify the reasons behind a certain event or phenomenon" (696).

claim

"declaration or assertion made about a topic" (696). A _______ cannot be a fact, a matter of "personal taste," or be based on "beliefs or faith" (26).

logical fallacy

"failure to provide adequate evidence to support a claim" (697). Often seen as an error in reasoning. Examples include hasty generalizations, oversimplifications, and false analogies.

reason

"the justification for a claim" (699). A "good ____" includes a link to you claim that your readers will find valid" (41). A _____explains why the writer believes the claim to be valid. Reasons are arguable assertion, not statements of fact. They are expressed as complete thoughts.

explanation

________ show HOW evidence supports a reason or how a reason supports a claim. It spells out the connections between ideas in an argument.

argument

a claim supported by one or more reasons (23-4).

issue

a controversial question that is of significance to a community and about which reasonable people can disagree

arguable assertion

a forceful statement about which reasonable people can disagree. Both claims and reasons must be _____________ _____________

the claim

a forcefully made statement that reasonable people would disagree about; an arguable assertion

classification and division

a method of organization that involves "the grouping of items into categories according to some consistent principle" (Bedford Handbook 88)

Signal phrases

a phrase that introduces a quotation by providing context, connection to your ideas, and/or information about the source.

ethos

a rhetorical strategy that "appeals based on the trustworthiness of the speaker" (12). Establishing one's credibility and knowledge, acknowledging possible objections and opposing positions, and showing awareness of the audience's concerns and priorities are all a part of establishing ______.

logos

a rhetorical strategy that "appeals to good reasons" (12) . Supporting one's argument with appropriate and ample reasons and supporting those reasons with appropriate, ample, and credible evidence are a part of establishing _____.

pathos

a rhetorical strategy that "appeals to the emotions and deepest-held values of the audience" (12). Engaging the audience, using clear and vivid language, and targeting the audience's core beliefs are all a part of establishing _______.

Topic Sentence/statement

a sentence that "lets readers know the focus of the paragraph in simple and direct terms

textual analysis

analysis of a text that "employs rhetorical terminology - in this case, borrowed from classical rhetoric such as ethos, pathos, logos, arrangement, style, and tone - as a way of helping us to understand a piece of writing better, as a way of understanding how a writer makes choices to achieve certain effects" (68). Unlike contextual analysis, ______ ___________ does NOT look at the environment or context in which a text is written.

credibility

believability; reliability. A writer creates ___________when he or she demonstrates knowledge on his or her subject, shows awareness of what his or her readers value, is consistent in his or her argument, and uses a voice appropriate for the audience and purpose of the argument.

analysis

breaking down the whole into its parts and examining how each part works separately and together to create the whole. For instance, if you are ___________an argument, you might break it down into its central claim, reasons evidence, and rebuttals; you then might look to see how the evidence for one if its reasons support that reason.

comparison and contrast

claims of comparison that assert that one thing is like or is not like another (43).

Parenthetical citations

information that indicates the source of a summary, paraphrase, or direct quotation. It includes the author's name if available or, if not, the title of the work used; and a page number, if available. It should not, however, need to repeat any information already included in the

close or critical reading

instead of reading simply to "[form] a sense of content and [get] an initial impression," close or critical reading requires you to read the text with specific questions and goals in mind (14).

Proofreading

make changes at the sentence and word level to catch errors. Its purpose is to improve the clarity of your writing by fixing avoidable errors.

Editing

make changes in grammar, sentence structure, and transitions. Its purpose is to improve the clarity of your points by focusing on smaller-level problems.

Revising

making changes in the content of an essay, focusing on developing ideas, reorganizing points, deleting weak sections, etc. Its purpose is to make the essay better by focusing on global/big-picture problems.

support

material that helps to persuade your audience that your claim is valid. _______can be in the form of reasons, evidence, and explanations of evidence (showing HOW your evidence supports your reason).

Planning

organizing your ideas, often into an outline, so that you know how they connect; setting goals for a writing assignment; and thinking about what writing process you will use. Its purpose is to organize your thoughts so that you know how your ideas connect and what you are trying to accomplish at each stage of the drafting process so that you already know when you are going to make your points before you start trying to make them.

Pre-writing/invention

putting down in writing preliminary ideas and questions related to an essay topic. It may involve writing out what you think about a topic, developing support, gathering evidence, listing rebuttals, questioning if you are on the right track, etc. It can take the form of brainstorming, clustering, mapping, etc. Its purpose is to gather your thoughts FIRST so that you have an idea of what you want to say before you try to figure out how and in what order to say it.

rebuttal

the anticipation of and response to potential objections, questions, concerns, or alternative claims that a reader may have so that the writer's argument still seems valid. A _______may involve a refutation or a counterargument.

audience

the people to whom you are addressing a piece of writing.

synthesis

whereas analysis involves breaking down a whole into its parts so you can see how they work separately and together, _______involves taking parts and forming a whole. For example, in an essay's conclusion, you often bring all your different points together to show how in combination they create a complete argument. Or, when you are writing an essay using outside sources, you gather different points from all your sources and bring them together in your essay to create a central claim. In philosophy, ______means to combine an idea and its opposite idea to create a new idea _________is also another term for deduction, where you take a general principle and apply it to a specific case.

Annotation

writing down your reactions to a text as you are reading it, including asking questions, taking notes, writing a scratch outline, highlighting key points, etc.

Drafting

writing out the ideas that you have planned. Its purpose is to allow you to express your ideas as clearly as possible