FOUN 1002 SEMINAR ACTIVITY

Identifying Argument: Seminar 3, Feb.5-9

{ STUDENTS’ Copy}

I. Instructions: Read the following passages and indicate which of these contain arguments
and which do not. Identify the claims and support for those passages which contain
arguments and explain why you think the others do not contain arguments.

1. Caribbean youth are experiencing a severe crisis. This is because the average Caribbean
adult, particularly the male, is on drugs, is an alcoholic or has not mentally matured, and
this is seen in the playboy image he displays in dealing with the opposite sex.
2. An air conditioner takes heat from one place, say the living room, and puts it in another,
usually outside the house. To do this, it uses the principle of evaporation. A liquid called
a refrigerant runs through the pipes and acts like a messenger, carrying heat from inside
the house to outside.
3. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.
4. The children of incarcerated women, though relatively few in number, require special
consideration to assist them with alleviating the pain of separation.
5. Mark Graham’s three sons must maintain the family tradition by enlisting. Major Mark
Graham is a decorated officer. His father and brothers have all served with distinction in
the British army, a fact that has been repeatedly conveyed to Mark’s sons.
6. I loaned my friend $50 last November and he failed to pay me back. I loaned him another
$50 just before Christmas, which he hasn’t paid back. And another $25 which is still
unpaid. I suppose its time to face facts: He’s never going to pay me back.

II Instructions: Undertake the following activity in GROUPS of 4 or 5:

1. Think of a situation at home, or at university, or at work or at the national level
which has led to a controversy.
a) Identify the issue, arguer, forum, audience, common ground, and desired audience
outcomes/goals of the argument
b) Develop 2 assertions and 1 counterargument [with support] regarding this issue

Prepared by Ingrid McLaren, PhD

Revised L O’Connor-Brown
III Instructions: Read the passages below and categorise each based on the type of
proof (logos, pathos, ethos). Explain the characteristics of the passage which led to
your choice of proof.

a. According to Forbes magazine, there are 950 billionaires in the world, with an estimated
combined wealth of $3.5 trillion. Even after all the yachts, mansions and luxury living
that money can buy have been funded many times over, these billionaires will still have
nearly $3.5 trillion to change the world. Suppose they pooled their wealth, as Buffet has
done with Bill and Melinda Gates. By standards of principles of foundation management,
a $3.5 trillion endowment would have a 5% payout of about $175 billion a year, an
amount sufficient to extend basic health care to all of the poorest in the world; end
massive pandemics of AIDS, TB and malaria; jump start an African Green Revolution;
end the digital divide; and address the crying need for drinking water for 1 billion people.
In short, this billionaires’ foundation would be enough to end extreme poverty itself.
Jeffrey Sachs “Sharing the Wealth”

b. My Dear Fellow Clergymen:

While confined here in Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my
present activities "unwise and untimely."...Since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and
that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope
will be patient and reasonable in terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the
view which argues against "outsiders coming in."...I, along with several members of my staff, am
here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the
eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the
boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried
the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to
carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to
the Macedonian call for aid.

Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

b. Few of my” Thirty-five Undeniable Truths of Life” have stirred as much

controversy and outrage as Number Twenty-four:
“Feminism was established so that unattractive women could have easier access to the
mainstream of society.”
Many have suggested that this statement is too rough, insensitive, cruel, and
unnecessarily provocative. However, there is one absolute defense to this statement. It’s
called truth. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth is jarring. Sometimes the
truth is the most provocative thing you can tell someone. But the truth is still the truth.
And it needs to be heard. Likewise, for years I’ve been telling you that the feminist
leadership is basically anti-male. I’ve said this in many different ways on many different

Prepared by Ingrid McLaren, PhD

Revised L O’Connor-Brown
occasions. But no matter how many times I’ve said it and no matter how cleverly I’ve
rephrased this message, sceptics abound…
Rush Limbaugh,” The Latest From the Feminist Front”

Prepared by Ingrid McLaren, PhD

Revised L O’Connor-Brown