English Gun Control Debate

English Gun Control Debate

Article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/the-gun-control-debate-after-parkland. For this assignment, using the lessons of Aristotle, Toulmin, and Rogers in this way, you are tasked to rigorously evaluate the persuasiveness of a text based on its usage (or lack of usage) of certain rhetorical strategies. Identify whether the argument is more Rogerian or Aristotelian in nature. Identify what exactly that means to you, and cite a few surface elements of the text to support that point.

Examine what methodology the author uses to support their argument. Does the text use a lot of logical appeals, like statistics, facts, and figures? Or does the text use mostly emotional appeals, such as the use of humor, threats, and/or flattery? How balanced does the text feel with regard to logos and pathos, and how does that affect the text’s persuasiveness in your view?

Consider the author’s use of warrants and backing. Does the author provide sufficient reasoning to support the evidence they’ve provided? How effectively does each piece of evidence provided connect with the author’s thesis, and how good are they at contextualizing the information provided? Do they avoid “laundry listing” data or do they merely leave information to (inappropriately) speak for itself?

Review their use of ethos. Is the author considered an authority in their subject area? Is that subject area relevant to the topic at hand? How does this affect the author’s trustworthiness? You may need to perform a little bit of research here to help you preview the author or contextualize the author’s sources.

Review the author’s persona. Are they using language appropriate to the conversation? Are they very specific in their language, using direct phrasing and modal qualifiers? Or do they make a lot of vague, non-specific statements that seem to trail off nowhere?

Make a suggestion or two about how the argument could be improved, citing examples from the passage to support your point. Ensure that you compose a short but thorough introduction that (1) outlines the publication information of the text including the author’s name, where it was published, and its title; (2) provides a brief 1-2 sentence summary giving a brief overview of the text’s main details; and (3) contains a descriptive thesis that identifies what you find persuasive about the text. Make sure you also finish your essay with a summative conclusion, illustrating most major points of your essay.