Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
CHAPTER 15: Arguing Persuasively
Overview Learning Objectives Ideas for Instruction
Introduction
Persuasion and Demagoguery in a
Free Society
pp. 299–301
15.1
Distinguish between persuasion
and demagoguery.
Discussion questions:
15a; 15b
Activities: 15a
Constructing A Reasonable
Argument
Claims ·Evidence ·Warrants ·The
Burden of Proof
pp. 301–307
15.2 Define argument and discuss
what it means to make a complete and
“reasonable” argument.
Discussion questions:
15c; 15d; 15e; 15f; 15g; 15h; 15i
Assignment: 15a
Activities: 15c; 15c; 15d; 15e; 15f
The Forms of Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning ·Deductive
Reasoning ·Causal Reasoning ·
Analogical Reasoning
pp. 307–312
15.3 Identify the different types of
reasoning and discuss what makes
each different type “reasonable.”
Discussion questions:
15j; 15k
Assignment: 15b
Activities: 15g
Fallacies of Reasoning and Evidence
Fallacies of Relevance ·Fallacies of
Faulty Reasoning ·Fallacies of
Inadequate Evidence ·Fallacies of
Personal Attack
pp. 312–319
15.4 Define and describe some
common fallacies of reasoning and
evidence.
Discussion questions:
15l
Assignment: 15b
Activities: 15h
Ideas for Instruction
As noted elsewhere, you will not be able to cover everything in the text—nor should you attempt to (i.e.,
“The more we teach, the less they learn.”). I always “assume” students have read the assigned reading and
that my job as an instructor is to highlight a few, select ideas from the reading (or to introduce
supplemental material) for students to contemplate, reflect upon, and apply. My goal is to help them build
meaning and internalize what they have learned, retaining it for future use.
What follows are ideas for how some material might be treated through discussion and activity.
My selections are ones I typically highlight in my own classes—depending on how much time I have to
devote to a chapter. In light of larger class sizes (which require more days per speech round), I rarely can
or whatever) and build in enough flexibility to abbreviate, cut, or expand.
We also provide PowerPoint slides, in case you want to review something students were to have
read. Be mindful that our slides are necessarily wordy to assist you with locating which ones you want to
use (and we’ve also coordinated them with the chapter outline we created for you). We suggest that you
make the slides “your own” by editing them down to select words and phrases. We recommend, as well,
Discussion Questions. Use these to stimulate discussion and prompt reflection. As students process the
material at a deeper, more meaningful level, they likely will offer interesting observations or pose
provocative questions of their own. Make note of these, literally! Let students know when you’re
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Discussion Question 15a
Approximate time required: 2–4 min.
What was Woodrow Wilson’s formula for how America might protect itself against demagoguery?
A good response would include the following:
Wilson said America could protect itself by educating both its leaders and its citizens (with the same sort
The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue
to men he knows to be idiots.
—H. L. Mencken
Discussion Question 15b
Approximate time required: 3–5 min.
What is demagoguery? How do we recognize a demagogue?
Demagoguery relies not on reasoned arguments (the substance of democratic deliberation) but upon
personal and emotional appeals.
Demagogues attempt to set themselves apart from ordinary citizens, cultivating a charismatic ethos and
Discussion Question 15c
Approximate time required: 4–6 min.
What characterizes a “good” argument?
Students should recall the following characteristics:
A good argument must be complete. It must have a claim, evidence to back it up, and a “warrant” (or
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Discussion Question 15d
Approximate time required: 2–3 min.
Of the three types of arguments (fact, value, and policy) which poses the greatest challenge for a speaker?
Why?
Students should recall that policy arguments pose the greatest challenge.
Policy arguments pose the greatest challenge because they involve choices about what should be done in
the future. As such, a speaker cannot present direct evidence of a proposed policy’s feasibility, cost, or
effects. Instead, indirect evidence (such as comparisons, expert testimony) must be used to argue what is
likely to transpire.
Discussion Question 15e
Approximate time required: 5–7 min.
What are the three basic tests for evidence?
Students should recall the following:
Is it of acceptable quality?
Is it accurate, recent, and complete?
If it is an example, is it representative?
If it is statistical information, is it reliable?
If it is testimony, is it authoritative?
If it is a comparison, is it a sound comparison?
Is the evidence relevant to the claim?
Is the amount of evidence provided sufficient to support the claim?
Discussion Question 15f
Approximate time required: 4–6 min.
Within the anatomy of an argument, what is a “warrant?”
Students should recall that within an argument a warrant is the general assumption, principle, or rule that
connects evidence to a claim. A warrant may sometimes go unstated, particularly when the speaker
Discussion Question 15g
Approximate time required: 3–5 min.
What is “burden of proof?” Who would have the burden of proof in the following situations?
Remember, burden of proof means that one must present a well-reasoned, well-supported argument that is
worthy of serious consideration and further debate.
Situation one: An allegation that a public official accepted bribes.
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Situation two: A proposal for a new firehouse.
Discussion Question 15h
Approximate time required: 1–3 min.
If you meet your burden of proof, what does that mean? Does that mean that you “win” the debate?
One does not necessarily “win” by meeting the burden of proof, but others will at least find their
argument reasonable enough to warrant further debate.
Discussion Question 15i
Approximate time required: 3–5 min
Why do advocates of change have the burden of proof?
Students should recall that change involves risk. To advocate change means abandoning the known for
the unknown. When someone advocates change, they have the burden of making a reasonable case that
Discussion Question 15j
Approximate time required: 3–5 min.
What is reasoning? What are its four principle forms? Identify and explain each of the four.
Students should recall that a speaker does not merely present facts but suggests what we should conclude
on the basis of those facts. Arriving at a conclusion requires that we make one or more inferential leaps,
and these leaps are known as reasoning.
Reasoning commonly assumes one of four forms:
Inductive reasoning: to reason from specific instances to a more general conclusion
Discussion Question 15k
Approximate time required: 5–7 min.
What is a literal analogy? What is a figurative analogy? Which is best? Why?
Students should recall that a literal analogy compares two similar examples. A figurative analogy
compares two dissimilar things.
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Discussion Question 15l
Approximate time required: 7–9 min.
What is a fallacy? What are the basic types?
Students should recall that a fallacy is reasoning or evidence that is flawed.
The basic types of fallacies include:
fallacies of relevance
Suggested Activities. Use these “hands-on” applications to get students actively involved with the material.
What we suggest often requires students to synthesize what is covered in the chapter, as well as what they
were to have learned from other chapters.
Activity 15a
Approximate time required: 5–7 min. Relevant pages: entire chapter
Launch class with a pop quiz (which need not actually be scored) comprised of the discussion questions
Activity 15b
Approximate time required: 5–7 min.
Bring in a collection of direct-mail political ads (if you’re like me, you get plenty of them!) and have
students analyze the “argument” presented. Have students identify the claim, the evidence, the underlying
Activity 15c
Approximate time required: 20–25 min.
This activity will illuminate the anatomy of an argument, plus illustrate how research is vital for most
issues and what type of evidence would be needed.
Have students work in groups of four to create a one-point speech for one of the following issues. They
can argue for, against, or offer some position in between. Tell them to devise a solid argument, a point
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Give students 10 minutes to create their speech. Have them present their one-point speech to the class, with
each group member taking part in the presentation. Critique/discuss their work. Among the factors you
might consider: Did they make a reasonable claim, in light of the evidence they provide? Is their evidence
suitable to the task? Is the evidence of sufficient quality and quantity? What additional evidence would they
need?
This activity will help underscore how evidence allows “discovery,” and how the same evidence that leads
us to our conclusions is what we need to share with listeners (including citing it effectively, of course!).
Possible issues for the one-point speeches:
Activity 15d
Approximate time required: 10–12 min.
Have students identify and evaluate the warrants in one or more of the following arguments.
The current emphasis on math and science in our public schools—to the neglect of social studies and physical
education—has produced kids who are culturally illiterate and physically unfit. Washington state is one of many that
does not include these subjects on its state-wide assessment of student learning. . . .
Warrant: Cultural literacy and physical fitness are important. This warrant seems acceptable.
The current ratings system for identifying violent and sexual content in television programming must be improved if
we are to protect our children. One problem, according to a Parent’s Television Council’s recent study, is that
“ratings are not applied consistently among individual networks’ programming, let alone between networks.”
Activity 15e
Approximate time required: 15–20 min.
Have students work with a partner to play “devil’s advocate” regarding what the other will argue in an
upcoming speech. Each student should quickly sketch out (in abbreviated outline form, akin to a working
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Activity 15f
Approximate time required: 15–18 min.
Have students work in groups of four or five to identify the type of evidence that would enable the points
this speaker has made in a speech about police chases. Circulate to assist. After allowing seven minutes or
so, discuss—as a class—the evidence that would be needed to support the claims. Students will have to
think critically about what would be required, plus they will see that the critical listener will notice if the
speaker has been remiss.
Thesis: Policies that prohibit high-speed police pursuits are unwarranted and undermine law
enforcement’s ability to protect.
I. High-speed chases are not as dangerous as they are made out to be.
II. Restrictive policies may not provide a community with the protection it deserves.
III. The public agrees that police pursuits are necessary.
Activity 15g
Approximate time required: 10–12 min.
Help students better understand analogical reasoning. Present the following statements and ask students to
identify and evaluate the type of reasoning featured by each one.
Students should identify each as an instance of analogical reasoning, along with observations similar to
those that we provide beneath each one.
Note: You might precede this activity with Discussion Question 15k.
Carbon offsets are reminiscent of the Middle Ages when sinners would buy indulgences from the church and keep
on sinning.
When it comes to supporting our President’s plan in Iraq, I’m not in favor of jumping ship, but for those who are, the
question is, what are we going to do, swim or drown?
This comparison is a figurative. It is interesting but it proves nothing since there is no true similarity.
We face an impossible task. Since we can’t even control our own border with Mexico, how can we hope to stop
terrorists from crossing the border from Pakistan to attack our troops in Afghanistan?
make this a strong analogical argument.
Would you sleep in a home without a smoke detector? How, then, can you sleep without a weather alert radio,
since a tornado can kill you every bit as much as smoke and fire?
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Activity 15h
Approximate time required: 10–15 min.
Spend the last 10–15 minutes of class having students work in small groups to generate original examples
of particular fallacies they might overhear during a hypothetical debate over whether a community should
Lecture Ideas. Some elements in the chapter lend themselves to careful review and/or some
supplemental material. Either way, you’ll amplify something that deserves amplification. We’ll offer
some suggestions, often providing one or more corresponding PowerPoint slides.
Lecture 15a: Use one or more of the slides from the PowerPoint slideshow that accompanies this chapter
and prepare your own examples as illustrations of the concepts featured on the slide(s). Break up the
“lecture” by including some of the discussion questions we provide and/or an activity or two. Any
Exam Items. Testing, of course, can be an important part of instruction. We provide numerous, high-
Assignment 15a: Have students anticipate the challenges others might make to the argument they plan to
make in an upcoming speech. You might even require them to research one or more other views and
produce a one-page brief that represents a position other than what they will advocate in their speech.
might need to do so and how to go about it.
Assignment 15b:Have your students bring in a good example of a contemporary fallacy or a problematic
Sometimes the processes of democracy are slow, and I have known some of our leaders to say that a
benevolent dictatorship would accomplish the ends desired in a much shorter time than it takes to go
through the democratic processes of discussion and the slow formation of public opinion. But there is no
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
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Chapter Outline: Chapter 15: Arguing Persuasively
Chapter Intro:
Democracies require committed, honest leaders, and democracies also depend on
ordinary citizens to assume the responsibility of governing themselves. That means that
citizens must participate in public deliberations and learn to distinguish between good
and bad arguments. Citizens must be committed to deliberating in good faith, which is
why they must learn how to deliberate. Citizens must learn to discuss and debate public
I. Persuasion and Demagoguery in a Free Society
Learning Objective 15.1—Distinguish between persuasion and demagoguery.
A. Persuasion is an essential tool of democratic citizenship.
B. The earliest treatises on persuasion, such as Aristotle’s Rhetoric, prepared
citizens to participate in the judicial and legislative assemblies of the Greek
city-state.
2. America’s founders were taught to view demagoguery as “the
peculiar vice to which democracies were susceptible.”
3. A hundred years later, Woodrow Wilson also stressed the
importance of protecting our democracy by properly educating
leaders and citizens.
a. Wilson drew a clear, ethical distinction between the
C. Today, some doubt the public’s ability to “exercise intelligent discretion.”
2. Advances in communication technologies have created new
D. Regardless of the political context or the technologies of communication, we
can still distinguish between good and bad arguments.
1. Reasoned arguments are the substance of democratic deliberation.
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
3. By claiming a monopoly on truth, demagogues cultivate a
charismatic ethos.
5. Demagogues exploit the envy, resentment, hatred, or fears of their
audiences.
E. Occasionally, the democratic system needs speakers to shake things up.
1. Radical speakers can be a source of democratic inspiration and
renewal.
F. We must, however, guard against rhetorical excess and extremism.
1. The internet and talk radio have become fertile grounds for demagogues
G. The hard work of self-governance cannot be done by a divided and polarized
citizenry.
II. Constructing Reasonable Arguments
Learning Objective 15.2—Define argument and discuss what it means to make a
complete and “reasonable” argument.
Section intro:
Like any artistic creation, an argument can be judged not only in terms of how it is
received, but also by certain theoretical and ethical principles. Unfortunately, there is no
simple list of rules defining a “good” argument. Some reject the need for rules altogether,
A. Claims
2. By definition, a claim takes a side on a controversial matter and
invites debate.
3. Claims exist in many different forms.
a. Claims of Fact
1) whether or not something exists
3) the scope or magnitude of some phenomenon
b. Claims of Value
2) what’s effective or ineffective, just or unjust, moral
1) what we should do in future courses of actions
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
4. Qualifiers are simply those words that indicate our level of
confidence in our claims.
5. A “reasonable” argument is one that is qualified at a level
appropriate to the strength of the reasoning and evidence behind it.
6. Reservations are exceptions to our claim, or stipulated conditions
B. Evidence
1. When attempting to persuade an audience to accept a factual claim,
2. In proving claims of value (i.e., good or bad;right or wrong) you
3. In public policy debates, it is important that we reflect upon the
4. We cannot present direct evidence of a proposed policy’s
feasibility, costs, or effects.
5. Whatever sort of evidence is used, it needs to be sufficient, both
6. There are three basic tests of the adequacy of your evidence.
a. The quality of the evidence should justify the audience’s
C. Warrants
1. Warrants are the general assumptions, principles, or rules that
connect our evidence to our claims.
D. The Burden of Proof
1. In public debates, the burden of proof is not clearly defined, but
there are certain expectations.
2. Advocates of new policies are expected to establish:
a. some need for change
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
III. The Forms of Reasoning
Learning Objective 15.3—Identify the different types of reasoning and discuss
what makes each different type “reasonable.”
A. Inductive Reasoning
2. The strength of inductive reasoning rests upon:
3. When reasoning inductively, one should qualify claims carefully,
4. One might also attach reservations to a claim, identifying
conditions under which the generalization might not hold true.
B. Deductive Reasoning
1. Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions about
2. A classic example of deductive reasoning is a syllogism.
a. All Democrats are liberal. (major premise)
4. Often, speakers do not even state their premises because they are
already accepted by their audience. They assume that the audience
5. If an audience is likely to be skeptical of a speaker’s premises, they
should be stated along with evidence to back them up.
C. Causal Reasoning
1. Causal reasoning is reasoning from effect to cause, or from cause
to effect.
3. Establishing causation is rarely simple.
4. The responsible public advocate recognizes the difficulty of
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
5. The responsible advocate also qualifies his or her causal claims,
acknowledging that we can rarely assert causal claims with
absolute certainty or talk about any single factor as the cause of a
complex problem.
D. Analogical Reasoning
2. A literal analogy compares two similar examples.
4. If speakers hope to make serious, logically compelling analogical
arguments, literal analogies should be used.
6. Analogical reasoning is most frequently used in policy arguments.
7. Analogical arguments, like all arguments, should be qualified at
the appropriate level of certainty.
IV. Fallacies of Reasoning and Evidence
Learning Objective 15.4—Define and describe some common fallacies of
reasoning and evidence.
A. Fallacies of Relevance
1. Appeal to Ignorance (Ad Ignoratum)
a. Speakers sometimes try to convince audiences that because
2. Appeal to Popular Beliefs (Ad Populum)
3. The Non Sequitur
a. Non sequitur is Latin for “it does not follow.”
4. Appeal to Tradition (Ad Verecundiam)
a. “We’ve never done it that way before.”
b. “This is the way we’ve always done it.”
5. The Red Herring
6. The Straw Man
a. In the straw man fallacy, a speaker attributes a flimsy, easy-
to-refute argument to his opponent, then proceeds to
B. Fallacies of Faulty Reasoning
1. The False Dilemma
2. Begging the Question
a. This occurs when a speaker makes a claim that assumes the
3. The Faulty Analogy
4. The Slippery Slope
a. This occurs when a speaker claims that some cause will
C. Fallacies of Inadequate Evidence
1. False Cause (Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc)
a. This occurs when a speaker confuses a chronological
relationship with a causal one.
2. The Hasty Generalization
Chapter 15: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
D. Fallacies of Personal Attack
1. The Ad Hominem Fallacy
a. While the character, integrity, or even the intelligence of a
2. Guilt by Association
a. This fallacy arises when we judge an idea, person, or
3. Fallacies are among the techniques demagogues and propagandists
deploy as they attempt to deceive and mislead us.
4. As citizens in a democracy, we need to recognize and resist such
techniques and speak out against those who use them.
E. Focus on Arguing Persuasively: a speech by Katheryn Gromowski
1. This speech on global climate change was delivered at a public
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Instructional ideas for Chapter Fifteen
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