English Assignment Quiz and Questions
1.1 In the argument chapter, you learned about expressed arguments (overt arguments attempting to persuade the audience towards a point of view) and implied arguments (arguments that appear on the surface not to be arguments but actually seek to persuade the audience of a point of view or views). For this DQ, provide a specific example from the media of an expressed argument and an implied argument and answer the following questions:
- What is the expressed argument you identified? What specific argument does the author make? What evidence does the author use to support his or her claims?
- What is the implied argument you identified? What specific argument does the author make? What evidence does the author use to support his or her claims?
- Why is it important to understand expressed and implied arguments?
- How might you use your understanding of expressed and implied arguments when drafting your first essay in this course?
Note: You may use visual arguments such as photos and pictures, but you will still need to explain your rationale for why you believe the author is making a specific argument.
2.1 Read “Legalizing the Organ Trade?” by Ritter, located on the Time website (copy and paste the link into the URL). http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1833858,00.html
As noted in Peter Ritter’s (2008), “Legalizing the Organ Trade?”, Singapore’s health minister, Khaw Boon Wan, argued that, “We may be able to find an acceptable way to allow a meaningful compensation for some living, unrelated kidney donors, without breaching ethical principles or hurting the sensitivities of others” (para. 2). In the definition essay assignment, you are asked to select a term, define the term, and offer evidence to support your definition of the term.
In this case, imagine you have selected the term meaningful compensation to define. You might ask yourself: What constitutes meaningful compensation for an organ donor, especially if the donor is poor and the recipient is wealthy? What examples of human organ sales can I find that match or do not match your definition of meaningful compensation? What other terms related to organ sales and donation would be suitable for an argument of definition?
2.2 In the Aristotelian or Classical Framework for argument, a writer might target an audience of readers that is undecided or neutral about the main claim (thesis statement) of the essay. A section is placed directly before the conclusion for acknowledging opposing viewpoints. Then the writer chooses to concede or refute that view.
Why does the writer not want to spend much time on an opposing viewpoint? Why mention that viewpoint at all? How might a concession help or hinder the main claim of the essay (the thesis)? What are some opposing viewpoints you might include in your definition essay?
3.1 Recall your readings in Topic 1 regarding human organ donation and sales. In the article, “Kidney Shortage Inspires A Radical Idea: Organ Sales,”
Dr. Francis Delmonico believes that even a regulated human organ trade would be exploitative because “it’s the poor person who sells” (Meckler, 2007). Answer the following questions:
- Do you agree that allowing a poor person to sell an organ is an exploitative practice? Why or why not?
- What documented examples from real-life organ donors can you provide to help you demonstrate how a regulated human organ trade would (or would not) be exploitative?
- If you were writing your definition essay on the term exploitative, how would you define it?
You may revisit the Human Organ Donation and Sale Resource List from Topic 1 for resources. Be sure to cite all sources used to compose your answer. Format your in-text citations and reference list entry according to GCU Style.
3.2 Chapter 2 of the textbook discusses two scenarios in which evidence may not meet some audience’s expectations. In the first scenario, two scientific studies are in conflict with each other In the second scenario, a child psychiatrist uses stories from his patients rather than statistics as evidence. Each case poses a problem regarding the use of evidence: We sometimes have difficulty reconciling conflicting pieces of evidence, and we are reluctant to see stories, rather than statistics, as valid evidence. In the essay that you are writing right now, what kinds of evidence have you found? In what way might it meet an audience’s expectations? Name the audience, discuss how it may meet–or not meet–the audience’s expectations, and explain why. Later in the week, compare your observations about evidence with those of your classmates.
4.1 To help you prepare for your Cause and Effect essay on donating or selling organs, brainstorm general topics of interest and conduct an online inquiry as to possible causes and effects.
For example, you might have an interest on the effect of social media on children younger than thirteen years of age. You research young children in their tweens and discover that these individuals are more readily exposed to online interactive groups, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Web pages themed to attract a younger audience; this creates a root cause with the effect of having a large social network of friends.
This result becomes a new cause that leads to the effect of stronger Web-based communication skills, which leads to intuitive and up-to-date technology skills. This result leads to overuse of or possible Internet obsession, which results in decreased participation of afterschool activities, such as sports or music groups. This result leads to lack of focus on homework and a significant drop in academic performance, which results in poor quality of student work. The result is repeating the same grade level.
Now, create your own cause-effect chain based on your online inquiry. Make sure the cause-effect chain is logical, plausible, and realistic.
4.2 We are continuing to work towards our Cause and Effect essay on donating or selling organs. Watch the local news or go online and read news as presented through CNN, Google, or MSN News. Choose a current story or news event of interest. Create a list of causes for the story or event. Discuss at least three “whys” (the causes) that led to the event and three projected plausible results (the effects) from the event. Your reply should discuss a total of three causes and three effects. Support each cause and result with an explanation.
5.1 As you have learned from this week’s readings, a cause-effect chain argues that one thing leads to another (e.g., “Increasing levels of acidity in sea water are harming the oceans’ coral reefs.”). A causal cause and effect chain links causal claims together as links in a chain. Remember your argument is only as strong as the weakest link in your chain.
Summarize the causal cause and effect chain used by the writer in the article from The New York Times. Was the argument persuasive? Why or why not?
- What has caused the growth of the illegal sale of human organs in some countries, a concept unthinkable 100 years ago?
- What has caused the growth of selling human organs on the black market?
- What are the causes you have identified and will write about in your draft?
- What are the effects you have identified and will write about in your draft?
5.2 There is common wisdom that states, “Correlation is not causation.” Explain in your own words what this phrase means. Now, read the current draft of your cause and effect essay. Consider how you might revise your essay in light of this saying. Describe what revisions you might need to make to your essay to ensure that your argument is logical, plausible, and realistic and does not present an argument that is illogical, far-reaching, or unrealistic.
6.1 Use the following questions to develop ideas for your proposal.
- What do you think is the most significant problem regarding the sale of organs?
- Why do you think it is a problem?
- Who has the power to solve this problem?
- Why has it not been solved up to this point?
- How can the problem be solved?
- What are the benefits and costs related to your solution?
Using strategies for argumentation discussed previously in class, develop some arguments for your proposal that you could use for your skeptical audience. Refer to Chapter 7 in the textbook for additional information on rebuttals.
6.2 To whom will you address your proposal? This person (or group) will be skeptical of your views. Will it be a friend or family member with different beliefs and values related to health care and/or the human body? Are there individuals in the medical community who hold different values than you do? How about a politician or media figure?
What are their views on the issue of selling human organs, and what do they think should be done about it? Summarize the views of your skeptical audience as fairly and accurately as possible.
During the week, review your classmates’ summaries of their skeptical audiences’ views. Constructively offer feedback on their summaries. Were the summaries fair, or did they seem biased? How can you tell? Offer suggestions on how to revise their summaries.
7.1 Four important steps when composing a proposal include (1) convincing the audience that there is a problem that needs to be solved, (2) explaining what you want your audience to do about the problem, (3) acknowledging opposing viewpoints or steps to solving the problem and (4) justifying the action you are asking your audience to take. What strategies will you use for each step? What will make your content for each of these steps effective? Later in the week, review answers that your classmates have provided and provide feedback on their ideas.
7.2 Many people have either engaged in an argument that seemed unresolvable or witnessed such an argument between friends and family members. Consider one of these arguments you have either experienced or witnessed, and then identify the fallacies that were expressed during this discussion or argument.
Note how the fallacies prevented the discussion from being resolved. What did you learn about fallacies from this experience that you can apply to your proposal essay? How might fallacies like these be avoided in proposal writing?