Pro/Pro Essay #5 Directives

Follow all directives within this posting.


Pro/Pro Essay Exercise

This exercise helps writers examine two sides of an issue. Begin by writing down the controversy you want to explore. Next, write down your position in the controversy. Now, on the left side of the column list the arguments in support of your position. Be as specific as possible in listing these pro arguments. Next, list the arguments opposed to each of your points in the "Con" column on the right. Again, be as specific as possible in listing these con arguments.

What is the controversy you want to explore?

What is your position in the controversy?


Pro
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2.
3.
4.
5.

Pro
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Distinguishing Between Fact, Opinion, Belief, and Prejudice

When forming personal convictions, we often interpret factual evidence through the filter of our values, feelings, tastes, and past experiences. Hence, most statements we make in speaking and writing are assertions of fact, opinion, belief, or prejudice. The usefulness and acceptability of an assertion can be improved or diminished by the nature of the assertion, depending on which of the following categories it falls into:

A fact is verifiable. We can determine whether it is true by researching the evidence. This may involve numbers, dates, testimony, etc. (Ex.: "World War II ended in 1945.") The truth of the fact is beyond argument if one can assume that measuring devices or records or memories are correct. Facts provide crucial support for the assertion of an argument. However, facts by themselves are worthless unless we put them in context, draw conclusions, and, thus, give them meaning.

An opinion is a judgment based on facts, an honest attempt to draw a reasonable conclusion from factual evidence. (For example, we know that millions of people go without proper medical care, and so you form the opinion that the country should institute national health insurance even though it would cost billions of dollars.) An opinion is potentially changeable--depending on how the evidence is interpreted. By themselves, opinions have little power to convince. You must always let your reader know what your evidence is and how it led you to arrive at your opinion.

Unlike an opinion, a belief is a conviction based on cultural or personal faith, morality, or values. Statements such as "Capital punishment is legalized murder" are often called "opinions" because they express viewpoints, but they are not based on facts or other evidence. They cannot be disproved or even contested in a rational or logical manner. Since beliefs are inarguable, they cannot serve as the thesis of a formal argument. (Emotional appeals can, of course, be useful if you happen to know that your audience shares those beliefs.)

Another kind of assertion that has no place in serious argumentation is prejudice, a half-baked opinion based on insufficient or unexamined evidence. (Ex.: "Women are bad drivers.") Unlike a belief, a prejudice is testable: it can be contested and disproved on the basis of facts. We often form prejudices or accept them from others--family, friends, the media, etc.--without questioning their meaning or testing their truth. At best, prejudices are careless oversimplifications. At worst, they reflect a narrow-minded view of the world. Most of all, they are not likely to win the confidence or agreement of your readers.

(Adapted from: Fowler, H. Ramsey. The Little, Brown Handbook. Boston: Little, Brown, 1986.)

Argument Drafting

(to be completed by the writer)

Topic:

Question at Issue:

State Your Claim/Position:

1. Are there any qualifiers you need to use (or exceptions) to improve the defensibility of your claim/position? If so, explain.
2. Describe at least 3 reasons you could use to support your claim.
3. Write out 4-5 refutations (or opposing viewpoints) to your argument you think you will consider in your essay(s).
4. What strategy are you considering using for your essay--pro/con, classical, Rogerian, deductive, or a combination? That is, how do you plan on using the opposing viewpoints in your essay? As concessions? To present counter-arguments in a Rogerian style (beginning w/ these so a "wall of defense" is not created in your audience, and to show empathy for the opposition as a means of resolution and positing your own position/solution)? As a means of setting up an aggressive rebuttal? Explain in as much detail as possible.
5. What evidence do you plan on using to support your position? What evidence in support of your reasons? In support of your rebuttals? Why did you choose this evidence? Where do you plan to obtain more evidence? Please answer each question as fully as you can.
6. If you are writing more than one argument, what are your plans for the others? Will you change perspectives? Strategies? Questions at issue? Topics altogether? Explain.


Paper Design:

1. MLA format
2. 5 pagraph minium
3. Pro/Pro Exercise must be stapled to docuement
4. Draft must be stapled to document
5. Paper must be in folder
6. Two reference sources