An argument is a form of persuasive writing. This writing expresses a personal opinion or idea about a controversial and current political, social, business, or religious issue, value or dispute in a way that the opinion of the audience will potentially be swayed in favor of the writer's opinion. Arguments are objective and supportable with facts and other evidence that can be proven and/or substantiated. As a critical reader, do not confuse an argument with a fight; they are not synonymous. Also be aware of faulty logic in a claim and unsupportable claims.
Think of an argument as being a triangle composed of the audience, claim, and writer. Who is the potential audience for this argumentative essay or speech? Are they inclined to like, dislike, or be neutral about the argument? What is the claim? How is it developed? Is the evidence in the right sequence in order to convince the audience? Is the research limited to sources that support the claim? What is the writer's position and credibility: an authority or a concerned citizen? Remember that feeling strongly about an issue does not automatically enable a writer to argue about an issue effectively. The writer needs to back up the claim clearly and convincingly with current and accurate information.
When you evaluate an argument in a document or a speech you need to do two steps.
Student responses may vary. Acceptable answers include:
Called thus suddenly away, she left me without the slightest intimation of who my father was. The whisper that my master was my father, may or may not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little consequence to my purpose whilst the fact remains, in all its glaring odiousness, that slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers; and this is done too obviously to administer to their own lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable; for by this cunning arrangement, the slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slaves the double relation of master and father. I know of such cases; and it is worthy of remark that such slaves invariably suffer greater hardships, and have more to contend with, than others. They are, in the first place, a constant offence to their mistress. She is ever disposed to find fault with them; they can seldom do any thing to please her; she is never better pleased than when she sees them under the lash, especially when she suspects her husband of showing to his mulatto children favors which he withholds from his black slaves. The master is frequently compelled to sell this class of his slaves, out of deference to the feelings of his white wife; and, cruel as the deed may strike any one to be, for a man to sell his own children to human flesh-mongers, it is often the dictate of humanity for him to do so; for, unless he does this, he must not only whip them himself, but must stand by and see one white son tie up his brother, of but few shades darker complexion than himself, and ply the gory lash to his naked back; and if he lisp one word of disapproval, it is set down to his parental partiality, and only makes a bad matter worse, both for himself and the slave whom he would protect and defend. Every year brings with it multitudes of this class of slaves. It was doubtless in consequence of a knowledge of this fact, that one great statesman of the south argued the downfall of slavery by the inevitable laws of population. Whether this prophecy is ever fulfilled, or not, it is nevertheless plain that a very different-looking class of people are springing up at the south, and are now held in slavery, from those originally brought to this country from Africa; and if their increase will do no other good, it will do away the force of the argument, that God cursed Ham, and therefore American slavery is right. If the lineal descendants of Ham are alone to be scripturally enslaved, it is certain that slavery at the south must soon become unscriptural; for thousands are ushered into the world, annually, who, like myself, owe their existence to white fathers, and those fathers most frequently their own masters.
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