语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 27-Logic in Writing(3)
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Logic in Argumentative Writing(3) -- Does Logic Always Work? & Improprieties
Does Logic Always Work?
Logic is a very effective tool for persuading an audience about the accuracy of an argument. However, people are not always persuaded by logic. Sometimes audiences are not persuaded because they have used values or emotions instead of logic to reach conclusions. But just as often, audiences have reached a different logical conclusion by using different premises. Therefore, arguments must often spend as much time convincing audiences of the legitimacy of the premises as the legitimacy of the conclusions.
For instance, assume a writer was using the following logic to convince an audience to adopt a smaller government:
Premise 1: The government that governs least, governs best.
Premise 2: The government I am proposing does very little governing.
Conclusion: Therefore, the government I am proposing is best.
Some members of the audience may be persuaded by this logic. However, other members of the audience may follow this logic instead:
Premise 1: The government that governs best, governs most.
Premise 2: The government proposed by the speaker does very little governing.
Conclusion: Therefore, the government proposed by the speaker is bad.
Because they adhere to a different logical sequence, these members of the audience will not be persuaded to change their minds logically until they are persuaded to different values through other means besides logic. See the OWL resource here for more examples of how to integrate argument and rhetorical strategies into your writing.
Improprieties
A functional impropriety is the use of a word as the wrong part of speech. The wrong meaning for a word can also be an impropriety. For example, in this sentence, the impropriety is "trying":
When writing papers, we trying to start early and revise often.
Correct version:
When writing papers, we try to start early and revise often.
Here is another example:
This tale works as initiative story about a young girl who grows into a more mature adolescent.
Correct version:
This tale works as an initiation story about a young girl who grows into a more mature adolescent.
To help you practice avoiding improprieties, complete the exercise below.
Mark improprieties in the following phrases and correct them. If you find none, write C for "correct" next to the phrase.
Example: (occupation) hazards — occupational
reforming institution policies
percent aging students by grades
dead trees as inhabitants for birds
an initiate story about a young girl
a recurrence theme in literature
a wood chisel
a wood baseball bat
a frivolity conversation on the weather
a utopia hideaway of alpine villas
a utilize room complete with workbench
the unstable chemical compounds
the unschooled labor force
the vandals who rapined Rome
an erupting volcano crevassing the hills
criticism writing which is often abstract
abstracted beyond understanding
classified as an absorbent
a handwriting letter
banjoed their way to the top ten
a meander stream
hoboing across the country
holidayed the time away
the redirective coming from the officer
grain-fed slaughter cattle
ivy tendoned to the walls
精彩推文回顾
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 01-The Writing Process and List
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 02-Starting the Writing Process
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 18-The Rhetorical Situation(1)
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 19-The Rhetorical Situation(2)
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 20-The Rhetorical Situation(3)
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 21-The Rhetorical Situation(4)
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 22-Establishing Arguments(1)
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 23-Establishing Arguments(2)
语言教学 | 普渡大学写作教学系列General Writing 24-Establishing Arguments(3)