Argument

“The age limit to buy alcohol should be raised to 20.”
1.    Brainstorm this topic in groups. Use the source materials for ideas.
2.    Write a body paragraph for an essay arguing either for or against this statement. The paragraph should contain just 1 well developed argument.
3.    Write a second paragraph, which first of all gives a counter-argument to the argument in #2, and then refutes this counter-argument.
4.     Add an introduction and conclusion. Include a thesis statement in the introduction.

Weak evidence
5. Match the types of weak evidence to the examples below.

Bandwagon - everybody says so.             
Argument appeals to tradition 
Personal attack                     
Statistics misused 
One example does not prove the case        
False analogy 
Hasty generalisation                 
Circular logic 

a. “If divorce becomes legal in Ireland, it will spread through the country like the radiation that started at Chernobyl and then covered all of Europe.” (The Archbishop of Dublin)

b. On December 7, 1941, shortly after the United States government received Japanese envoys who had come to discuss peace, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour.  All too clearly, willingness to discuss peace simply encourages aggressive nations to believe that they can attack with impunity.

c. Car accident deaths on the roads in the USA in 1989 were 18,000 higher than they were in 1945, so it is obvious that driving is a lot more dangerous than it used to be.
d. Chernobyl was a very clear case of a nuclear power generator that proved unsafe.

e. A quick slap on the bottom or hand has always been parents’ fastest and easiest way to let a child know that he or she is doing something wrong.
f. Richard M. Nixon used to argue that America should increase its trade with China.  It should be remembered that Nixon ended his presidential term in deep disgrace.
g. The great majority of New Zealanders would support the castration of rapists, especially child rapists.
h. Everybody is entitled to free medical care in a public hospital, for it is the hospitals’ responsibility to see that everyone, whether they can afford to pay or not, has access to the medical care they need.


Strong evidence:
is well known                       
uses convincing statistics  
uses clear deductive reasoning            
is set down in the public record
is easily verifiable by experiment 

6. Why are the examples below good pieces of evidence?
a. Not all the tribes were signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi.
b. Heat makes gases expand.
c. In April 1986 an explosion and failure in the graphite core of a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Soviet Ukraine caused 25 deaths and spread radioactive dust over much of Europe.
d. All the early nursery rhymes circulated orally before they were written down.  As Little Jack Horner is an early nursery rhyme we can be sure it was once in the oral tradition.
e. The rate of fatalities in the USA per 100 million vehicle miles fell after 1945, from 9.8 in 1946 to 2.25 in 1989, so per mile it is actually safer on the road now than it was just after the war.

Sample Argument Introduction
Topic:  The recent voluntary advertising code restricting advertising to children does not go far enough
In May 2007, the New Zealand Government and the major television broadcasters agreed a five-point plan restricting television advertising to children (Beehive, 2007,¶1). This “new plan to improve TV food advertising to children” is designed to stop advertising on free to air television at designated times by food manufacturers whose products do not attain a qualifying Children’s Food rating. The aim of the plan is to facilitate both parents and children making healthy food choices and so combat the rising rate of obesity in children. This is undoubtedly better than nothing, but will not be a solution and more needs to be done and quickly.

Sample Counter-argument & Refutation
However, not everyone agrees with this proposition but argue that a voluntary system is adequate. The television networks support the code. However, food advertising represents in the region of 20% of total television revenues (New Zealand Herald, May 2007, ¶11) and protecting this is their priority. The food and advertising industries share similar views. Vicki Hamilton, Executive Director of the Food Industry Group said, “There is a huge range of healthy choices and there is too much concentration on ‘bad’ foods. For goodness sake it is diets that are important. We all like a piece of chocolate cake or biscuit and there is nothing wrong with that” (CAANZ, 2007 p2). No reasons were forthcoming why a voluntary code will work.  All available evidence from tobacco and alcohol advertising and from overseas is that legislation is necessary.