Ryan Skinnell
San Jose State University
2-3 Weeks
Papers: Rhetorical Analysis, Argument
It isn’t just demagogues who argue unfairly. It’s all of us from time to time. Students learn to identify and work against bad-faith argument.
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Is “reasoned and reasonable” public discourse a thing of the past? Building on Patricia Roberts-Miller’s notions on demagoguery and democracy, Ryan Skinnell (San Jose State University) introduces students to key concepts in argumentation that establish a framework for crafting good-faith arguments and bolstering critical thinking skills.
“Demagogic argument” isn’t limited to just dictators and demagogues, of course. Rather, they just use a public version of traps we all can fall into. Skinnell’s “Good-Faith Argument” uses awareness of the demagogic as a counterpoint for how student writers might approach argument more deliberately–and, of course, more ethically.
table of contents
Introduction
Welcome to Good-Faith Argument
The Critical Thinking Scaffold
Lesson 1: Argument and Democracy
Argument and Democracy
Argument in a Democratic Society
Analyzing Argument
Video: “Jon Stewart on Crossfire” (YouTube.com, 2004)
Lesson 2: Rhetoric and Argument
Key Concepts
Rhetoric and Argument
Rhetoric and Argument: Historical Context
Demagoguery
Podcast: “Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy” (from Mere Rhetoric, 2017)
Commonplaces
Summing Up, Looking Forward
Lesson 3: Epideictic Rhetoric
Key Concepts
Encomium and Invective
Encomium and Invective: The Importance of Dignity and the Pleasure of Name-Calling
Peer Review
Lesson 4: Deliberation
Key Concepts
Team Thinking: Democratic Deliberation
Team Thinking: The Problem with Squad Goals
Deliberation versus Demagoguery
Article: “Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy” (from Mere Rhetoric, 2017)
Lesson 5: Fallacies
Key Concepts
Activities: Exploring Rhetorical Fallacies
Website: “Rhetological Fallacies: A List of Logical Fallacies and Rhetorical Devices with Examples,” from Information Is Beautiful, accessed 2019
Lesson 6: Self-Skepticism
Key Concepts
Activities: Practicing Self-Skepticism
Lesson 7: End of Unit Assignments
Final Assignment: Report Someone’s Argument Accurately
Speech: Ben Tillman, “‘Their Own Hotheadedness’: Senator Benjamin R. ‘Pitchfork Ben’ Tillman Justifies Violence Against Southern Blacks”
Speech: William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold”
Speech: Richard Nixon, “Checkers”
Speech: Cleon’s speech, “Mytilenean Debate” (in Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Book 3, 37-40)
Note-Taking for the Final Assignment
In-class Activity: Peer Review
Reflecting on the Final Assignment
Looking Forward
Index of Readings and Media
William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold,” from History Matters, accessed 2019 [Speech]
Cleon, “Mytilenean Debate,” as appears in Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, from YouTube, 2015 [Video]
Mary Hedengren, “Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy,” from Mere Rhetoric, 2017 [Article]
“Jon Stewart on Crossfire,” from YouTube, 2004 [Video]
Richard Nixon, “Checkers,” from YouTube, original 1952 [Video]
“Rhetological Fallacies: A List of Logical Fallacies and Rhetorical Devices with Examples” from Information Is Beautiful, accessed 2019 [Website]
“Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy,” from Mere Rhetoric, 2017 [Podcast]
Benjamin Tillman, “‘Their Own Hotheadedness’: Senator Benjamin R. ‘Pitchfork Ben’ Tillman Justifies Violence Against Southern Blacks,” from History Matters, accessed 2019 [Speech]