Homework answers / question archive / LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Chapter Eleven: Visual Arguments More than One Way to Make an Argument Just imagine your final essay is a proposal concerning shelter animals and the need to adopt instead of purchase a new dog or cat

LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Chapter Eleven: Visual Arguments More than One Way to Make an Argument Just imagine your final essay is a proposal concerning shelter animals and the need to adopt instead of purchase a new dog or cat

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LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Chapter Eleven: Visual Arguments More than One Way to Make an Argument Just imagine your final essay is a proposal concerning shelter animals and the need to adopt instead of purchase a new dog or cat. Describing in words the difficult, even tragic situation in some animal While this is writing course, it’s important shelters will be powerful, but adding to acknowledge that not every argument is verbal. Words make up the bulk of most imagery could make that point even stronger. arguments, but they can be enhanced or replaced by visuals. This is especially true with the immediate access that technology provides to a whole world of images, charts, graphs, and video. In discussing narrative arguments, we focused on two things that are connected to the topic of visual arguments: 1. Showing vs. Telling 2. Empathic Response Showing language in a story paints a picture for the reader. In the final essay for this class, you also have the option of actually showing that picture. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. It may be a cliché but it is true. Images create immediate reactions, and this is especially useful if a writer is trying to create an empathic response, where the reader is brought to some emotional reaction even if that reader is not personally connected to the topic or the point of the argument. Visuals excel at quickly grabbing one’s attention. They make excellent hooks at the beginning of arguments as well as powerful elements in the body or conclusion. A reader is likely to respond to this combination of words and images. In fact, even if that reader holds a different opinion on the topic or lacks interest in it, a well-chosen image can turn that around. It’s important to note the potential limitations and drawbacks of visual arguments. In the very first chapter, we discussed memes and their power and shortcomings. Memes typically combine word and image to great effect, but that impact is fleeting. There’s no replacement for a solid, well-researched, formal, verbal argument, but visuals, if used sparingly can elevate that verbal argument in powerful ways. LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Interpreting visuals and graphics It is beyond the scope of this writing course to deeply discuss visual interpretation. However, it’s important to note that an image, illustration, or other piece of visual information is like any piece of research. It must be properly cited and it must be properly analyzed. Many images are free of licensing or copyright, but others are private property. Writers should do their best to give credit to the person who created the image and published it. Graphs & Charts Statistics can be much more powerful when visually communicated. Imagine writing on the topic of the importance of people’s not allowing emotion to govern their approach to investments. It’s a vital lesson, but it might be a bit “dry” in words alone. An informal line graph with annotation makes the argument much more powerful: The photo of the shelter dog on the previous page was chosen because it is public domain, meaning anyone can use it. If a writer uses a copyrighted image, that writer must provide the following information: Creator(s). “Title of Image.” Website Title in Italics, Website Publisher (if different than title), Date, URL. Just as important, if an image of some kind is provided, like any piece of research, the writer must thoroughly analyze it. If you present an image to a reader, it may be necessary to do the work of interpreting it. If the image, like the shelter dog, is purely meant to hook that reader, analysis may not be necessary, but images used in the body of an essay almost always require deep analysis and explanation. This is especially true of visual statistics. Of course, this kind of “statistic” is so informal, it’s practically a meme. It requires little interpretation and is not based on hard data. It’s completely acceptable to rely on a written quote when using this kind of hard data. For example, According to CNBC, “Looking at data going back to 1930, Bank of America found that if an investor missed the S&P 500’s 10 best days in each decade, total returns would be just 91%, strikingly below the 14,962% return for investors who held steady throughout the ups and downs.“ LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Visualizing Statistics in Graphs & Graphics CNBC. “The Cost of Missing Out.” CNBC.com, March 22, 2020. https://www.cnbc. com/2020/03/22/why-long-term-investors-should-never-sell-stocks-in-a-panic.html The chart above is the basis for the conclusion made about emotional investing. It can be powerful to show the reader the data that serve as the foundation for the broad claim made in the original sketch. It’s clear from this data that a person who never once sold, and therefore was invested for all ten of the best days per decade, would stand to gain an impressive return of almost 150 times their original investment. The chart makes visually clear some powerful evidence that big surges in stock value on particular days make up huge portions of a year’s overall growth. The danger in using complex charts and graphs is overwhelming a reader with information, so be sure to fully explain and analyze what you choose to show. Another strategy is to visualize statistics for added effect. Consider how the icons and illustrations below highlight the distressing numbers on the topic of child labor: The illustration of the Earth makes it clear that it’s a global statistic. The familiar male/female icons make it clear that the problem is not gender-specific and in a similar way, the visualization of people highlights the humanity behind the 70%. LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Presenting a Proposal You will be presenting the content of your proposal argument in front of the class. The principal purpose of this presentation is not to critique your speaking skills. Rather, it is an opportunity for the class to hear your argument and provide critique (including rebuttal arguments) in realtime. It is also a great opportunity to consider how presenting an argument in a presentation differs from doing so in an essay. In order to present your proposal argument in the best possible way, consider the following key points: 1. Keep it Visual 2. Keep it Simple 3. Know your Audience 4. Speak with Confidence 1. Keep it Visual Give your audience something to look at while you talk. As discussed, this could be photos, illustrations, graphics, or graphs and charts. A presentation should be more visual than an essay, so you may use images in the presentation that you do not use in the essay. The inverse is also true. Try not to make your presentation too wordy. To put this Don’t make this mistake with a slide. Keep it Visual and Keep it Simple! another way, do not simply copy and paste the content of your drafted essay into the presentation slides. As soon as you present an audience with text, they will generally begin to read it themselves right away. We tend to read much faster than we speak, so reading the content of your essay to the audience is a sure way to put them to sleep. Instead, try showing the audience key words and phrases. Avoid complete sentences where possible, and remember, you are going to present the argument. The slide show should simply support what you’re saying, not say it for you. Looking at the slide above about rivers, there are a number of graphic design flaws here, but even without legibility being an issue, there are still far too many words. The audience will be completely overwhelmed. 2. Keep it Simple This second point is so close to the first that they’re almost one and the same. Just like we don’t want to overwhelm an audience with words, we also do not want LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER Presentation Technique continued to throw too much visual material at them. Let the argument be the star and don’t allow a presentation to overshadow either its presenter or its key points. details of the problem. If you suspect your audience is already familiar with the problem, then you have a chance to keep it brief and focus instead on your plan. Keep the design of the presentation simple so that the ideas can really shine. If you plan on using audio or video elements, keep them brief. If you think your views will likely be unpopular in the class, this is a chance to teach the audience something that might change their mind or show them something that will shake up their traditional way of seeing things. 3. Know your Audience You have an advantage in presenting your proposal argument that you don’t have in writing it. Over the course of this semester, you have probably gotten to know the people who will be listening to you. This presents an opportunity. Finally, don’t be afraid to reach out to your audience. It’s a presentation, not an essay! Your listeners are right there in front of you. Feel free to create moments of audience participation. Your audience will appreciate it. 4. Speak with Confidence You have the chance to focus on different elements of your proposal argument depending on what you think your audience might already know and believe about your topic and your claim. If your topic is not well-known, you’ll probably need to spend extra time explaining the This last point is easier said than done. Even if you might get nervous speaking in front of other people, remember three things: 1) you are the expert; no one in the room has spent as much time reading and writing about your topic than you (including your teacher), and 2) you are among friendly peers who want you to succeed, and finally 3) this assignment is not graded! LA207: PERSUASION & ARGUMENT FOR THE MULTILINGUAL WRITER CHAPTER eleven Writing Exercise While LA 207 is a writing class first and foremost, we will be presenting our proposal arguments visually and verbally. Your audience for this presentation is different from your reader of the essay. With your essays, your reader is a mystery to you. You don’t know who they are, what they believe, or what they know and don’t know. But in presenting you’ll have some clue about the beliefs and knowledge of your audience, this class. Consider your own proposal argument and answer these questions in a brief response: 1) What does my class already know about my topic? What will I have to teach them? 2) What does my class already believe about my topic? Where are they likely to agree or disagree? 3) If I can get my class to remember just one thing after my presentation is over, what should that be? LA207 Proposal Argument Presentation Assignment Description You will present the same argument that you are writing in your final essay but verbally in our classroom. So you must identify a problem, propose a solution, and prove that it is fair, well-considered, and feasible. This course is NOT a graphic design class, or a speaking class, but we will spend some time in the final modules delivering our proposal arguments verbally with projected words/images for the following reasons 1) We cannot deny the power of visuals in argumentation, and you should feel free to experiment with them in this presentation and include them in your final essay. 2) In delivering your argument verbally, you are giving yourself a chance to receive immediate feedback from your peers and from your instructor. I find that verbal response can sometimes provide very useful critique of your logic or other issues. Presentation Requirements: i) s333- 5-8 minutes long from when you begin speaking. Must include visuals of some kind. No more than 30 seconds of video (if any). Any file format or application is acceptable (PDF, PPT, Prezi, etc.) Do NOT copy/paste the content of any draft; in general there should be no more than 50 words per slide as a maximum This assignment is required but not a part of your grade. In other words, you will not be graded on presentation skills of any kind, like pronunciation, body language, or graphic design. However, please remember that these are essential skills in many other classes and professions, so treat this project as an opportunity to get a little extra practice. Finally, remember that YOU are the expert on your topic. You've done much more research than any of your audience, and you should feel comfortable speaking with confidence about your topic in order to persuade us that your proposal is strong. NAEGYEONG KIM Post #001 Created:10:50PM04/30/2021 NEW Chapter Eleven: Writing Exercise • What does my class already know about my topic? What will I have to teach them? I think a lot of our classmates will know well about my topic since it is a very big issue worldwide. As shown in various data in my essay, I think anyone in our class would have had experience related to bullying if it were not for students in an environment where it was difficult to meet peer friends such as homeschooling because there were so many people who experienced bullying. However, as it such a common problem, alertness may have been lowered, and it would be good to point out once again because it is a problem that exists not only in school but also wherever human relations exist. • What does my class already believe about my topic? Where are they likely to agree or disagree? I think bullying and violence in human relationships cannot be justified for any reason, so I think most of our classmates will agree. - If I can get my class to remember just one thing after my presentation is over, what should that be? It would be nice to know that social bullying and bullying in complex human relationships can help a lot even if you give a little attention and to have the idea of becoming a person who can give a helping hand. Flag for Follow Up P Get URL