Find A Recent News Article From The Past Three Years

Find A Recent Within The Past Three Years News Article News Clip Or

Find a recent (within the past three years) news article, news clip or short video that focuses on poverty in the US. State the argument the news item is making. You’re not being asked to make an argument of your own here. Your assignment is to analyze an argument put forth by the news item you found. In order to do this, you must pay close attention to the “what” and the “how” dimensions of the argument you have chosen.

“What” in this sense means the content of the argument you have chosen—what the author claims, what the argument is about. “How” means the moves, strategies and techniques of persuasion deployed in the argument—how it works, how it is constructed, how it functions rhetorically. In your paper, you should do the following four things: 1. Briefly summarize the argument (the “what” in a nutshell). 2. Describe the manner in which the argument is put forth (the “how”). 3. Analyze the argument by examining the reasoning and rhetoric closely. 4. Evaluate the argument by pointing out its strongest and weakest features and suggesting a next step.

Further suggestions regarding items 2-4, you might consider some of the following questions, though these are not mandatory. Focus on questions most relevant to your analysis. For example: What types of evidence are emphasized—inductive, deductive, anecdotal, analogical? Do appeals to emotion play a prominent role? What audience does the author seem to target? What might have prompted the presentation of this argument?

Analyze the reasoning and rhetoric carefully. If deductions are involved, how do they work? Is inductive reasoning properly conducted? How reliable are probabilities, samples, experiments, empirical data, or witness testimony? Are there assumptions involved? What are they? Do fallacies or propaganda techniques appear? Lastly, evaluate the argument’s strongest and weakest features, consider perceptual filters that may influence the author’s thinking, and suggest ways to improve or further develop the argument.