In Passage 1, the quotation from Victor Hugo mainly serves to

1. drag the central argument paine presents and its two claims to complete the chart. argument claims america may have flourished more had it not been under the power of any european country. america may have flourished under britain in the past, but there is no guarantee that it will continue to flourish in the future. america will continue to flourish as long as the essential food products it sells are bought and eaten in europe. the american colonies will no longer flourish when britain makes war against them. britain's king has shown himself to be prejudiced against the colonies, rather than wanting them to flourish.

2.select the sentence in this passage that can be classified as a false statement.

although few humans per year are attacked by polar bears, any individual attack can be terrifying and even fatal. the warming of arctic regions has allowed the intrusion of humans into the polar bears’ habitat, increasing the danger of harmful contacts. remaining alert and using precautions can humans avoid a negative encounter with a polar bear. traveling together and staying close to the group can humans avoid bear attacks. certain weapons, including nonlethal ones such as pepper spray, are effective against polar bears. once a bear has decided to attack, however, nothing can be done.

3.select the sentence in this passage that demonstrates the fallacy of making an extreme either-or claim.

the civil war was the bloodiest conflict in the history of the united states. more than 600,000 soldiers lost their lives. the fighting took place in many different cities and throughout the countryside. the wounded often suffered acute pain while in the field hospitals. they all should have asked for better care. william hammond, the surgeon general of the union army, created a new system of sanitary field care. if people do not accept hammond as the most important person from the civil war, they have no understanding of the war.

formal arguments

in written, formal arguments, the best way to build credibility with readers is to provide them with evidence. no matter what your argument might be and which side you agree with, citing strong evidence to back up your claim leaves the opposition with little to argue.

emotional appeal is often used in oral arguments. written arguments, however, rely on four main types of evidence. as you read further, you will see that some types are more credible than others and "hold more water" so to speak.

statistical evidence

the strongest type of evidence in formal writing is statistical evidence. this ranges from true, hard data presented as a percentage or number, to survey-type data. for example, statistical evidence could be:

4 out of 5 experts claim

85% of women in the united

7 members were present

statistical evidence can be proven as fact. you can actually go out and find hard information to prove your particular claim.

testimonial evidence

the use of celebrities as credibility evidence can be considered testimonial in nature. many people look up to celebrities as role models in their lives. good or bad, when a person chooses a life-path that takes them into public light, there will be many others out there who want to emulate the celebrity. these celebrity endorsements provide the second-strongest type of evidence found in formal arguments.

testimonial evidence can also be collected from experts and authorities in a given field. doctors, dentists, lawyers often provide expert testimonials. their authority is not often questions. they are expected to "know their stuff."

anecdotal evidence

when storytelling is involved as evidence, anecdotal evidence is being used. due to its less objective nature, anecdotal evidence is not extremely strong. when coupled with statistical or testimonial evidence, anecdotal evidence can be highly effective in determining credibility or proof.

storytelling, although based on fact, can include quite a bit of opinion, thus making it less objective. usually, eyewitnesses are used as providers of anecdotal evidence. they saw or experienced the phenomenon at hand are telling their version or side of the story.

analogical evidence

when information is scarce about something and little is known, analogical evidence is often used in a formal argument to increase credibility of the proof. if the phenomenon in question is new and little is known about it, analogical evidence that pulls in known factors about a similar phenomenon to show parallels can be an effective way to provide proof.

due to limited knowledge about the phenomenon, in this situation, analogical evidence can be regarded as the weakest type of evidence used in formal arguments. one can only imagine and hope that the comparison-phenomenon is close enough that the results can be applied to the new phenomenon.

in the

all that really matters in a formal argument is whether or not the writer has credible evidence to back up what they want to say or what they are thinking. so often, we hear people say, "prove it! " to one another.

one last little formal arguments not only provide credible evidence to support claims, don't forget that acknowledgment of the opposing point of view in an argument also strengthens the entire product.