Using this short hero story, use the context clues you learned about in this lesson in at least three different ways to interpret the story and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. Once there was a hero named Heracles. He was very strong and very brave, and he had strapping muscles— the biggest in the world. From the day he was born, he went around the world having adventures. Some people say he was not very smart, but that’s not true. And here is a story to prove it.

One day, Heracles went to work for a nefarious king, who did not love Heracles. He spent all of his time thinking up dangerous things for the hero to do. First, he sent Heracles to fight the voracious Lion of Nemea. The lion was eating people all over Greece, but Heracles put an end to him.

Next, the king sent Heracles to a dark swamp to face the Hydra, a man-eating monster with nine heads. As soon as Heracles cut off one head, two more grew in its place. And the last would not stop biting—even after it was cut off!
Then the bad king ordered Heracles to wrestle Geryon, a cattle rancher with three ugly heads, six legs, six arms, and six heavy clubs in his six hands.

To make matters worse, Geryon had a nasty two-headed dog with very sharp teeth! After each dreadful battle, Heracles always came back the winner with some trophy to show—a lionskin, for example, or Geryon’s wild herd of cattle, which stampeded through the court, scaring the king and making a mess!

Heracles was very proud of his prizes. But the day he brought back the three golden apples, he was proudest of all, for that’s the day he proved he was smart.

the pronoun reference replaces a noun, but you have to make sure there's no room for confusion.

in the first sentence "her" could be referring to shely or to the sister. the answer there is "shelly called her sister and told her about the new baby."

in the second sentence "it" could be referring to the roof or the floor. the answer there is "since the roof leaks on the family room floor, we need to repair the roof."

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.