This project has two parts. These two parts are a Persuasive Essay and a separate Analysis of that essay.

Part 1: The Persuasive Essay Directions:

1) This paper should be at least 3 pages long, address a single topic, and be written like a normal persuasive essay. It should contain at least 3 separate arguments and no more than 5. The essay can be about whatever topic you want.

2) I want you to give a mix of inductive and deductive arguments.
3) At least one of these arguments should be an argument that you can analyze with a truth table (which you will do in the second part of this assignment).

-NOTE: not all arguments can be analyzed with truth tables, so design this argument with the symbolic form and the truth table for this argument already in mind.

4) You must cite at least two sources in this essay.

Part 2: The Analysis Task 1: Thesis

-What is the author’s thesis?
a) Identify the primary thesis of the paper.
b) Give a quotation to support this identification.

Task 2: Argument Analysis
-Does the author give good arguments? To answer this question, for each

argument:
a) Give a quotation of the whole argument.

-This quotation must include all of the premises and the

conclusion of the argument. b) Give a paraphrase of the argument

i) In which you restate each proposition in a clear and simple manner.
ii) State explicitly in the paraphrase any unstated propositions.

iii) Present these propositions in a logical order as a

numbered list.
c) State whether each argument is inductive or deductive

i) For the inductive arguments, evaluate their probability. ii) For the deductive arguments, determine whether they are valid or invalid.

d) If possible, for deductive arguments give the symbolic form of the argument and a truth table.

-NOTE: as I stated above, you need at least one truth table

in your analysis, so you will need at least one argument in

your paper for which you can give a truth table.
e) Determine whether any of the argument’s premises are false, questionable, or controversial. If so:

i) Explain why the premise is false, questionable, or controversial.
ii) Explain how the falsity or disputability of the premise affects the argument.

Task 3: Informal Fallacies
-Are there any informal fallacies in the article?

a) Give a quotation of the fallacy.
b) State what that fallacy is.
c) Define the fallacy.
d) Explain why the above quotation is an example of the fallacy.

Task 4: Evaluation of Sources
-Does the author use good sources?

a) Determine the expertise of the author(s) of each source.
b) Determine whether the author(s) are appropriate authorities on the topics about which they write.

-Why or why not?
c) Evaluate the quality of each source and whether using these sources improves the quality of the essay or weakens it.

Task 5: Summary
-Overall was this article well argued or not? Why or why not?

Some suggestions:
1) Do not think of the Analysis part of this project as an additional paper and do not write it like a paper. Structure it like a detailed outline of the
Persuasive Essay, in which clearly lay out and identify how the Persuasive Essay argues for its conclusion.
2) In fact, you might want to write the Analysis first, and then once you have written it, use it as an outline for writing the Persuasive Essay.
3) Present your analysis as clearly as possible. I will deduct points if it is poorly presented.

Also, keep in mind that the reasoning of the arguments you give in your essay do not have to be good. The premises do not have to be good. The sources you use do not have to be good. If you want, you can write a totally silly and stupid paper. HOWERVER the analysis that you give of the essay you write, in which you have to explain to me what is good and bad about your argumentation, has to be good. The accuracy of your analysis is what I will primarily be grading you on.

GRADING CRITERIA:

I will be grading this assignment according to four criteria. These criteria are:

1) Content- 50% of grade: This section of the grade will reflect the quality of your argumentation and the depth of your understanding of the material. The better your arguments and the more in depth your presentation of the material, the better your grade will be. Superficial and/or incorrect presentation of the material will result in the deduction of points.

2) Citation- 10% of grade: You MUST cite the text in your answers. If you say that Kant claims that Toad is the best character to play in the levels that involve a lot of digging in Mario 2, show me where in the text he says this. You can choose to either just reference where in the text it appear or you can quote the portion of the text that is relevant to your answer (with, no matter what option you choose, proper citation of course). I encourage you to quote where it makes sense, but if you quote make sure to explain what that quotation means in your own words. And of course plagiarism results in a failure of the course.

3) Spelling and grammar- 20% of grade

4) Structure and presentation- 20% of grade: Is the structure of your paper/assignment clear? Does the organization of the sentences and paragraphs make sense or does it look like you simply threw a bunch of random comments together? Is the material well- presented?

NOTE: Poor presentation (whether through bad writing, structure, or even formatting) can obscure the content of your work to the extent that in certain cases what you are trying to communicate is unintelligible to the reader. I should not have to read a sentence or a paragraph three or four times to understand it. As a writer it is your responsibility to communicate your ideas as effectively and clearly as possible. As the person reading and grading your assignment, it is not my responsibly to make an excessive effort to understand the meaning of what you are trying to communicate to me.