Directions: For each number, look at the intended audience. Then decide if a or b would be more persuasive in getting the audience to act as the writer wants him/her to. In a separate document, indicate a or b, then explain why you feel one argument is more persuasive than the other.
1. Audience: a prospective employer
a. I would be a good candidate for a summer job at the Happy Trails Dude Ranch
because I have always wanted to spend a summer in the mountains and because
I like to ride horses.
b. I would be a good candidate for a summer job at the Happy Trails Dude Ranch
because I am a hard worker, because I have had considerable experience
serving others in my volunteer work at Mercy Hospital, and because I know
how to make guests feel welcome and relaxed.
2. Audience: a prospective buyer of encyclopedias
a. You should buy these encyclopedias because they are designed especially for
students and are written in a more popular, fun-to-read style than its major
competitors’ encyclopedias.
b. You should buy these encyclopedias because then I will win my company’s
sales award and my wife and I will win a free trip to Hawaii.
3. Audience: a group of people who oppose the present grading system on the grounds that it is too competitive
a. We should keep the present grading system because it prepares people for the
competitive world of business.
b. We should keep the present grading system because it tells students there are
certain standards of excellence that must be met if individuals are to reach their
full potential.
4. Audience: young people ages fifteen to twenty-five
a. You should become a vegetarian because an all-vegetable diet is better for your
heart than a diet that includes meat.
b. You should become a vegetarian because that will help eliminate the suffering
of animals caused by factory farming.
From
Writing Arguments
p. 144-45