Module 2: Section C
Section Warm-Up
To start thinking about appeals, review the excerpt below from the movie, Philadelphia (1993).
"Prove it!" Remember when you were a kid and someone accused you of something, and you'd give this standard response? As you grow, you are asked to prove yourself in many more ways. You need to prove your hypothesis in a science lab; you need to prove you are good enough for cheerleading or track; you need to prove to your parents that you are responsible enough to drive their cars.
Now we are going to take proof in a new direction. If you've ever been in a courtroom or seen a courtroom drama then you know that trials are all about proving something—guilt, innocence, truth. Ideally in court, facts are more important than anything else. The police gather facts from the crime scene; they interview witnesses, have line-ups to identify the suspects, and do autopsies. Some evidence is objective, like the DNA on the hair found on the missing girl's dress. Some is subjective, like the girl's sister claiming that the missing girl hated her ex-husband. Let's look at a scene that shows evidence being used to prove something.
Watch the video again and listen to the lawyer's arguments. What is the lawyer trying to prove? And more importantly: what evidence is he using to prove it? Is the evidence logical, emotional, or ethical? If you were the lawyer on the opposing side, what could you say to convince the jury that the lawyer in the video is wrong?
In this section, you will learn about the kinds of appeals used in argumentation and about how to argue back or refute the opposition of your proposition. So lace up the gloves, get in the ring, and prove yourself.
