Chapter 2 Homework

Read the three articles posted to the Chapter 2 folder in Assessments on Blackboard and choose one of
them to analyze in terms of the claims they make about the troubling condition in question. Read all of
them so you can contribute to class discussion when we meet again on 2/19.

1. Identify the troubling condition, and whether it is or is not already widely regarded as a social
problem.
2. Identify the type(s) of claimsmakers: activists, experts, and/or public officials (including legislators,
law enforcement, etc.). this goes for the article’s author as well as for anyone the author quotes or
otherwise refers to in the article.
3. Identify the claims, and especially any competing claims or counterclaims. Newspaper articles often
present “both sides” of an issue, while editorials may not. Consider the type of material you’re
analyzing and its intended audience.
4. Analyze the rhetorical structure of the claims presented (see Box 2.1, p. 34 for a concise example),
including its:
A. Grounds: statements about the nature of the problem, and, if applicable:
1) Typifying example
2) Name
3) Statistics
4) Worsening situation
5) Familiar type of problem, and if so, which problem
6) Kinds of people involved (identify villains and victims)
7) Range of people involved, or the population(s) affected
8) Challenge to older interpretations
B. Warrants: why the troubling condition should be considered a problem, including:
1) Values; for example, justice, fairness, equality, responsibility (see pp. 36-37) – these will be
abstract but look for words like “cost,” “harm,” “suffering”
2) Emotions, e.g., anger, sympathy, concern, disgust
C. Conclusions: what action should be taken and by whom? These should be consistent with the
claims’ grounds and warrants (see pp. 38-39) but may be vague/general, more suggestive than
explicit (see pp. 39-40). Again, identifying the claim’s audience may help in this regard – who is
the claimsmaker trying to persuade? Finally, be sure to identify and distinguish (if applicable)
between any short-range and/or long-range goals the claim argues for.

Submit your work through Blackboard by 11:59 PM on Tues., Feb. 18.