Chapter seven in everything's an argument, the book talks about structuring arguments. The chapter describes all the different types of arguments like classical oration, Rogerian arguments, and Toulmin arguments. It also talks about the different elements in an argument like the evidence and backing the evidence up to make an argument valid.
The section of this chapter that caught my eye was the section titled offering evidence: backing. In this section, the book states that the meat of any type of argument comes from the evidence and how one backs that evidence up. Unlike the claims and warrants, which are the skeleton of an essay, the evidence pushes the reader whether to believe or not believe the argument. Though the evidence is important, for it to be effective, it must follow the claims of the essay. For example, if you claim that eating raisins will boost ones health, you must have evidence to back it up. To back that claim up, you would put a personal or general statement that supports the claim like saying raisins help me have more energy. From there, you might list the nutritional facts about raisins or talk about clinical studies involving raisins. This would give the reader a clear and organized understanding of what the author is arguing. An example of a bad argument would be if an author used backing and evidence that didnt match his claims. For example, if an essay claims that Arizona State University is the best university it would be logical that the backing and evidence would support this claim. But if the author uses evidence that does not pertain to the claim, his or her argument will not be taken seriously.
This section is relevant to what I am learning now because of our next writing project. This section is helping me understand that arguments have to be strong and solidified in order to gain any ground. This will help me find a definition and base many arguments around it.
