Capitalization

• Names of People

• Places, Including Geographical Regions– Goose Creek, Ontario, Midwest, South

• Peoples and Their Languages– Spanish, English, French

• Religions and Their Followers– Buddhist, Moslem, Islam, Christianity,

Judaism

Capitalization

• Members of National, Political, Racial, Social, Civic, Athletic Groups– Democrat, African American, Red Sox,

Patriots, Danes, Friends of the Library, Olympics Committee

• Institutions and Organizations– Supreme Court, Legal Aid Society, Elks,

Chamber or Commerce, Lions Clubs

Capitalization

• Historical Documents– Declaration of Independence, Bill or Rights

• Periods and Events, not Centuries– Middle Ages, Boston Tea Party, twenty-first

century

• Days, Months, Holidays, not Seasons– Monday, Thanksgiving, winter

• Trademarks– UPS, Sony, Toyota

Capitalization

• Holy Books and Words Denoting the Supreme Being (pronouns referring to God may be capitalized or not)

– Bible, Lord, Koran, God, His creation or his creation

• Words and Abbreviation Derived from Specific Names (not names that have lost association)

– Stalinism, Freudian, CBS– french fries, pasteurize, panama hat

Capitalization

• Place Words that Are Part of Specific Names– New York City, Wall Street, Boston Common

• Titles that Precede Names but not after Names– Aunt Sylvia, Governor Washington, President

Obama– Sylvia, my aunt; Lionel Washington, governor;

Barack Obama, president

Capitalization

• Family Relationship Words Use as Name– Here is a gift for Mother.– She sent a gift to his mother.

• Titles of Books, Magazines, Essays, Movies Plays, Newspapers, etc.– The Taming of the Shrew– A Dialog Between Soul and Body– “The Sino-Soviet Conflict”– “A Brother-in-Law’s Lament”

• Pronoun I

Capitalization

• First Word of Sentence in Parentheses– The American Olympic ski team (which receives little

government support) spent six months training, whereas the German team trained for over two years. (Like most European nations, Germany provides financial support for all team members.)

• Don’t Capitalize Question Phrases in a Series– What did the interviewer want from the rock star—

gossip from the music world? personal information? inside news about her next CD?

Capitalization

• First Word of Complete Sentence Quotation but not Continuation of Interruption– She answered, “No one will understand.”– “No one,” she answered, “will understand.”

• First Word of Sentence After Colon• First Word of Phrase if on Separate Line• Words After Prefix Normally Capitalized

– un-American, anti-Semetic

Argument and Persuasion

• Appeal to Logic by Citing Specific Factual Evidence

• Appeal to Emotion Using Personal Experience

• Appeal to Logic and Emotion with Facts and Observations

• Objective: Convince Reader to Believe or Act in a Certain Way

Hypothetical Topic

• Concerned about father’s health• Smokes, avoids exercise, is overweight,

works long hours in stressful job• Unconcerned and resists changing his

ways• Persuade:

– Makes dangers clear– Offer convincing reasons for change– Urge specific action

Analyze Audience

• Purpose: To Persuade Audience

• Get Reader to Agree or Act

• Answer Key Audience Questions– How interested are they likely to be?– What values do they hold?– What type of evidence will be effective?– What objections will I need to overcome?– Is my request for action reasonable?

How to Persuade

• Choose Subject You Feel Strongly About

• Present Fair, Logical Argument

• Express Honest Emotion

• Avoid Distorted Evidence or Inflamatory Language

How to Persuade

• Support Argument– Factual Evidence: Statistics, Quote

Appropriate Experts, Give Examples of Injured Boxers, Describe How Punches Affect the Body or Head, How Head Punches Cause Brain Damage, Effects of Years of Physical Punishment

– Appeal to Reader Values: Objective Is to Knock Out Someone—Try to Injure Opponent

Emotion vs. Reason

• Emotional Argument Gets Attention May be Enough to Persuade

• Reasoned Argument Gets Agreement Often Persuades

• Effective Argument UsuallyAppeals to Both

Credibility Wins Arguments

• Be Fair and Reasonable

• Be Trusted and Believed

• Avoid – Unfair or Inflammatory Language– Faulty Logic– Biased or Distorted Evidence

Faulty Logic

• Ad Hominen: Criticize position by criticizing character• Ad Populum: Appealing to prejudice, not facts• Unqualified Authority: Testimony by unqualified pseudo-

expert• Begging the Question: Assuming truth of argument• Either-Or: Implying only two choices• Faulty Analogy: Inappropriate analogy as evidence• Hasty Generalization: Basing evidence on broad

generalization• Non Sequitor: Conclusion doesn’t follow evidence• Oversimplification: Simple solution to complex problem

Structure of Argument

• Inductive Reasoning– Specific Evidence Leads to General Conclusion– Writer as Detective Piecing Together Evidence Like

an Investigation– Arouses Reader’s Interest

• Deductive Reasoning– General Assumption to Specific Evidence– Detective Announces Murderer Then Shows How

Came to Conclusion– Immediately Announces Thesis

Syllogism

• Three-Step Argument– Major Premise—People Should Have Equal

Opportunities– Minor Premise—Minorities Are People– Conclusion—Minorities Should Have Equal

Rights

Conclusion

• End Essay Decisively

• Thought-Provoking Question or Image

• Reaffirm Your Point– First Person– Personal Experience

Student Essay

• Why is the draft unconvincing?

• Does the thesis change from one draft to the other?

• How is the second draft improved?

Poem

• How does the poet feel about war?

• Is his argument emotional or logical?

• Why focus on one dying soldier?

• Is poet being unpatriotic?