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In this lesson we will discuss how to evaluate an argument, the various types of evidence that supports logical arguments, how to tell whether something is an opinion or fact, and authorial bias.
Evaluating an Argument
The success of a piece of expository writing can be judged from either of two perspectives: that of the casual reader or the critical thinker. The casual reader may judge exposition as successful if it manages to convince him or her that the author’s position is sound. The quality of the argument is not as important as affecting the audience.
The critical thinker, on the other hand, judges an argument based on its inherent quality. The question is not whether an argument is persuasive but whether it should be. Is the author’s main point valid? Does it betray any hidden bias? Is the supporting evidence objective and factual? Does it logically support the argument? Does the conclusion follow from the premise? A good argument may still appeal to the reader’s emotions, but it relies on solid organization, logic, and reason to carry its point.
In order to judge the quality of a piece of writing, the reader must learn to question the author’s motives and modes of argumentation. This includes determining the author’s bias, if any; distinguishing opinion from fact; identifying what types of evidence are used (empirical or anecdotal, for instance) and whether the logic is sound.
Authorial Bias
All expository writers take some sort of stand and seek to convince readers that their particular point of view is superior to the range of other possibilities. When an author’s stance reflects a personal (rather than a critical) opinion, especially one that would be difficult to reasonably support, the author is said to be biased. Bias carries a connotation of prejudice, meaning that the support for this opinion is often unreasonable. It is important for the reader to detect any author bias in order to objectively judge the merit and validity of an argument.
What is the precise distinction between bias, opinion, and prejudice?
Opinion: “James Joyce is the greatest Irish writer. ”
Prejudice: “Irish writers are glorified drunks whose work is sloppy and sentimental. ”
Opinion that reflects a bias: “James Joyce is the greatest writer in the English language because the Irish literary tradition is stronger than any other. ”
Prejudice that reflects a bias: “James Joyce’s writing is incomprehensible, the likely result of his tendency to overindulge in Irish whiskey. ”
Because bias is a tendency of thought, it governs the manner in which apparently factual information is presented. Facts that appear to be presented fairly and objectively may therefore conceal a significant bias. The following table describes some avenues of inquiry for recognizing author bias.
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Recognizing Author Bias
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Question |
Significance of Response |
| When and where was this piece published? | Determines historical and geographical context, thus revealing any common bias of the time or place. Articles on the Vietnam War could be expected to display varying degrees and types of bias depending on whether they were written early in the conflict or at its height; whether the audience was Canadian or North Vietnamese. |
| Who is the author? | Defines the writer’s perspective and provides clues about credibility. A soldier who fought in a battle has a different point of view and level of understanding than the general who commanded the fighting. |
| What supporting sources does the author quote? With whom does he or she disagree? |
Puts the author in context of other thinkers of the time and helps determine credibility. |
| Is the author’s premise logically sound? Does it betray any underlying assumptions? |
Determines how clearly the author is able to formulate an argument and whether the author is conscious of bias. Also helps determine source and extent of bias. |
| How does the author use language to make his or her point? | Distinguishes objective fact from value-laden language. For example, “Entry-level workers earn relatively low wages” is objective; “Entry-level workers suffer conditions of oppression” reveals bias through the choice of vocabulary (“suffer” and “oppression”). |
| How does author’s version of facts or events compare to other accounts? | Positively indicates author bias if discrepancies from other accounts are consistent and significant. |
The following excerpt is taken from Henry David Thoreau’s speech “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” delivered in 1859, on the eve of the Civil War. Today, John Brown is known for leading the failed insurrection at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. In 1859, however, John Brown was famous for his part in the fight to make Kansas a free (rather than a slave) state.
| When the troubles in Kansas began, he sent several of his sons thither to strengthen the party of the Free State men, fitting them out with such weapons as he had; telling them that if the troubles should increase, and there should be need of his, he would follow, to assist them with his hand and counsel. This, as you all know, he soon after did; and it was through his agency, far more than any other’s, that Kansas was made free. |
Which line of inquiry would be the best method of determining whether this passage is biased?
Argument Support
The quality of an argument also depends on the type of evidence used to support it. Evidence can be categorized into three types: documented fact, empirical, and anecdotal.
Documented Fact
This category includes numerical and statistical data of the kind generated by scientific experiments. In the study of English/Language Arts, documented facts are usually historical. Because it can be verified from authoritative outside sources, documented fact is the most reliable form of evidence. Most persuasive exposition is based on some point of documented fact (“Most Victorian novelists were men.”), which the author uses as the premise of his or her argument.
In the Declaration of Independence, for instance, Thomas Jefferson supports his argument in favor of rebellion with a long list of injustices perpetrated upon the American colonists, such as these:
| He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. |
As historical data confirms, each of these claims is accurate and true. They do not represent Jefferson’s interpretation of events, nor do they reflect his personal experience or observation. Regardless of whether the reader agrees with the rest of Jefferson’s argument, the objective truth of these facts is indisputable.
Empirical Evidence
This category of evidence includes facts gathered from observation and experience. Empirical evidence may consist of the author’s personal observation and experience, or it may reflect the common experience of a particular group. It is the foundation of the scientific method, which uses observed phenomenon to form and prove hypotheses. Empirical evidence that accrues in quantity and over time, showing a pattern of consistency, eventually becomes accepted as documented fact.
Empirical evidence is not as reliable as documented fact for two reasons. First, empirical evidence may or may not become accepted as documented fact—it has not yet reached that level of reliability. Second, different observers often have different experiences, and arguments supported by empirical evidence are more open to debate. This is particularly true when the evidence represents the observations of a small group or one with distinct differences from the general population.
Still, a brand new observation may legitimately challenge mainstream beliefs, and neither of those reasons therefore necessarily negates the truth of empirical evidence. Galileo, for instance, used empirical evidence to disprove the commonly held belief that the sun revolved around the Earth.
In the study of English/Language Arts, empirical evidence often concerns the writer’s personal observations, or the experience of the social group to which the group belongs or with which he or she sympathizes. As long as this evidence can be verified by outside, authoritative sources, such observations do qualify as empirical evidence (as distinct from the anecdotal variety). Take the following example from Patrick Henry’s 1775 “Give me liberty or give me death” speech:
| I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. |
With what empirical evidence does Henry support his assertion that the British ministry is not to be trusted?
Anecdotal Evidence
This type of evidence consists of stories about people’s observations or experiences. As such, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish from empirical evidence. The main difference is that anecdotes are unreliable by nature. The word “anecdote” comes from the Greek for “unpublished items,” or stories too insignificant to deserve wide circulation; it describes personal narratives that are told for their entertainment value rather than their truth.
In the study of English/Language Arts, anecdotal evidence carries a negative connotation. It describes stories from unreliable sources, which cannot be verified, and which are presented in support of an argument as though they were objective fact. Anecdotal evidence may be true, but because of its inherent unreliability it is the weakest of the three evidence types.
An author’s use of anecdotal evidence in support of an argument signals one of two things. Either the author is guilty of sloppy thinking and writing, or the anecdotal evidence is being used as a sub rosa means of persuasion. Take the following example, from Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay, “A Modest Proposal.”
| It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads and cabin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.
I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years old, is no saleable commodity, and even when they come to this age, they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half a crown at most, on the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or kingdom, the charge of nutriments and rags having been at least four times that value. I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection. I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout. |
What is Swift’s intent in using these two pieces of anecdotal evidence?
Author Opinion
Some opinions that are reasonable and justifiable can never be proven and will never reach the status of documented fact, regardless of how many people agree on their truth. Philosophical arguments, in particular those that attempt to prove what is right or good, retain the status of opinion (that is, a judgment or belief held by the author) no matter how rigorously they are supported with empirical evidence. That is because “right” and “good” are value judgments rather than objective fact.
Academic exposition rarely deals with the author’s personal opinion or a claim that one book or author is “better ” than another. Instead, the author advances a critical opinion—say, that the heroine of Wuthering Heights is more fully realized and three-dimensional than Jane Eyre—and then attempts to prove that premise with textual evidence. A personal opinion can only be supported with recourse to personal taste. A critical opinion, on the other hand, while always debatable, can be supported with quotations from outside sources, the judgment of authorities in the field, and with close readings of the text itself.
Read the following passage, taken from Thomas Jefferson’s 1785 letter to Peter Carr:
| Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains, rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose, that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises; being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life, and in the moment of death. If ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations. |
Jefferson’s advice to Carr is based on his own observations and experience of the value of a moral life. In other words, Jefferson’s life provided him with empirical evidence that honesty and virtue always reach a better end than immorality or deceit. At the same time, however, Jefferson’s point is a matter of personal opinion; plenty of readers would disagree with his conclusion and claim that morality makes life more difficult and unpleasant. While many other readers would agree that Jefferson is correct, the point is philosophical—it rests on a foundation not of documented fact but on a value judgment concerning what makes life good. Agreement with Jefferson’s argument depends on whether the reader shares Jefferson’s values.