SWA: The Reasoning Roadmap
WR 121
A. Identify the Elements of Reasoning
Fill in the elements of reasoning for your Essay 2 in #1-4. These may have changed as a result of the work you have done since the Elements SWA, so update them here if your reasoning and thinking have changed. Consult handouts in the Enthymeme module to review the format and requirements for each as needed.
1. Question at Issue:
Has recent politic rhetoric surrounding the pandemic caused an increase in xenophobic acts towards the Chinese race.
2. Enthymeme (claim-because-reason):
The pandemic has caused an increase in discrimination towards Chinese Americans because political rhetoric regarding the pandemic has influenced xenophobic behavior.
3. Assumption of the enthymeme:
Anything politically surrounding the pandemic has caused an increase in violence towards Chinese Americans due to xenophobic political rhetoric.
4. Enthymeme of a counter argument to your enthymeme you will use in your essay
The pandemic has not caused an increase in xenophobic behavior towards Chinese Americans because political rhetoric does not activate preconceived ideas.
B. Phrase four of the Elements of Reasoning as questions that start with “how.”
Write the claim, reason, assumption, and the reason of the counter argument each as a question beginning with ‘how’ in #5-8.
5. How (does/should) + claim
How does the pandemic cause an increase in discrimination towards the Chinese race?
6. How (does/should) + reason
How does recent political rhetoric surrounding the pandemic influence xenophobic behavior?
7. How (does/should) + assumption
How does anything politically surrounding the pandemic influence xenophobic behavior?
8. How (does/should) + reason of counter argument
How does political rhetoric influence discrimination if it does not activate preconceived ideas?
C. Explain the Elements of Reasoning
For each of these questions, think about the following things:
Verbs—how do these verbs set up a schematic for the logic?
Ambiguous nouns—are there any words that need to be defined because your discourse community might interpret them differently from you?
Jargon terms—are there any words that need to be defined because you might know more about the topic than your discourse community?
For each of the “how” questions, write a paragraph (about 200 words each) that answers the question.
9. How (does/should) + claim
How does the pandemic cause an increase in discrimination towards the Chinese race?
The pandemic has caused an increase in discrimination towards the Chinese race because of rhetoric such as “Chinese virus” that has been used multiple times throughout news outlets that ultimately encourages xenophobic behavior. By referring to Covid – 19 as “the Chinese virus” incites blame towards a certain group of people. It allows for fingers to be pointed and discriminating behavior to be justified. Millions of lives have been taken and even more lives have been affected. This type of language invigorates those who have been hurt and are angry to condemn a specific group of people. Because China has been held accountable thanks to political rhetoric, people are going to connect their race with disease. People unconsciously will have a negative stigma because their opinion has been influenced by xenophobic rhetoric.
10. How (does/should) + reason
How does recent political rhetoric influence xenophobic behavior?
Political rhetoric influences xenophobic behavior because these are the people who are in charge and most of whom we look up to. They influence our ideas and opinions because politicians’ ideas and opinions are being blasted from every single news channel 24/7. If someone who represents the United States of America targets a group of people, it is likely many will follow. Political rhetoric has to be said wisely. You cannot refer to a group of people as “thugs” or blame an entire pandemic on a race. You cannot boast about one religion and discriminate against others. In the world of democracy, the idea is that no specific group is targeted for their beliefs, color, gender etc. It is the land of the free, right? How can someone live freely if having to carry the weight of being conceived as something that they are not just because of political rhetoric influencing such xenophobic ideals.
11. How (does/should) + assumption
How does anything politically surrounding the pandemic influence xenophobic behavior?
Anything politically surrounding the pandemic has influenced xenophobic behavior because political rhetoric has put the blame on China. Several times references have been made my people high up in power that are derogatory. Surrounding such a sensitive subject that has affected quite literally everyone, it is understandable that people will get angry and frustrated. However, when you blame a specific group of people and link them to this pain, they are going to be targeted.
12. How (does/should) + reason of counter argument
How does political rhetoric influence discrimination if it is not responsible for preconceived ideas towards Chinese Americans?
Political rhetoric is not responsible for preconceived ideas people already have towards Chinese Americans. People who are already racist and discriminatory towards a specific group are going to look for things to justify their actions. If they see a reference to something and interpret it as something else, that is their own fault due to preconceived ideas. Political rhetoric does not have the power to influence this.
D. Provide the full bibliographic citation for two pieces of evidence from our class readings that illustrate the question at issue, support an aspect of the claim or reason, or help explain the assumption or counter argument. Remember that no outside sources are allowed without pre-approval.
13. Article #1
Nathan Kalmoe, “Yes, Political Rhetoric Can Incite Violence”
How it contributes to your essay:
This article talks about how political rhetoric incites violence. This contributes to my reasoning that political rhetoric influences xenophobic behavior.
14. Article #2
Anita Jack-Davies, “Coronavirus: The ‘Yellow Peril’ Revisited”
How it contributes to your essay:
This article discusses the premise of increased discrimination towards Chinese Americans due to the pandemic, which contributes to my claim. It also talks about historic xenophobic behavior toward Chinese and how it has integrated into a preconceived idea that Chinese are linked to disease. I will use this for my counter argument as well.