Mr. Jefferson is Lying!

Mystery prompts writing! I'm teaching my class to write arguments using the same type of tight logic that lawyers need in a court case, and have found that mystery stories make great writing project inspiration.

Encyclopedia Brown Super Sleuth (2009) features a chapter called "The Case of the Patriotic Volunteer" in which a man in a flashy Uncle Sam costume gathers together the children of Encyclopedia's town. He tells them that as a personal acquaintance of the President of the United States, he has been commissioned to collect donations from the children of America for a new charity that will ensure that kid-generated government ideas are proposed to the legislature. Encyclopedia Brown weighs carefully the evidence presented by the costumed man, Mr. Jefferson, then announces that he is a fraud, but we don't get a chance to hear his explanation. The chapter ends simply with a question to the reader: How does Encyclopedia know Mr. Jefferson is lying? Below, three of my students finish Encyclopedia's speech for him. As you read, see if you can recognize the 7 elements of Toulmin's Argumentation Model:

• Claim
• Evidence
• Warrant
• Backing
• Qualifications
• Counter Claims
• Rebuttal

Student-Written Speeches:

By Edward Wang:
  
“Save your money, Mr. Jefferson might be from Washington D.C. but he never visited the president. He’s lying. I knew this right away as soon as he tried to avoid specifics. When people lie they tend to avoid specifics. The example that Mr. Jefferson showed was that when Mary asked if Mr. Jefferson wanted to take this to the news he said no. He refused this because he was aware that if he goes to the news station they will probably question his cause and probably figure out that he is lying,” The children watched Mr. Jefferson’s face which was normal pink turn to a sickly pale. Encouraged by this Encyclopedia continued, “Furthermore,  when Mr.Jefferson said that he visited the president often. Notice that he said that he lives in the Capitol building? The president doesn’t live there. He lives in the White House. When someone visits people they clearly should know where they live. Therefore , Mr. Jefferson don’t actually visit the president.” 

Mr. Jefferson sputtered, “Well what about the postcard of me and the presiden--” 

“You can easily photoshop that!” Encyclopedia fired back. 

“Well… well….. Yes I did photoshop it. I’m not really friends with the president. This was all a scam,” said Mr. Jefferson. He turned and ran away from the children and took the money with him. A few days later Mr. Jefferson noticed a knock on his door and when he opened it he saw the cops and was arrested for and also scamming.

By Laura Bai:

Save your money. Mr. Jefferson might be from Washington D.C., but he’s never visited the president. He’s lying. Why would Mr.Jefferson not want your parents to know? After all, he is telling you that he will take you to Washington D.C., and he doesn’t want your parents to know at all, he might just leave you all behind and take all of your money away. What would stop him? If you told your parents then he would have to actually take you to Washington D.C.. Also, Mr. Jefferson doesn’t want people to know about his charity. What charity doesn’t want the whole world to know? Real charity’s, would want everyone to know about it so they would get more money. If Mr. Jefferson only wants kids to know, don’t you think that it would be easier to steal your money and leave? Mr.Jefferson’s charity has to be fake. 
Yes, I saw the picture that Mr. Jefferson had of him with the president, but that doesn’t mean that it is real. What if it was a cardboard cutout, and he took a picture with that? Or maybe it was impersonator who was impersonating the president, and Mr.Jefferson took a picture with him? Sure, he may have taken a picture with the president, but that doesn’t mean they are best friends. Don’t give your money to him, his charity is fake.

By Sean Ge:

Save your money, Mr. Jefferson might be from Washington, D.C., but he’s never visited the president. He’s lying. First of all he states that the president, himself, sent him to do this; that’s very unlikely, it’s generally a branch of government that would get people to do this for them, a president would assign an organization to do it and the government officials hire people but they still have to prove their identification. Also, he says he told the president to sign him up as a volunteer while most broadcasts are radio stations or news, those broadcasting stations are organizations not solo people… Also to collect the money by himself rather than an organization is suspicious. Addition fact: some of those things like the idea “no more baths” do not need money; children do not have money or jobs, why would they have money to donate? Also, he’s asking for money is a jar...  Another fact is that he states “this news is only for children” which does not make sense. Plus pulling out a photo which to president, with him could be photoshopped. A badge or certificate to prove his identity would be more realistic than a photo. He also said, “I visit him and his family all the time in their home in the Capitol building.” with this in mind, you know he’s lying, the president lives in the white house or somewhere else like in the case with Donald Trump, the Capitol Building is where the Senate and the House of Representatives stay. He visited a town, not a city or a county…  But photoshopping is very difficult in this time period. Also his outfit is not some regular clothing, he is trustworthy. He has a picture with the president its the 1940s where do you get a photo with the president elsewhere? But, he can get that type of clothing anywhere, he can have it specially made for him to wear if he wanted. Last but not least, a warrant is needed to do this kind of fundraiser or at least some form of identification, like a driver's license or passport. Therefore he is lying and is guilty of a crime.  >:) (Mr. Jefferson will be arrested for doing something like this without proper truth, he is lying. This is not a way to do things. He will go through court and go to jail. But it’s still innocent until proven guilty)

Citing Evidence (What Not to Do)

Once upon a time, a young prince named Ben decided to write an essay. "I need facts!" he proclaimed. So he went into the mysterious internet to hunt for evidence that would support his argument. As you can imagine, it was easy to find quotations, examples, and even statistics that favored his side of the issue; he gathered it into his arms. "I shall have no trouble carrying this home," he thought.

But along his return journey he stopped suddenly, spying something rise from the bushes. It was a haggard peasant woman, raising a crooked finger. "Ah yes," she said, "you might be able to persuade with that fluff, but it has no substance." Then she opened her mouth, and swallowed his findings in a single, empty bite. "Delicious," she muttered, "I love cotton candy."

Let's pause here to look at the difference between persuasive writing and argumentative writing.

Persuasive Writing is the version you probably learned first. It's an exercise in expressing an opinion, and compelling an audience. As in argumentation, the writer makes a claim, and supports it with reasons and evidence, but unlike argumentation, persuasive writing allows for a broad range of support that includes unverified personal anecdotes, a good deal of pathos, and facts from brief, shallow research. In many situations, it's a perfectly appropriate approach to writing (such as when you want to convince your parents to let you borrow the car Saturday night). However, sometimes I feel disheartened when I see politicians and media reporters take this approach in addressing important local, national, or global issues. The writing makes use of pathos and logos, and the structure often looks like this: Claim-Reasons-Evidence.
Argumentative Writing Whereas persuasive writing is audience-focused (all about convincing the reader to do or believe something), argumentative writing is truth-focused (all about examining a topic to show what truth you believe emerges naturally from the available evidence). This requires more thought and preparation. If you've already mastered persuasive writing, you're ready for this. An argumentative writer, being human, can't help but begin with an opinion, but as he dives into his research, he studies the issue from all sides with a willingness to question his original view. As an argumentative writer writes, she displays her extensive research, carefully cites evidence from qualified sources, interprets data from a knowledge of the full context, and addresses the opposing view. Here's how a teacher at Smekens Education puts it:

It's a debate! There's no easy answer--that's why it's an issue. What are the valid points [the other side makes]? You give them space. It's pro/con. And because you give them space, your voice, your tone, stays respectful and tactful. You're not gonna woo them by putting them down, you're gonna woo them because you have more data to support your side. (http://www.smekenseducation.com/Argumentative-v-Persuasive-Writ0.html)

This show of expertise and fairness establishes ethos. While argumentative writing allows for a little pathos, writers put most of their focus on logos, arranging their research and reasoning in way that leads the reader through a natural, logical train of thought.* The writing makes use of logos and ethos, and the structure could be either Claim-Reasons-Evidence, or Claim-Evidence-Reasons.

Now back to our story.

Why did the old woman eat Ben's research?
In what way was Ben's research like cotton candy?
What do you recommend Ben do on his next project?
Is persuasive writing bad?

See also: This ReadWriteThink document. and This ReadWriteThink article.

*A note about the "Argumentative Essay" portion of  the AP English Language and Composition Exam. Because this is a 40-minute essay, the AP Exam judges don't expect you to have conducted extensive research on your topic before reading the essay prompt. As you write, establish ethos by making text-to-world, and text-to-text connections, albeit without specific source citation. And feel free to use personal experiences as evidence. Rather than relying on a specific resource for this type of argumentation, writers delve into knowledge they've gained from a lifetime of reading and experience to study and discuss the issue, and yet the focus is not on grasping for proof to support your opinion, but to form a claim based on an exploration of all the evidence you have.