Journal #5

The American Crisis

Paragraph 1

Argument- The harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph. Things that you get cheaply are less valuable.

Appeal- emotional and logical

Counter Argument- How can you be sure that the colonist will win.

Logical- faulty analogy, begging the question

Paragraph 2

Argument-That God will not let them lose.

Appeal- ethical

Counter Argument- That God is not on either side because he may not want to start a war. No one can say what God wants.

Logical- begging the question

Paragraph 3

Argument-That America should go to war soon to get their independence so they can be a free country. This is because if we don’t fight them now, our children will have to fight them.

Appeal- Emotional and Logical

Counter Argument- Thing may work themselves out without a war and might not need to fight.

Logical- false dichotomy

Paragraph 4

Argument- We need to defend ourselves from the thief (the king)

Appeal- emotional

Counter Argument- Britain is more powerful and get punished if we lose.

Logical- argument by analogy

Overall the weaknesses are that he does not use many facts in his argument. The strengths are that he is really persuasive.