Statistics Chapter 4 Summary

Barbara Barclay
Andrew Buckler
English Comp II
02/22/2013

Summation of Chapters Three and Four

In chapters three and four I found the examples to be very interesting. Not only did they show a way of incorporating the lesson they also showed us wording, punctuation, format, and on top of that, they were very interesting clips from what I am sure would be great complete essays. The fact that statistics are not always reliable is something I knew but I was glad that it was reiterated in the book. Something I did not realize was that you could draw a picture with words and it is called an illustration, this was very interesting to me. Both chapters would be very beneficial to writing an essay. We need to use some of the information,
Explaining the relativity of the evidence, not just stating it, shows we did some research. Using authorities and explaining their qualifications will give our argument credible resources which will then pull the reader in your direction a little more. By giving your personal insight to the issue (testimony) it adds a personal touch to the paper which gives it emotion. Using facts in the paper give it credibility whether it is widely known facts or facts that need to be cited. Statistics can be very helpful to pull a reader to your side, but when using statistics show their origin, not all statistics are accurate. There are different types of examples that are used, examples are important to a paper because they show specific occurrences and add meaning to the argument. Allusions are references to public knowledge, anecdotes are short accounts of a particular story, and illustrations are graphic descriptions (can be done with words). Any or all of these should be in a good argument
When writing an essay it is good to know what these flaws are so that they can be avoided. Some examples of what to avoid are personal attacks, distorting another persons position, oversimplifying an issue, drawing a conclusion on too little evidence, skipping or confusing steps, restating the claim over and over instead of using other things to support it, changing the subject, and claiming the past is broadly and inherently better. Another thing to avoid is stating that because A happened before B then A must have caused B, without support this claim is completely flawed. Also be careful not to claim that if a person (or population) is thinking or acting a certain way it will lead to more of the same (slippery slope). The last thing the book mentions is that we should avoid is association which is if two people share a quality they are somehow connected or