Garden of Choices

Resources for Argument Analysis

Argument Analysis
When analysing argument, identify the persuasive techniques in the text and explore the author ‘s contention.

Read the language components below and examine how I use them in 'Garden of Choices' to influence my audience. These are the devices you learn to identify and investigate in argument analysis.

Contention
Usually, a writer’s main argument is immediately stated. Especially in opinion pieces and speeches, which are commonly used in this unit of study, the contention is either in the title or in the first paragraph. However, an unreliable narrator like me can draw out the real argument. I use positive phrases - ‘she winked’ ‘generous nudging’ ‘responding to his good deeds’ - to throw you off Apple’s true intention, and make you work to find my contention: Don’t fall for the devil’s sneaky temptations.

Refer to an opinion piece or speech. Examine the title and first paragraph. What does the writer want you to believe? This is the contention. Compare the texts. This title. This front cover. Do they hint at my contention? Now examine the title of your persuasive text. What is it hinting?

Arguments
I foreshadow several points to support my contention which is only crystal clear after the whole story has been told. The very last page reveals that Apple is unquestionably rotten. This is exposed using the allegorical theme of the Garden of Eden. In the same way the snake tempts Eve with the apple in Genesis, Apple herself tempts Orange in this story.

Once this is clear, the arguments are too:
1.Everything that glitters is not gold: Apple is charming on the outside but rotten on the inside.
2.The majority is not always right: Most of the Fruit in the Garden have taken a bite of Apple. Orange is a minority.
3.Nice gestures sometimes hide bad intentions: Apple seemingly supports Orange during his crisis, but it’s just another ploy in an attempt to corrupt him.
4.The antagonist can be our mirror: Foreshadowed on page 9, where Orange sees his own reflection in Apple’s skin, his faults mirror her flaws. He identifies that Apple is showy, bossy and lacks discipline on page 19. Then he succumbs to the same faults on page 21-22: boasting, impelling and gluttonous eating.

Find these arguments in this book. Consider the words I use to create them. Now refer to the same opinion piece/speech. Annotate its key vocabulary and language devices with a peer to find the arguments being made by the writer/speaker.

Rhetorical Appeals: Modes of Persuasion:
Ethos (building credibility)
Initial trust is built through the characterisation of Apple. She appeals to the audience with her mischievousness, her confidence and her popularity. Even the book cover suggests that Apple is friendly. Seemingly wanting to share herself with Orange and never giving up on him, Apple is trusted to be cheeky with good intentions.

Locate the words/phrases/sentences that make Apple seem credible. Now find language that builds credibility in your text.

When the unreliable narrator is exposed, the foreshadowing is realised. Clues throughout the story secure my credibility: the front cover represents the apple of temptation in Genesis. The apple meals reveal Apple's sneaky plan to trick Orange into tasting her. They work to further persuade my audience, because even though I trick you in believing that 'she’s no rotten Apple', I never lie.

Pathos (emotional persuasion)
Embedding the 9 Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) into the story influences the audience to refer to biblical foundations. It helps readers feel the effects of these Fruits from Orange and his mum’s perspective.

Find the 9 Fruit of the Spirit in this text and respond to how they position you, the audience. What do they make you feel, think or want to do? How do they build the characters? How do they move the story?

Strong verbs like ‘generous’ and ‘suffer’ are used as a ploy, foreshadowing a warning to the audience to beware of sensationalism.

Find examples of strong language in your opinion piece/speech. How do they work to persuade?

Logos (reasoning)
Apple uses reasoning to persuade Orange to let her help him, ‘My talents and my many fruit friends can be of service’. Mum uses reasoning to put things into perspective, ‘It’s not our job to judge them. Our job is to review situations before making OUR choices.’

When the readers compare these approaches, it is clear that Apple’s reasoning is centred on vanity while mum’s is centred on good values. These parallels show logical contrasts in the characters' intentions and helps to hint at Apple's true essence.

Consider how reasoning is used in the same text. Do they use parallels? How do they reason with you?

Antanaclasis
I use this figure of rhetoric in the phrase, ‘…ensuring you eat well to get well’ (p.22). Using the same word twice in one sentence to form two meanings is antanaclasis. Repeating the homonym ‘well’ to mean first ‘good’ and then ‘healthy’ brings attention to Orange’s moment of hypocrisy. As an unreliable narrator, I give the protagonist the same flaw as the antagonist to make you question his integrity.


Appeals
Apple uses several appeals to mislead Orange. Eventually, this works to reveal her own true nature and persuade the audience to beware.

  • Appeal to patriotism: Uses Orange’s love for his culture to manipulate him: ‘You give the Citrus culture a bad name’

  • Appeal to humour: Uses funny and clever play with words to give her a likeable cheeky demeanour: ‘Bright in colour but not in intellect’

  • Appeal to guilt: Uses Orange’s love for his mum to convince him to let her in: ‘Don’t you want your mum to receive good care? Trying to do it all alone will only extend her suffering’

  • Appeal to fear: Uses dramatic irony to show the audience what Orange cannot yet see - that he's being manipulated: ‘In this Garden of Eden, I will always be tempting’


Use one of these appeals to write an additional paragraph for either your opinion piece/speech or this book.

Literary devices:
Onomatopoeia is used as a false truth (page 17). Bringing attention to Apple’s ‘generous’ support, the long list of these words highlight Apple’s efforts in the kitchen, but also, her effortful process of deception.

Read page 17 again. How do I use onomatopoeia to persuade you to be on team Apple?

Grammatical Moods:
Like the ho-hums of moody people, language too has its moods. There are four key moods in English grammar: ‘imperative’ ‘interrogative’ ‘indicative’ and ‘subjunctive’. This is how they affect the mood of this story:
1.Imperative (bossy and commanding) e.g. ‘…let yourself taste me’.
2.Interrogative (suspicious and questioning) e.g. ‘You call yourself juicy?’
3.Indicative (informative and straightforward) e.g.’…people have many dimensions.’
4.Subjunctive (wishful and conditional) e.g. ‘If you had any sense at all, you’d let yourself taste me’.’

Find one example of each of these moods in your opinion piece/speech.

Grammaticality:
In this picture book, partitives are used to show the many small ways in which wrongs can be disguised as rights. The list of these words (page 23) infer warning to the audience: beware of small wrongs that hide/grow into big ones.

Read page 23 again. How do these partitives persuade you to think harder?

Fallacies
Apple uses these false truths to corrupt Orange:

  • Bandwagon: She points out that most Fruit agree with her in an attempt to convince Orange to join them: ‘Everyone else said yes’.

  • Ad Hominem: She attacks Orange personally to shame him into changing his mind: ‘You call yourself juicy? You’re supposed to be bright!’


Write an additional paragraph for the same opinion piece/speech using one of the above fallacies.

Call to Action
Through Orange’s journey, I call you, the audience, to pay attention to small thoughts and small decisions that contribute to big mistakes. Listen to that ‘joyful voice in (your) heart’; It’s God talking.

Read the last paragraph of your opinion piece/speech and identify what the writer/speaker is wanting you, the audience, to do, think or feel.

Now write your own persuasive speech using the 'Garden of Choices' as a mentor text.
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