Thank you for Arguing:A Time to Kill Edition

Thank you for Arguing:A Time to Kill Edition

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Works Cited

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Synopsis

Heinrichs, Jay. Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us

about the Art of Persuasion. New York: Three Rivers, 2007. Print.

Sergei K. "A Time To Kill Script - Dialogue Transcript." A Time To Kill Script. N.p., n.d. Web. 10

Sept. 2014.

Lau, Joe. "[Tutorial F01] What Is a Fallacy." Critical Thinking Web. N.p., 2002. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. .

• Kairos is the art of seizing the perfefect instant for persuasion.
• My example from A Time to Kill represents kairos used well because the plot in this movie takes place during a time where racial prejudice was still prevalent and by asking the jury to imagine this crime happened to a white girl instead, the idea of prejudice skewing justice is restated. Brigance ends his testimony by asking the jury to image Tonya was white in order for the jury to realize that Carl Lee’s actions would have been patently justified if he were a white man with a white daughter. Brigance’s final statement would not have been as big of a motivator in this day and age, thus reiterating how important the kairos are in this scene.

• Vividness has to with the speaker’s ability to create a rhetorical reality before the audience’s very eyes. The ancient Greeks' had a different name for this same concept; they called it enageia.
• My example represents enargeia because in Brigances attempt to persuade the jury that Carl Lee Hailey should not be accused guilty, Brigance narrates what happened in lucid, graphic detail. He uses this tactic in hopes that the individuals in the court room can begin to understand why Carl Lee murdered Cobb and Willard.

Bragging is the act of speaking in a boastful manner is probably the easiest way to show how great you are at something.

My example from A Time to Kill represents bragging because in the process of Roarks attempt to to persuade Brigance that she would be of aid to him in Carl Lee’s murder trial, Roark vocalizes all of her past achievements in a boastful manner. In this scene, Roark doesn’t hold back informing Brigance of all she has done and about her future aspirations.

A fallacy is an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid. There are many different logical fallacies, and of these includes the ad hominem fallacy. The ad hominem fallacy is when you attack your opponent’s character or personal traits rather than address

My example represents an ad hominem fallacy because in Dr. Burkley’s reply to Dr. Bass’s testimony about Carl Lee being legally insane, Dr. Burkley does not once mention anything directly relating to Dr. Bass’s testimony, and instead Dr. Burkley argues Dr. Bass’s point by bringing up a looked down upon experience from Dr. Bass’s past. In this case, Dr. Bass’s past experience impairs absolutely nothing from his judgment in diagnosing Carl Lee with insanity; Dr. Burkely was simply using this tactic in order to distract the audience from the fact that Dr. Bass’s argument concerning Carl Lee’s sanity was legitimate.

This movie takes place in rural Mississippi during a time where racial prejudice was still very very prevalent. In the beginning of this film, Tonya Hailey, a ten year old black girl, is raped and almost killed by two racist white older men by the names of Billy Ray Cobb and James Louis Willard. The men eventually get arrested and become due for trial until Carl Lee, father of Tonya Hailey, murders Cobb and Willard. After this action, Carl Lee becomes due for trial, so he hires Jake Brigance, an even tempered white lawyer, to defend Carl Lee in his trial for murder. Due to the racial prejudice prevalent, Carl Lee is unable to have a fair trial; this movie follows the journey of Brigance in his search for justice.