Unlike the Toulmin and Rogerian methods where one side is argued over another, the Middle Ground argument mediates between two sides of an issue hopefully arriving at a compromise solution between two positions. Middle Ground Discussion: For this discussion, choose an issue that you wrote about previously in this course (either your Toulmin or Rogerian essay). Let the class know your previous claim and briefly how you proved this claim in your essay. After this brief review discussion, discuss how you would have approached this particular topic if you were to write a Middle Ground argument, instead of a Toulmin or Rogerian argument. Would you have adjusted your claim? If so, what sort of adjustment would you need? Would you have to find additional sources about your topic in order to prove this new claim? Is a middle ground solution a more practical solution to your chosen issue?
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Isabel Kasabiti
08/21/2016
ENGL102-I006
The Damned Human Race
To a certain extent author Mark Twain goes along with Darwin’s theory mankind about other
species have evolved from a similar beginning. In his essay, Twain gives different strategic evidence to
disprove Darwin research and conclusion that human beings are more evolved than other animals.
Twain’s expresses his ideas about “mankind’s useless morel sense” by mocking mankind’s traits and
behaviors with comparison to different animals. The author states that human beings are the only
mammal that manifests law abiding principles, yet they apply it to perform evil. His strategies make use
facts and evidence that back up the authors’ claims. Mark Twain’s, “The Damned Human Race” is an
argumentative/ claim essay, the author uses satire, anecdotes, pathos and logic to grab the reader’s
attention and support his arguments.
With the use of satirical comparison between the human and animal species mark neutral
standing demonstrates that humans, with our natural traits and unpredictable behaviors are actually
worse than those of other species. Twain uses satire suggesting that man is destructive, greedy, rude
and cruel. In addition, some of his mocking is in the form of anecdotes which can be explained as short
and interesting stories of a true event. An example of this strategy is when he shares a story about a
group of hunters who kill seventy-two buffaloes as a sport for an earl, just to eat part of one and wasting
the rest. When he compared this to an anaconda, great snake killed and ate just one of the calves, not
harming the others. He concludes that humans destroy even that they have no use for but not the
anaconda. In this example Twain reviles the distractive nature of man. He also adds that other animal
species do intend to destroy each other. “Man is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and
goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind”, (Twain). This proves that beyond
being simply destructive to other species, man kills its own kind. The other “lower animals” don’t show
these exact behaviors.
To appeal to the audience’s emotions, the author used pathos to paint a grim picture that any
human should be embarrassed about. “Higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in
organized masses”, (Twain). He pulls the readers to examine humanity and see the world from his point
of view. In other instance, he show case’s this strategy by adding an article of three monks that were
burnt to death, prior to being barbarically mutilated. This analogy creates a visual image for the reader.
It makes his readers feel pain for the monks, and anger that humans could be so cruel.
The scientific method which requires analysis without guessing or speculating is an example of
logic. Twain uses strategy to help strengthen his claims. Though his comparisons seemed to be un real
and exaggerated, he still has precise facts behind every one. Those facts showed that the reasoning
beyond his claims was accomplished. He show case’s this strategy when he compares the pattern of
accumulating between humans and that of species. Man keeps collecting money even after the fact of
so much, on the other hand animals gather until they have just enough to survival. “I furnished a
hundred different kinds of wild and tame animals the opportunity to accumulate vast stores of food, but
none of them would do it”, (Twain). In his experiment, the author gave hundreds of animals of chance to
collect vast foot storages. He concluded explaining; compared to animals, mankind is greedy all together
that’s hard to argue against the reasoning. He gets his readers to think about their own morals.
In conclusion, twain’s satirical essay strategies employ facts and evidence to back up his claims.
The use of satire, pathos and logic after stating his argument to help illustrate his comparison of humans
and other animals. He appealed to the audience not any grabbing their attention, but their emotion as
well by using pathos to paint a gruesome picture that would shame any man. Twains main argument
was on the contrary to Darwin’s theory that man has evolved from greater animals therefore cannot be
named as higher level species. The author added credibility to his arguments by using satire, anecdotes,
pathos and logic to grab the reader’s attention and support his arguments. His writing style engaged the
readers and he highlighted the negative behaviors that class with positive morals.
Citation:
Twain, Mark. “The Damned Human Race.” Moodyap.pbworks.com. n.d. Web. 11 May 2012.
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