Select the correct answer.
what is the tone of the passage?
on letter writing
o a
humorous
ob. conversational
oc. ironic
od. satiric
o e.
condescending
from pebbles on the shore
by a. g. gardiner (excerpt)
"nothing," said sam, mournfully. "i just sit and scratch my head over the
blessed paper, but nothing'll come. seems as though my head's as empty
as a drum."
"same here. 'tisn't like writing love-letters. when i was up to that game
"twas easy enough. when i got stuck i just put in half a page of crosses, and
that filled up fine. but writing to mother and the missus and sarah and jim
and the rest is different. you can't fill up with crosses. it would look ridiklus."
"it would," said sam.
then the train began to move, and the soldier in the train sank back on his
seat, took out a cigarette, and began to smoke. i found he had been twice
out at the front, and was now home on sick leave. he had been at the battle
of mons, through the retreat to the marne, the advance to the aisne, the first
battle of ypres, and the fighting at festubert. in a word, he had seen some
of the greatest events in the world's history, face to face, and yet he
confessed that when he came to writing a letter, even to his wife, he could
find nothing to say. he was in the position of the lady mentioned by horace
walpole, whose letter to her husband began and ended thus: "i write to you
because i have nothing to do: i finish because i have nothing to say."
reset

the sentence that avoid faulty coordination is:

culture, which is well represented in philadelphia, plays a major role including theatre, music, and the visual arts.  

faulty coordination occurs when the writer gives equal importance two different ideas (clauses) which in fact are not equivalent. in order to correct a misplaced clause or idea, the writer can place less important or emphatic ideas in a relative clause as in the previous sentence.  

formal arguments

in written, formal arguments, the best way to build credibility with readers is to provide them with evidence. no matter what your argument might be and which side you agree with, citing strong evidence to back up your claim leaves the opposition with little to argue.

emotional appeal is often used in oral arguments. written arguments, however, rely on four main types of evidence. as you read further, you will see that some types are more credible than others and "hold more water" so to speak.

statistical evidence

the strongest type of evidence in formal writing is statistical evidence. this ranges from true, hard data presented as a percentage or number, to survey-type data. for example, statistical evidence could be:

4 out of 5 experts claim

85% of women in the united

7 members were present

statistical evidence can be proven as fact. you can actually go out and find hard information to prove your particular claim.

testimonial evidence

the use of celebrities as credibility evidence can be considered testimonial in nature. many people look up to celebrities as role models in their lives. good or bad, when a person chooses a life-path that takes them into public light, there will be many others out there who want to emulate the celebrity. these celebrity endorsements provide the second-strongest type of evidence found in formal arguments.

testimonial evidence can also be collected from experts and authorities in a given field. doctors, dentists, lawyers often provide expert testimonials. their authority is not often questions. they are expected to "know their stuff."

anecdotal evidence

when storytelling is involved as evidence, anecdotal evidence is being used. due to its less objective nature, anecdotal evidence is not extremely strong. when coupled with statistical or testimonial evidence, anecdotal evidence can be highly effective in determining credibility or proof.

storytelling, although based on fact, can include quite a bit of opinion, thus making it less objective. usually, eyewitnesses are used as providers of anecdotal evidence. they saw or experienced the phenomenon at hand are telling their version or side of the story.

analogical evidence

when information is scarce about something and little is known, analogical evidence is often used in a formal argument to increase credibility of the proof. if the phenomenon in question is new and little is known about it, analogical evidence that pulls in known factors about a similar phenomenon to show parallels can be an effective way to provide proof.

due to limited knowledge about the phenomenon, in this situation, analogical evidence can be regarded as the weakest type of evidence used in formal arguments. one can only imagine and hope that the comparison-phenomenon is close enough that the results can be applied to the new phenomenon.

in the

all that really matters in a formal argument is whether or not the writer has credible evidence to back up what they want to say or what they are thinking. so often, we hear people say, "prove it! " to one another.

one last little formal arguments not only provide credible evidence to support claims, don't forget that acknowledgment of the opposing point of view in an argument also strengthens the entire product.

1. active

2. passive

3. passive

4. active