Page 437 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

404 Part 4 Contexts for Public Speaking

During the California
Recall, voters had the
chance to use their
critical thinking skills
while watching Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Tom
McClintock, and Peter
Camejo in a debate
moderated by Stan
Statham.

What do you think? Is smoking marijuana any more harmful to your health than
drinking alcohol? Does the recreational use of cocaine or ecstasy inevitably lead
to a life of ruin? Should drug addicts be punished as criminals, or should they
receive medical treatment for their addiction?
What do you believe about the drug education programs you experienced in
middle school and high school? Do you think they have reduced drug use in our
country—for example, kept drugs out of the workplace or minimized their use
among young people? Or do you think that the billions of dollars committed by
government to drug education could have been better spent elsewhere?
These kinds of questions are not easily answered. Illegal drugs and their
widespread use continue to be topics of heated discussions in the halls of Con-
gress, during the meetings of school boards, and over the dinner table in many
homes. What’s more, they have even been the centerpieces of blockbuster fi lms
such as Traffic, which won four Academy Awards and was nominated for best
picture, and Blow, which starred Penélope Cruz and Johnny Depp.
Most of our students have participated in drug education programs in their
www.mhhe.com/brydon6 middle school and secondary school careers. One of them, Mitch Bacci, spoke
about what he believed were the failings of the Drug Abuse Resistance Educa-
To view a video of Mitch
Bacci’s speech, click on the tion program. A transcript of his speech is found in the box “In Their Own
Speech Coach link on our Words . . . D.A.R.E.” on pages 406–407. As you read it, ask yourself if he en-
Online Learning Center Web gages in logical reasoning and if his arguments against the D.A.R.E. program
site and go to Segment 15.1.
are sound. You can also view the speech on our Online Learning Center Web
site. We will refer back to the speech throughout the chapter as we discuss the
process of how to reason soundly.
This chapter continues Chapter 8’s discussion of the use of grounds and war-
rants to support the claims we make. We continue to employ the Toulmin model