The purpose of this essay is to call out a specific company on their hypocrisy a

by Caaltu · May 22, 2024

The purpose of this essay is to call out a specific company on their hypocrisy and corruption–looking at the difference between how they present themselves to the world versus some of the bad things they’ve done, whether to the environment, to their employees, to those within the supply chain, or something else. You’ll need to use the argumentative strategy of REFUTATION (showing why something is wrong, invalid, unsound, or just plain evil), focusing first on how this company attempts to portray itself, and second on how this doesn’t measure up to the reality of what they’ve done or how they’ve behaved. In that sense, it will be very important to make use of the logical fallacies we’ve been studying–when people lie or set out to give a false image, they invariably rely on logical fallacies, such as the Straw Man or a false analogy or emotional manipulation, to seem acceptable to the world, when some of their actions reveal otherwise.
Setting up a refutation is a logical process, and there needs to be a direct correlation between the fallacies you bring up and why it’s wrong. For example, if you want to show that your company engages in cruelty to animals, you need to show that in their public image (whether on their website, their advertising, or elsewhere), they attempt to show themselves as friendly to the environment, or that they love their employees. That way, you can question their sincerity by pointing out that they’re lying to the public about how they treat animals, or that they’ve constructed themselves as a Straw Man (a phony) out for profits at any cost.
Again, our study of logical fallacies will be critical here–doing refutation well means looking for fallacies and pointing them out so that we get a stronger sense of the company’s corruption or hypocrisy. While you don’t necessarily have to name the fallacy (though you can), you need to recognize that fallacy and bring it to light within your refutation. Logos, Ethos, and Pathos also play a role here. Corrupt people will exploit these to their benefit (using false logic, for example, or playing on your emotions), so it’s up to you to see where they might do that, and to call it out and refute it.
ESSAY SPECIFICS:
• 70 points (or 12-14% of your total points).
• 750 – 1500 words (3-6 pages). Realistically, 3 pages is barely enough, and hopefully you’ll need to edit down to 6 pages
• MLA formatting
• all sources cited (in-text AND a Works Cited Page)
• references to your own philosophy of corporate responsibility
• 3+ outside sources, AND your company’s own website (so we can see how they’ve portrayed themselves) and some of their ads, where relevant
• May be done with a partner–2 body paragraphs each.
• 4 body paragraphs + an intro and conclusion
◦ the intro should focus on a specific issue or violation. The thesis needs to be specific – not just that this company has behaved badly, but how a specific bad practice has caused harm
◦ the first body paragraph should describe the way the company portrays itself – look to their corporate website for details
◦ the second and third body paragraphs should point to specific violations this company has committed in contrast to their image and advertising, thus revealing their hypocrisy and refuting the image they want to portray (REFUTATION)
◦ the fourth body paragraph and the conclusion should point to ways in which the company can make positive changes (COUNTERARGUMENT)
• the voice of your essay should be journalistic rather than heavily academic. What that means is that, while you’re doing some serious analysis and using careful logic, you’re saying it in a way that is engaging, interesting, and personal (though you should avoid 1st person here)
I attached 2 essay examples of what the paper should look like.