LUNSFORD, A. (2007) “Everything is an argument”
Purposes (pp 7-15) (group 1: Charles, Carolyn, Christina, Jason, Katie B.)
To discover a truth
To persuade to change view, take action
To set a common ground for understanding
Inform, convince, explore, make decision, meditate or pray:
- Inform: ads and campaigns… to inform
- Convince: support with reasons to pursuade audience
- Explore: issues focus
- Decisions: pros and cons
- Meditate and pray: transform someone to reach a certain state of mind.
Occasions (pp 15-20) (group 2: Joy, Jordan Stein, Carmen)
Past
- Historical events (forensic arguments)
- Particular incident (court argument)
Future
- Deliberative (assumptions and forecasting)
- Involve laws (legal regulations). Ex: labor market
Present
- Social and ethical issues
- Based on currently possessed info (ex: MLK “I have a dream speech”)
Kinds (pp 20-32) (group 3: Dustin, Roy, Esther, Marty, Janelle)
Did something happen?
- arguments of fact
- Everything happens, so you can make an argument about anything.
What is the nature of it?
- arguments of definition
- Detailing the definition of something (ex: what is sexual harassment)
What is the Quality of it?
- Arguments of evaluation: X is better than Y based on the quality
- Depends on personal beliefs
Actions that should be taken?
- Also based on beliefs
- proposal arguments: What actions is the author suggesting that the reader should take?
- How should the writer propose the argument to the reader?
- Based on the status of the people involved and the reader.
Audiences (pp 32-41) (group 4: Jami, Kate Hazen, Brittanie, Jordan Feffer, Reina)
How to appeal:
- pathos (emotional, appeal to the heart),
- ethos (ethical, build credibility with your audience),
- logos (logical)
- inductive reasoning: a leads to b
- deductive reasoning: generalizing to other situations
No argument can be helpful unless compelling to audience
Imagine your ideal/intended reader
Caution: using we/us = marginalization of some readers
Context: reading takes place in contexts: most immediate (local, present time) to broader (perspective of author, time)
