Everything’s an Argument

Andrea A. LunsfordJohn J. Ruszkiewicz

Keith Walters

Argument vs. Persuasion

Argument (discover a truth)conviction• To discover some version of truth, using evidence and reasons.• Leads audience towards conviction, an agreement that the claim is

true or reasonable or that the course of action is desirable• Writers argue to discover some truth.

Persuasion (know a truth) action• Aims to change a point of view or to move others from conviction to

action.• Aggressively designed to change opinions through the use of both

reason and other appropriate techniques.• Writers persuade when they think they already know it.

What Is the Purpose of Argument?

• All language has an argumentative edge that aims to make a point.

• Argument seeks “…to invite others to enter a space of mutual regard and exploration” (7).

• While arguments are aimed at winning, they also may also intend to inform, to convince, to explore, and to make decisions.

Arguments to Inform

Arguments to InformThis is a woman who in 1939 could advise her admirers that

they were missing the point, that their appreciation of her famous flowers was merely sentimental. “When I paint a red hill,” she observed coolly in the catalogue for an exhibition that year, “you say it is too bad that I don’t always paint flowers. A flower touches almost everyone’s heart. A red hill doesn’t touch everyone’s heart.”

--Joan Didion, “Georgia O’Keeffe”

What is the argument here? Didion argues that readers should pay closer attention to all the work of this artist.

Arguments to ConvinceAmong employed 19-to 31-year-old high school graduates

who did not go to college, more than 30 percent had not been in their position for even a year. Another 12 percent had only one year of tenure. The pattern was much the same for women who had remained in the labor force for the four years prior to the survey. These are adults who, for a variety of reasons—a lack of skills, training, or disposition—have not managed to secure “adult” jobs.

--Paul Osterman, “Getting Started”

What is the argument? The current job situation is NOT tolerable and it is worthy of concern.

Arguments to ExploreThe planners at Ground Zero have treated the sacred and

everyday as two distinct spheres. The answer isn’t to split the site into a memorial sector and a business sector but, rather, to find ways to honor the dead while rejuvenating the city, to acknowledge the past while looking toward the future. Ground Zero is the first great urban-design challenge of the twenty-first century, and the noblest way to honor what happened her is to rebuild the site with the complexity and vitality that characterizes the best of Manhattan.

--Paul Goldberger, “Eyes on the Prize”

Arguments to Make DecisionsEarly in the spring of last year a classified ad ran for two

weeks in the Yale Daily News: “EGG DONOR NEEDED.” The couple that placed the ad was picky, and for that reason was offering $25, 000 for an egg from the right donor…I kept dreaming about all the things I could do with $25, 000. I had gone into the correspondence on a whim. But soon, despite the casual tone and the optimistic attitude of all the classifieds and information I read, I decided this process was something I didn’t want to be part of. ..

--Jessica Cohen

CONSIDER THE STATUS OF THE ARGUMENT

Questions in Sequence

1. Did something happen?2. What is its nature?3. What is its quality?4. What actions should be taken?

Consider a Crime

1. Did something happen?Yes, a male student gestured inappropriately to a female student during biology class. The gesture was witnessed by the teacher and several students. The facts suggest clearly that something happened.

Consider a Crime

2. What is the nature of the thing?The act might be viewed as sexual harassment (unwanted sexual attention). The student’s gesture was sexual in nature and meets the definition of “sexual harassment.”

Consider a Crime

3. What is the quality of the thing?Both students are in the ninth grade and in a biology lab class. The boy didn’t realize the girl would be offended since he has seen this same gesture in school many times with no negative reactions or consequences. The male student did not realize this would considered “sexual harassment.”

Consider a Crime

4. What actions should be taken?The case has raised an uproar among female students, parents, and feminist school clubs. The consensus seems to be that the school has not taken a hard enough stance on this behavior and should crack down on these incidents. Consequently, the boy was disciplined and a faculty meeting was set to inform teachers of the policy and enforcement.

Rhetorical Devices

Appeal to EmotionsAppeal to LogicAppeal to Ethics

Appeal to Emotion

• Appeals to the heart• Uses descriptive language• Uses figurative language

Appeal to Logic

• Facts• Statistics• Examples

Appeal to Ethics

• Credibility and trustworthiness• Authority on subject• Shared values

What is the argument? What is the appeal?

What’s the argument? The appeal?

What’s the argument?The appeal?

What’s the argument? The appeal?

What’s the argument?

What’s the argument?

What’s the argument?

Content

Topic/Message

(Logical Appeals)

Speaker/Writer

(Ethical Appeals)Audience/Readers

(Emotional Appeals)

The Rhetorical Triangle

Can an argument be ANY text that

expresses a point of view?

What kinds of arguments---if any—

might be made by the following items?

What is the argument?

What is the argument?

What is the argument?

What is the argument?

What is the argument?

Pick a Partner

Develop three arguments based on the picture you

are given