First Big Day!
We’ll finish memoir presenations today and then we’re off to talk argument.
M: Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes. (short pause) A: No it isn't.
First, chapter 1 in Everything is an Argument. We’ll read that in class and note some of the categories the writer identifies:
- Arguments to Inform
- Arguments to Convince
- Arguments to Explore
- Arguments to Make Decisions
- Arguments to Meditate or Pray
- Arguments about the Past
- Arguments about the Future
- Arguments about the Present
We’ll also look at the kinds of argument they categorize:
- Arguments of Fact
- Arguments of Definition
- Arguments of Evaluation
- Arguments of Proposal
Then, we’ll take a walk and see what we can see it terms of arguments. Come back and report.
I hope then to give a presentation on argument in class. We’ll take notes and discuss.
HW: Read “The Problem with Obama’s Speech: It’s Bland” and analyze it as an argument. Categorize the types of arguments it uses and the strategies the writer uses. (200 words in your blog).
1 comment so far ↓
I would say the general category this article falls into is persuasion, as the author attempts to convince his audience that his speech on education was not only not socialist, he seems to imply that it wasn’t as necessary. About a third way through the article he suggests, as an argument of proposal, that the students be lead away from vague platitudes about hard work and be informed about the wars in the Middle East. As far as the structure of the article, it doesn’t really provide much beyond the author’s opinion, though it doesn’t weaken his point. The piece is presented clearly as a point of view; his use of a conversational setup (i.e. proposing questions to the reader, interjecting blunt criticism: “But every American kid knows that already”) makes the article more relatable and subsequently more convincing.
Maia Kapur
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