Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Argument as Conversation


     In his article "Argument as Conversation", Stuart Greene attempts to explain to the general audience that without knowledge or reasoning, you cannot prove your opinion or help others see where you are directly coming from. He argues that the lack of history on a topic serves little use when trying to argue your point because when you lack proof, you lack reasoning which shows others that your opinion can be ruled as invalid.
     The way how I see an argument is multiple opinions being used in a discussion between others in a disagreeing manner.  Within everyday conversation, it goes between personal, political, and religious affairs.  In an academic setting, it flows with debate and politics such as current events in news, media, reflection, and books.  To me, the difference is with everyday conversation, it is more of a personal dispute between people and their beliefs that may or may not become heated where as in with academia, it is more of a professional way and more on current worldly events. The use of knowledge and background that they have taken over the topic come into play more than it would in personal arguments.
     Burke's quote was repeated in the article because Greene explained what it said into simple sentences. He brings forth what it was saying and explains it to the reader by showing how it is used in arguments. The metaphor is spot on to arguments in general. The way it is displayed explains the history of arguments where a theory appears and then continually branches off many ideas and bounces back and forth between different people with unique views.
     The basic concept of framing is the perspective of ones views and in the text, a camera lens  underlines it. It's important to him because his article shows how framing helps in ideas. He uses it for himself and it backs up his statements as well. Framing allows the reader to see what is there and create their own ideas with the help of others to build upon what their knowledge says.
     The article is a conversation between Greene and the reader. He not only gives us his opinion, but he also brings forth other writer's work to prove his own point. Greene does practice what he preaches by showing it in his article. After reading the four  He brings out all the small detailing within framing and puts it into his own writing.
     I enjoyed reading this because it applies to my everyday lifestyle. I argue and voice my opinions to others and I enjoy the heat of battle. To me, it made perfect sense and as I was reading it, I was actually engaging in an argument at that point in time so it helped me prove my point and I learned from first hand experience that it actually worked! It'd be helpful for just about anyone, but to me, I like when people understand why I think the way that I do, whether they agree or not is up to them, but so long as they understand the things I'm thinking, that's all that matters to me.

3 comments:

  1. Good work, Rae'ven. I like that you mentioned debate, politics, news, media, etc. in your discussion of argument in the real world. In the future, don't forget to conclude your reading responses with a paragraph about your own opinions on the reading (did you find it interesting? helpful? etc.).

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    1. I woke up and realized I never finished it! I did update it so if you get the chance, there it is! Silly mistake on my end, but thank you for reminding me.

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    2. No problem, Rae'ven. Thanks for updating it. The heat of battle! Great word choice, I hope to see some of that heat in class.

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