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Abdulrahman 5

Abdulrahman Albatili

English 111: College Writing I

Dr. Mardy Philippian

03/12/2017

Rhetorical Summary of Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry

Arguing is a daily, accepted part of our lives and we sometimes do it without much thought because we see it as normal conversation. Stuart Greene, in his article, Argument as Conversation, argues that when a person gives his opinion on a particular subject and supports what he feels is correct, his argument can seem like a conversation. Greene starts creating her credibility using emotional appeals and credible sources from other people all of which help him to come up with a logical point of view.

In his article, Green begins by encouraging the reader to think about writing as a way in which to question things and as a way in which to present the person's understanding of the claims put forward by different people. This person is then able to consider different types of problems as well as conflicts, which come out as significant in the course of writing. In this regard, Greene encourages the student to consider the questions raised by the teacher as aspects that need answers. He continues by pointing out how people within the academic setting expect a person to carry on a scholarly debate and not only describing ideas coming from other people. As a way to solve this problem, Greene argues the person would have to find out which other people have spoken about the same topic as a way to have a better understanding of where to continue the scholarly topic.

All through the article, Greene makes use of various sources to make her argument strong and appeal to the reader’s ethos and also to develop her argument. These sources range from James Crosswhite’s book The Rhetoric of Reason, Kenneth Burke, who Greene argues provides the best statement about writing as a conversation. There are also writers such as Anna Quindlen’s commentary and E.D. Hirsch who came up with the quote about cultural literacy. The presence of these sources in Greene’s writing helps to strengthen his credibility since they show that he has done a large amount of research and provided facts to boost his personal opinions.

Aside from the appeal to ethos, Greene makes strong appeals to logic using many points as well as a logical flow of ideas. He points out many facts about the right way in which a person should approach writing if he hopes to make it seem like a conversation. Greene argues that for this to take place, every argument the person makes needs to have a link to another. In this way, Greene presents to the reader the logical way that a scholarly argument is expected to flow and support the idea that for Greene, an argument that follows this trend is an acceptable one. Greene continues with the argument that the way a person positions himself will ultimately depend on three particular things: which reasons were stated before which the person chooses to share, which arguments that were presented before the person wishes to speak out against or which new opinions as well as supporting information one wants to bring forward. Points such as these help the author to logically provide support to his claims that presenting an argument as a conversation is an important aspect especially if a person wishes to be taken seriously while carrying out a serious scholarly debate.

Together with strong logical appeals, Greene efficiently makes appeals to emotion. His first words aim at encouraging the reader to think about how they take part in arguments every single day. In this way, he hopes to tap into the reader's mind to push them to create an image in their mind of what such a conversation would feel like. He continuously makes use of the word you as a way to build a personal relationship with the reader making it feel like he is only speaking to one reader at a time. For instance, he talks of the spoken conversations that a person might have with others to create a link between this type of argument and the one he wishes to speak about that is done in writing. Greene's goal is to encourage the reader to feel as strongly about writing arguments as Greene does. Adding on to this point of view is the use of phrases such as writing is a form of dialogue and that it is a process where one can balance their goals with other similar communication done before help to further strengthen his appeal to the reader’s emotions. Greene is, therefore, able to appeal to the reader's need to have their arguments accepted in an area where carrying out such debates is very hard.

In conclusion, Greene makes full use of the appeal to logic and the reader's emotions to create a reliable and credible article about the importance of learning how to write arguments in a manner that sounds like a conversation. The continuous use of the word you especially helps to draw in the reader and the use of various sources is helpful in developing the credibility of the article.

Work Cited:

Greene, Stuart. “Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument.” The Subject is Research. Ed. Wendy Bishop and Pavel Zemliansky. Boynton/Cook, 2001.