ìCS4001:Computing,Society&ProfessionalismMunmunDeChoudhury|AssistantProfessor|SchoolofInterac:veCompu:ng

Week2:ReadingArgumentsJanuary17,2017

WhatisanArgument?

ì  Argumentisnotafightoraquarrelì  Itcanbeapleasurableexperience

ì  Argumentisnotpro-condebateì  Thinkofitasagroupofreasonablepersons

seekingthebestsolu:ontoaproblem

WhatisanArgument?

ì  AccordingtoRichardFulkerson:ì  “Anargumentisanysetoftwoormoreasser:onsin

whichone(ormore)isclaimedtooffersupportforanother.”

ì  Thismeansargumentsaremadeupofproposi:ons(asser:onsorclaims)

WhatisanArgument?

ì  Argumentscanbeexplicitorimplicit,sothatitinfluencesaudience’sstanceonanissueì  Psychological,cogni:veimpact,

emo:onalresponse

ì  Anexplicitargumentstatesdirectlycontroversialclaimsandsupportsthemwithreasonandevidence

ì  Animplicitargumentdoesn’tlooklikeanargumentì  Itmightbeasong,poem,story,etc.

ProtectOurKids

StopToxicImports

Dr.LouisSullivan,SecretaryofHHS

ClassDiscussion

ì  Whatconversa:ondoesthisargumentjoin?

ì  Whatistheargument’sclaim?

ì  Whatisanopposingview?

ì  Howdoestheargumenttrytodoitsworkontheaudience?

DefiningFeaturesofanArgument

ì  Argumentrequiresjus:fica:onofitsclaimsì  Itisnotsufficienttosimplygivereasonswithout

jus:fica:onì  Exampleofanargumentbetweenateenageranda

parent

ì  Argumentisbothaprocessandproductì  Itisa“living”en:tythatchangesthepar:cipants

ì  Argumentcombinestruthseekingandpersuasionì  Thisisacon:nuumthatwethepar:cipantsmustbalanceì  Astudent’sargumentonthetopic“IsAmericanSign

Languageaforeignlanguageforthepurposesofmee:ngauniversity’sforeignlanguagerequirement?”

TheContinuumofTruthSeekingandPersuasion

•  Exploratoryessayexaminingallsidesofanissue•  Argumentasinquiry,askingaudiencetothinkoutissuewithwriter

•  Dialogicargumentseekingcommongroundwitharesistantaudience

•  Classicalargumentaimedataneutralorpossiblyskep:calaudience

•  One-sidedargumentaimedatafriendlyaudience(o[enforfund-raisingorcallstoac:on)

•  Aggressiveone-sidedarguments•  Outrightpropaganda

TruthSeeking

OutrightPropaganda

WhatisthePurpose?

ì  Theblendoftruthseekingandpersuasionaskstheques:on,whatarewetryingtodo?ì  Arewetryingtogetthebestsolu:on?ì  Or“win”theargument?

ì  Argumentandtheproblemoftruthì  SophistsandSocrates–discoverTruththrough

reasonableinquiryì  Therearemul:faceted,compe:ngperspec:vesor

visionstotruthì  Truthneedstobenego:ated;observeallavailable

evidence

ClassroomActivityI:RolePlayingArguments

ì  “SocialnetworkingsitessuchasFacebook(FB)createconflictsbetweenfreespeechandthereputa:onsofpeopleandins:tu:onsinthepublicdomain”(pg.16)ì  AstudentathletewhohasbeenwarnedtoremoveFBphoto

showingpartying/drinkingalcoholì  Generalstudentsconcernedaboutins:tu:onallyimposed

restric:onsonFBuseì  Afacultywhohasbeenlibeledonastudent’sFBpageì  Abasketballcoachwhopreventstheirteamfromsharing

personalinforma:ononlineì  Athle:csdirectorsinterestedinbuyingtrackingtechnology

tomonitorstudentathletes’FBac:vityì  Arepresenta:veofACLUwhosupportsstudents’free

speech

ASuccessfulWayofArgumentation

ì  Thewellfunc:oningcommideeì  Dialogcanleadtoclarifica:oninthinking

ì  Example–studentseekingmathcoursewaiver(pg.17)

ì  Defini:onissues

ì  Resemblanceissues

ì  Cause/consequenceissues

ì  Evalua:onissues

ì  Proposalissues

ArgumentAsInquiry

ì  FindingIssuestoExploreì  Dosomeini:albrainstorming(pg.25)ì  Beopentotheissuesaroundyou

ì  Exploreideasby:ì  Freewri:ngì  IdeaMapping(pg.29)ì  PlayingtheBelievingandDoub:ngGame(pg.29)

ì  Placingtextsinarhetoricalcontextì  Genresofargumentì  Culturalcontexts–whowritestheargumentsandwhy,who

istheaudience,whatisthemo:va:on,whatistheauthor’spurpose,whatisthesource,writer’sangleofvision

TheBelievingandDoubtingGame

ì  Readingasabelieverì  Alwaysagoodideawithresearchliteratureì  Tearingsomethingapartistrivial

ì  Readingasadoubterì  Expressskep:cismì  LookforwhatisNOTthereaswellaswhatisì  Don'tassumeinforma:onsources/cita:onsare

proofì  Whatdoestheciteditemreallysay?ì  Whatarethecreden:alsofpeoplecited?

iPadsinEducation–ProsandCons

ClassroomActivityII:TheBelievingandDoubtingGame

ì  HowFacebookMakesUsUnhappy:ì  hdp://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/how-

facebook-makes-us-unhappy

GenresofArgument

ì  Genretypes:ì  Personalcorrespondence;Ledertoeditor;

Newspapereditorialorop-ed;Magazinear:cle;Scholarlyjournal(peer-reviewed);Conferenceproceedings;Organiza:onwhitepaper;Proposal;Legalbriefsandcourtdecisions;Publicaffairsadvocacyadver:sements;Advocacywebsites;Blogs;Visualarguments;Speeches;Powerpointpresenta:ons;Books;Documentaryfilms

ì  Understandstatusofworkinrela:ontogenreì  Understandstylis:cfeaturesofeachgenre

DialecticalThinking

ì  Thinkingdialec:cally–ac:velyseekoutalternateviews

ì  Ques:ons:ì  WhatwouldwriterAsaytowriterB?ì  TowhatextentdowriterAandwriterBdisagreeaboutfactsand

interpreta:onoffacts?ì  Towhatextentdotheydisagreeaboutunderlyingbeliefsand

assump:onsandvalues?ì  CanIfindareasofagreementbetweenthem?ì  Whatnew,significantques:onsdoesthetextpostforme?ì  A[erassimila:ngtheseinforma:on,whataremycurrentviews?

ì  Ways:ì  Effec:vediscussionì  ReadingLogsì  Aformalexploratoryessay–introduc:on,views/sources,

conclusion