The arguments of each piece I found to be a bit tricky to identify. It was sometimes also hard to identify specifically what they might have been arguing, but I feel like this question was a bit easier, since I could at least be close to correct.
The first article was the Truck Stop as Community and Culture. This piece seemed to claim that truckers have a human side. The author seemed to address that trucking is a job and a way of life that creates cynicism in its participants, but if one is willing to invest the energy, the human side of the truckers can be found. The truck stop was identified as the focal point of truckers lives, where they were able to meet with fellow truckers and to escape from the rest of the world. The author seemed to be using a Rogerian style of argument, because he seemed to be laying the common ground between truckers and the rest of the world. I feel like his goal was to make people realize that truckers deal with problems akin to those that everyone else deals with.
The next article we read was Dark Webs Goth Subcultures in Cyberspace. This was a bit more clear on its claim since the author explicitly stated it. The premise was that the Internet goth subculture accomplished the same tasks that social gathering places did in the past. He compared online activities and information passing to what occurred before the internet in clubs, record stores, etc. Again, the style was a bit more difficult to determine, but I think Clasical is what best fits this argument. The reason that I pick classical is because the author has a very clear thesis. I felt that with such a clear thesis there was no room left for likelihood, but rather, the author's goal seemed to be certainty.
The third piece was Transmissions from Trans Camp. It was harder with this piece to identify the claim. The author made a valiant attempt to objectively provide information, since she seemed to be writing for the press. I'm not sure if she was specifically arguing for recognition of trans-gender individuals among lesbian cultures, or among society as a whole. I'd choose society as a whole since the audience was presumably a paper or magazine available to all, rather than just to one group. Although, as an afterthought, it may have been directed at gay and lesbian subcultures since such a topic might have been handled with more sensitivity if directed at the general population. In terms of the style of argument, I think that this falls between Toulmin and Rogerian. I pick the inbetween because the author establishes common ground, but seems to be making a strong point without room for compromise.
The last piece addressed by this blog is the House for the Homeless. The author here seemed to be giving a description more than an argument. At times I felt like she was championing hard work and escape from homeless situations being a personal choice. In the next moment she seemed to be calling for support for the homeless. It wasn't until the conclusion that it was made more clear that she was calling on the homeless to believe in themselves. Her style of choice would almost certainly be Toulmin since she seemed to argue that her family and other families like hers were able to create lives for themselves even if it wasn't what they wanted, they took what they could get. I think it fits the style because, again, it firmly argues a point, but it leaves a little room for other opinions.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Argument styles
Posted by nascardave at 01:40
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