argumentation 议论文特征.docx

argumentation 议论文特征.docx

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argumentation议论文特征

Argumentation

Aims：

1．Knowingtodefinetheterm,

2．Comparingthisstyleofwritingwithexposition,description,andnarration

3．KnowingrequirementsofaGOODargumentativeessay

4．Knowinghowtooutlineanaugmentativeessay:

threeparts.

Procedure:

（theory-practice）

Thepurposeofexpositionistoinform;thepurposeofargumentation,ontheotherhand,istoconvince.Whileanexpositorypapermakesknownsomethingandexplainsittomakethereaderunderstand,anargumentativeessaytriestomakethereaderagreewithitspointofviewandsupportit,topersuadehimtochangehismindorbehavior,andtoapproveapolicyoracourseofactionthatitproposes.Speechesonpolicies,editorialsofnewspapers,articlesonpoliticalortheoreticalquestions,andvariousproposalsareoftenargumentative.

Argumentationfrequentlymakesuseoftheotherthreetypesofwriting---description,narration,andaboveallexposition,forargumentationandexpositionareverycloselyrelated---argumentationisactuallyexpositionwiththeadditionalpurposeofconvincingorpersuading.

Althoughtheycantakedifferentshapes,argumentativeessayshavecertainbasicfeaturesincommon.Ifyouwishtowriteagoodargumentativeessay,youshoulddoyourbesttomeetthefollowingrequirements:

（1）Adebatablepoint

Itisimperativethatthepapershouldhaveadebatablepoint,thatis,somethingwhichcanbeviewedfrommorethanoneangleandisthereforeopentodispute.Generallyspeaking,thefollowingarenotgoodthemes.

1）Merestatementsoffacts

“Chinesedoctorsuseacupunctureanesthesiatoperformcertainoperations”isafactthatcannotbedebated.Butifitischangedinto“acupunctureanesthesiashouldreplaceconventionalanesthesiainalloperations”,itbecomesdebatable.

2）Statementsofpersonalpreference

“BaJinismyfavoriteauthor”expressespersonalpreferencewhichdoesnotleadtodispute.Butastatementlike“BaJinisthegreatestChinesewriterofthe20thcentury”isdisputableandsufficientevidenceshouldbeprovided.

3）Viewpointsthataregenerallyacceptedorcanbeeasilyverified

Itisuniversallyknownthat“noisepollutionisharmfultopeople’shealth”,butitisnotgenerallyacceptedthat“noisepollutionisthemostharmfulofallenvironmentalpollution”.Theformerviewpointcanbeproved,butthelaterisarguable.

（2）Sufficientevidence

Sincethepointofyourpaperisnotafact,astatementofpersonaltaste,oraviewpointuniversallyaccepted,youwillhavetoprovidesufficientevidencetoconvincethereader.Sufficientevidenceincludescommonknowledge;specificexamples;hard,notsoft,evidence,orfacts,notopinions,unlesstheopinionsareexpertandauthoritative;statistics;andquotationsfromauthorities.Validevidenceisthatwhichisclearlyanddirectlyconnectedwiththepointtobeproved.

（3）Goodlogic

Itisobviousthatgoodlogicisevenmoreimportanttoargumentationthantoanyothertypesofwriting.Allthefactsandreasonsthataregivenasevidenceshouldbelogicallyconnectedwiththeconclusionandwitheachother.Anyfallacyinlogicorwrongstepinreasoningwouldleavethereaderindoubtaboutthewholeargument.

Therearegenerallytwowaysofreasoning:

1）Inductivereasoning（fromspecificfactstoageneralconclusion）

Inductivereasoningisthemorecommonway.Whenyouuseinduction,youstartwithfactsandproceedfromfactstoageneralconclusion.Inotherwords,youmovefromspecificexamplestoageneralstatement.

2）Deductivereasoning（fromageneralstatementtoaspecificconclusion）

Theprocessisjusttheoppositeofinductivereasoning---itmovesfromageneralstatementtoaspecificconclusion.Itworksonthemodelofsyllogism---athree-partargumentinwhichtherearetwostatements,knownasthemajorpremiseandtheminorpremise,andaconclusion.

Hereisanexampleofasyllogism:

A.Allhumanbeingsmakemistakes.（ageneralstatement）

B.Xisahumanbeing.

C.Therefore,Xmakesmistakes.（aspecificconclusion）

Fromtheaboveexamplewecanseethatthemajorpremisemustbeanacceptedgeneralization,andtheminor,afactualexampleofthatgeneralization.IfAandBaretrue,C,theconclusion,isboundtobetrue.

Youmustbeverycarefulaboutyourpremises,especiallyyourmajorpremise,suchstatementsas“allstudentslovetostudy”and“womenaremoreimaginativethanmen”arenotgenerallyaccepted,andthereforecannotbeusedasmajorpremises.

（4）Clearlogic

Atypicalargumentativeessayconsistsofthreeparts:

anintroductionwhichidentifiestheissuetobediscussedandexplainstheimportanceofsuchadiscussion;abodywhichpresentstheevidence;andaconclusioninwhichtheproposition,ifitisstatedatthebeginning,isreaffirmed.

Inthebody,itisadvisablethatyoudevotethefirstoneor