For our Composition and Rhetoric class, Lynzie and I had to give a 25 minute presentation on how people argue with each other. Our professor had given us books to read, etc. and we had to add examples and provide a handout for the class.
It was interesting to learn about this stuff, because even though there is a general model for how we argue (The Toulmin Model), I feel as though we all have our own style of arguing with each other. We showed our class clips of arguments, including a screaming cat fight on the TV show Dance Moms and a much more professional Presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon. It was really interesting to see the different styles of how people argue, and it made me think about how I argued with people.
Do you guys argue in a peaceful method? Do you end up screaming at the person? Do you find a happy medium?
Personally, I try to base my arguments off of a mixture of facts and personal experience. I try to be confrontational and to-the-point without being disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big fan of the Socratic method of questioning--basically, asking questions for clarification of one's points. This usually ends up either persuading me more towards their side, or it gives me even more fuel to use in my argument.
In any case, screaming, the preferred choice of way too many people, usually ends in more screaming; nothing actually moves forward.
I'd like to think my arguing style should be like Dance Mom's simply due to the fact that my childhood up till my highschool self lived in my studio back at home. However, once I worked there, I observed how rediculous this type of fighting is. After watching dueling mom's of 5 year olds, I decided better against yelling nonsensical statements. I would say if I give up on finding a happy medium, I simply give up, haha I've really grown to hate yelling.
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