Argumentation议论文特点.docx

Argumentation议论文特点.docx

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Argumentation议论文特点

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,itisadvisablethatyoudevotethefirstoneortwoparagraphstoaconsiderationoftheothersideofthecasebeforestatingandamplifyingyourownviews.Thenineachparagraphthatfollows,youaddsomethingnewandimportanttoyourargument.Theevidenceyouprovideshouldbearranged

A.fromtheleastimportanttothemostimportant,

B.fromthemostfamiliartotheleastfamiliar,and

C.fromtheeasiesttoacceptorcomprehendtothemostdifficult.

（5）Gooduseoftheotherthreetypesofwriting---description,narration,andespeciallythevariousmethodsofexposition

（6）Anhonestandfriendlyattitude

Toargueisnottoquarrelorfight.Theforceofanargumentdoesnotcomefromabuse,sarcasm,exaggeration,orfierceattack,butfromsolidevidence,logicalreasoning,andcarefulanalysis.Adomineeringorhostiletonecouldonlyraisedoubtsaboutyourgoodfaithandimpairthecredibilityofyourargument,whereasanhonestandfriendlyattitudewillhelpwinthetrustofyourreaders.

Takecarethatyouneitheroverstateorunderstate,andavoidoveruseofsuchwordsandphrasesas“perhaps”,“maybe”,“sometimes”,“moreoften”,“nearlyalways”,“Ithink”,or“inmyopinion”,whichinvariablyweakentheforceofyourargument.

Models

TheHarmfulEffectsoftheMultiple-ChoiceTest

Themultiple-choicetestisacommonexaminationformthatiswidelyusedasastandardinternationaltestingmethodinvariousacademicfields,especiallyinlanguagetesting.Someeducatorsandteachersembraceitasamostscientifictestformforitsobjectivity,accuracyandhighefficiencyofgradingtestpapers.However,aftermanyyearsofapplication,investigationandresearch,otherteachersandeducatorshaveadmittedthattojudgestudents’realandpracticalabilities,suchtestingmethodhasmanylimitationsanddrawbacks.Inmyopinion,forallitsefficiency,objectivityandvalidity,themultiple-choicetestshouldnotbewidelyusedfortheexaminationsofacademiccoursesoncampus.

Thosewhoarguefortheadvantagesofthemultiple-choicetestbelievethatsuchtestscangreatlyimprovetheaccuracyandspeedoftestpapergrading.Thestandardizedanswersheetsofsuchtestmakeitpossibleforcomputerstoreplacementogradethepapers.Undoubtedly,thecomputerizationoftestpapergradingnotonlyimprovethespeedofgradingtestpapers,butalsoeliminatesthesubjectivefactorsofbiasorpreferencethatcannotbetotallyavoidedbythosewhogradethem.Here,computersorelectronicdevicesareconsideredasthenormforscientifictestingmethod.Itmaybesafetocheckmanufacturedproductsbyelectronicdevicesfortheirqualities.Yet,tochecktherealabilitiesandpotentialsofcomplexhumanbeings,suchdevicesandsuchtestingmethodarefarfromenough.Infact,manyproblemsfromsuchtestingdoexist.

Firstofall,itisconvenientforstudentstocheatinthemultiple-choicetest.Thestandardizationofanswersheetsmakesiteasierforstudentstoplagiarizeothers’answers.ThechoicesofA.B.C.D.aremostclearlyprintedontheanswersheetsortestpapers.Withonlyaquickglance,anystudentwhoattemptstocheatintheexamcansurelystealthecorrectchoicefromwhoeverisnearbyandwhoeverisconsideredasagoodstudent.What’smore,somestudentsmayhavesomesecretdealamongthemselvesintheexam,deliveringgenerousservicetotheneeded.Inthiscase,evenwhentheyareseparatedfromeachotherwithconsiderabledistancebytheproctor/invigilator,theycanstillsucceed.Theproctormayfeelquitehelplessbecauseeventhoughtheysometimesseeorfeelstudentscheating,theycannotpinpointorprovehowthestudentsarecheatingintheexam.Thisinawayencouragesthestudents’misconductandleadstotheirethicaldegradation.

Secondly,themultiple-choicetestisoftenlikeagambling.Doingwellinsuchanexamisinsomewaybecomingamatterofchance.Accordingtothelawofprobability,ifaquestionhasfourchoices,thentheprobabilityoftherightanswerwillbeashighas25%.Evenisaperson,absolutelyignorantofknowledgeofthatsubject,takepartinthemultiple-choicetest,hewillhave25%chancesofgettingtherightanswer,justbyguess.Becauseofthischaracteristic,somestudents’attitudeandattentiontostudymaybequitemisledandtheircapabilityandflexibilitymaybeweakened.Forexample,weusedtoanswerthemultiple-choicetestsatmiddleschools.Whenwecometocollegeandfaceaproblemofansweringvariousquestionsinmoredetailsbywritingorbyspeaking,weareataloss,nottomentionourdifficultyinwritingEnglishcompositions.

Thirdly,themultiple-choicetestfailstoevaluatethestudents’abilitiesthoroughly,especiallytheirpotentialabilities.Owingtothenatureofsuchatestform,thefourlettersontheanswersheetcannotrevealthethoughtprocessofthestudentswhotaketheexams.Weallknowthatthoughtprocessisther