Argumentation In a Culture of Discord

Sidney Rogers p3

Argumentation In a Culture of Discord

The general point made by Frank L. Cioffi in his work Argumentation in a culture of discord is that although most students that write argumentative papers don’t care enough about one specific thing to say it is right or wrong there is a greater meaning to it.

More specifically, Cioffi suggests that the importance of argumentative writing is to engage the reader and make the reader think. He writes, “The idea is not to solve this problem or answer that question.” (page 64) In this passage, Cioffi is suggesting that the paper should offer something new and exciting to the reader. It might not always be to persuade the audience but to help them come up with their own beliefs and ideas. It needs to be original and might even reject.

In conclusion, it is Cioffi belief that by teaching his students these skills it can get them excited about exploring new ideas.

Planning your own argument

In my View, Cioffi is right because I personally know it hard to write a good argument on something I don’t feel particularly strong about.

For example, when writing a paper on legalizing gay marriage, I was interested but had a hard time coming up with new ideas and solutions for it.

Although Cioffi might object that students cant always be taught to get excited about new ideas and being open minded, I maintain that It is much easier to write when you know its for the audiences sake rather than for your own. It regards to who it needs to mean more to and who needs to be able to understand it.

Therefore, I conclude that Cioffi, is correct about how if students learn to understand the skills of argumentative papers they will also be able to understand the purpose and meaning of them as well.