Reading Response 1

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

2)        Greene quotes Kenneth Burke’s metaphor for writing to reinforce his viewpoint of writing being a continuous and everlasting conversation. He spends three paragraphs defining argument and listing its many facets and forms. To solidify and complete his definition of argument, Greene provides us with a quote that supports his interpretation of writing.

Burke describes writing as a conversation that has been in existence much longer than anyone currently engaged in it. The “participants” in this particular conversation are other writers who, at one point in time, had just entered that same parlor you’ve recently stepped into. This idea of writing as a form of argument, and argument as a form of conversation, suggests that there is no specific or dominant way to write, so long as you research your information thoroughly and articulate the points of your argument in a sensible and concise fashion. This “conversation” metaphor may also challenge the way we write. Thoughts and opinions could be described in incomplete or fragmented sentences, conflicting with the way we conduct traditional analysis.

3)        Framing is the way a writer channels his vision of an idea, subject, concept or argument. It is the way he designs the presentation of his subject matter in order to get the reader to think in the same way he does. Greene likens this concept of framing to photography and the different ways a picture can be taken. He views this as a key component to good argumentative writing because it essentially places the reader on the same perch from which the writer sees everything.

Applying and Exploring Ideas

2)        Stuart Greene’s article does represent a conversation, a conversation with other analysts of the written language. Greene frames his argument by immediately telling the reader that argument is an integral part of everyday life. He then goes on to list various facets, forms, styles and mediums in which argument happens. By doing this, the reader is forced to think about argument and the ways in which he/she experiences it personally, thus accomplishing the very thing he describes in his article.