What is argument?
A debate
The pursuit of truth
A series of statements leading to a proposition
A rhetorical strategy used to persuade audiences in an ethical manner
A claim made convincing by logical reasoning and evidence
What people do when they implicitly or explicitly disagree but need to reach an agreement
A strategy for exerting influence
A reasonable disagreement
Your willingness to articulate your relationship to others who have taken a stand on an issue
Your position on an "arguable issue" (of substantiation, evaluation, or policy)
Your attempt to persuade your reader through use of "the appeals"-ethos, pathos, and logos

What isn't argument?
A nasty fight, winner-take-all
A shouting match
Mere contradiction
Dishonest rhetoric
Inflammatory rhetoric
Propaganda

What is a "rhetorical stance"?
Trimbur: the way writers coordinate ethos (the writer's character as projected in the text; personality; attitude; the writer's credibility, fairness, authority), pathos (readers' emotions, state of mind, intensity of belief as aroused by the text), and logos (the writer's message; the force of the logical line of reasoning) as interrelated components in persuasive writing

What are the "parts of an argument"?
The claim
The logical reasoning and evidence in support of the claim
The presence of opposing views, the counterargument(s)
A refutation of opposing views, counterargument(s)

Trimbur: claim, evidence, enabling assumption, backing, differing views, and qualifiers

Critical Thinking

As you probably have realized, argumentation is an important "critical thinking skill." In fact, it is all the critical thinking skills rolled into one. Argumentation teaches you to question, analyze, respond, evaluate, and synthesize.

All of these ways of responding to information involve critical thinking and problem solving. When you argue a position you learn to examine the positions of others-the quality of their opinions, the quality of their logic, the fairness of their assumptions. You also learn how to close the gap between you and those who are different from you-those who disagree with you-you learn to recognize and respect disagreement and you learn the value of establishing common ground.