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3

Thinking about Rhetoric and Argument

It may seem odd that this book includes a chapter about something that most people try to avoid. Arguing with friends often leads to hurt feelings, and arguing with teachers or parents may lead to punishments. But there is another, more positive meaning of the term argument: using language, reason, and evidence to influence the thoughts and behavior of others, and that is the kind of argument that will be the focus of this chapter.

You have heard and even likely used the word argument in this sense. You may, for example, have said something like, “Yeah, Eva made a good argument. I think I might take Mandarin Chinese.” You and your friend did not have a disagreement that involved anything unpleasant; she was simply trying to convince you to do something, in this case, learn a particular language.

Let’s flip the scenario. If you wanted to convince your friend to take Mandarin with you, what argument would you make? Would you beg and plead because you didn’t know anyone else in that class? Would you remind her of how great it would look on a college application? Would you entice her with an adventuresome tale of backpacking the Great Wall of China? It would depend on your audience: what your friend is like and what’s important to her. These choices, the how of an argument, are what we call rhetoric.

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Truth springs from argument among friends.
—David Hume

Simply put, rhetoric refers to the strategies we use to make an argument persuasive — to achieve its purpose. Rhetoric, which had its beginnings in ancient Greece, also gives us a vocabulary to analyze the effectiveness of arguments, whether written, spoken, or visual. It reminds us, too, that argument is not a matter of winning, losing, or wearing an opponent down: it’s a matter of strategy and persuasion.