Glossary

Introduction Terms

Stakeholders: “People become stakeholders in a controversy when they feel they are or will be so affected that they must become directly involved. The stakeholders in any controversy are the ones most likely to write opinion columns, to collect signatures, to donate money, and to organize protests. The rest of us—those in the public who are indirectly affected by a controversy’s outcome—tend to listen and vote, but we do not tend to get involved.” (p.10)

Viewpoints: “the arguments made by the stakeholders” about the particular controversy. The kind of arguments made determine one’s position or stance on the issue, and this is their viewpoint on the controversy. (p.13) Viewpoints are determined by one’s interests, values, and beliefs. Interests: “The individuals’, groups’, or communities’ stakes in a controversy. People become interested typically because they are affected in negative or positive ways. Depending on the controversy’s outcome, they stand to win or lose something. Keep in mind that the interest can be anything that a person or an organization cares about” (p.11)

Values: “When we talk about values, we focus on things people care about even when they are not personally or directly affected by those things. An art collector has an interest in a painting he recently acquired. But he may value all art because it embodies creativity. People become stakeholders in controversies not just because they are directly affected (not just because they have an interest in its outcome) but also because they value something affected by the controversy’s outcome.” (p. 11)

Beliefs (andy): Beliefs are things we think are true about a thing. I value art because I have certain beliefs about what art is and/or means for me or for humanity as a whole. My interest in art is the result of my belief in the value of art. One’s interests, beliefs and values are frequently interrelated but can be exclusive to one another. For example, I can believe in the reality of global climate change, but if I don’t value the natural world, or if I make my money in the oil industry, my values and interests might determine my viewpoint on the controversy.

Chapter 1 Terms

Viewpoint Articles/Sources (andy): Articles in which the author is arguing a particular viewpoint directly, offering their opinion (the result of their beliefs, values and interests) on a particular matter. Viewpoint articles typically have these features (p.22): Use of first and second person Expression of opinions without attributing them to someone else Use of strong language designed to move the audience Placement of context/background information after the main argument, in the middle of the article.

Information Articles/Sources: “Information articles often tell the reader about people’s viewpoints, but they do so by quoting or summarizing and always by attributing the viewpoint to someone. The reporter will write, for instance, “According to Representative Cushman (Republican from Oklahoma), the healthcare.gov website is a ‘train wreck.’” Information articles try to stay unbiased by offering at least two viewpoints on any controversial issue.” (p.22) Information articles typically have these features: Use the third person Attribute opinions, beliefs, and factual claims to other people Avoid strong language by qualifying claims Put new information at beginning and context/background info towards the end.

Credibility: “A credible source is one you can trust because he or she is knowledgeable, he or she has your or the community’s best interests at heart, or he or she treats others—even stakeholders with opposite viewpoints—respectfully.”

Bias: “ A writer’s bias is his or her inclination to believe a particular perspective. I may be liberally biased because I’m a Democrat, and you may be conservatively biased because you’re a Republican. But, despite our opposing biases, we can both be credible because we can both research our topics thoroughly. We can present our arguments honestly. And we can treat each other fairly.” (p.24)

Media & Venue: The media include print, the Internet, and television. (There are other media, of course: street theater, graffiti, music.) The venues include newspapers, books, magazines, websites, and television programs. (p.4)

Chapter 2 Terms

Summaries: “Summaries condense information by leaving some ideas out.” (p.27) Arguments: (andy): Arguments are the content of the viewpoints a stakeholder has on a controversy or issue. Arguments will have 2 of three parts: a claim, with reasons and/or evidence that supports the reason(s).

Reasons: (andy): Reasons are the ideas that relate evidence, observations, and information to claims and conclusions. If you see smoke and conclude “there must be fire nearby” your reasoning relates smoke and fire in a particular way, which informs the quality of your claim or conclusion.

Claims: (andy): Claims are the argumentative conceits themselves, they are the conclusions or assertions that constitute any argument. Rhetorically appealing claims typically indicate a synthesis of evidence and reasons: your conclusion that there is a fire over the hill is a result of the synthesis of the evidence of smoke, and the reason stating smoke is a sign of fire.

Evidence (andy) Evidence is the data or information that constitutes “proof” in the material sense, the object of reference which constitutes the subject of one’s claims or reasons. My claim that there is a fire over the hill results from the evidence of smoke, and a reason to believe that smoke and fire are related in a particular way (smoke is a sign of fire’s presence).

Explicit Arguments: In an explicit argument, “the author may bluntly state her principal claim and then summarize the reasons that should lead the audience to accept that claim.” (p.28).

Implicit Arguments(andy): Implicit arguments suggest what they want the audience to conclude, rather than explicitly state their motives or directly call their audience to specific action. Sometimes, arguments move from implicit to explicit in the movement from start to finish, if the audience is presumed to be hostile to the speaker’s conclusion(s).

Play by Play Summary: “A play-by-play narrates each step in an argument. This can be done by summarizing each paragraph or by summarizing each major section (sometimes a paragraph, sometimes a whole chapter) in one or two sentences. The play-by-play summary shows how the argument progresses: What comes first? What comes second? What comes last? The play-by-play summary also guarantees that the summary will accurately present the order that the writer intended. Finally, the play-by-play summary catches all the major parts of the argument. Nothing significant will be left out.” (p. 34)

Argument Breakdown Summary: The argument-breakdown summary tries to take the argument apart and emphasize both its key components and their relation to one another. You point out, for example, the main claim and the key reasons supporting that claim without exactly repeating the argument’s arrangement.

Chapter 3 Terms

Synthesis (andy): “A synthesis is a rhetorical summary, a way of condensing and summarizing information in a manner that emphasizes one element of the story, conclusion, or course of action, over others.”

Stasis: “A simple guide that’s been around in one form or another since the Ancient Greeks. The basic idea behind stasis theory is that people tend to argue about certain kinds of questions. According to classical stasis theory, people tend to disagree first about questions of fact, next about cause and effect, then definition, value, and finally procedure.” (p. 45).

SQ of Fact: “What exists? What has existed? What is likely to exist?”
SQ of Cause & Effect: “What causes lead to what effects? What effects tend to come from what causes?”
SQ of Definition: “What do we call something? In what category does something belong?”
SQ of Value: “Is something good or bad? Just or unjust? Beautiful or ugly?”
SQ of Procedure: “What should we do?”