This chapter was extremely informative in the ways of building a case for an argument. This is something very important when it comes to argumentation because it sets the tone of how the argument is received. One of the important concepts in building a case is the preparation of the persuasive case itself. In preparing one of the first concepts is figuring out the starting points. When I was in my Public Speaking course here at the U of M I made a speech on the argument that people need to partner in ending human sex trafficking. When I first started to build my argument I had to analyze how I was going to build a common ground with my audience. This was something that we talked about in chapter 2 of this book, this is important because according to the textbook, "These concepts identify commonality that are shared and not controversial"(Pg. 90). In order to get my audience (decision makers) to understand my topic I had to bring the issue to them locally. I told them that since Minnesota was hosting the Superbowl that is when the most human trafficking happens in the U.S. I made the issue come to them locally so that they can easily relate to it. Because if I talk about an issue that happened in a different country then they wouldn't be able to feel connected to the topic. I also had to list important facts about the argument right away, like for example how females are the most susceptible to being taken, but males were not excused from this as well. I showed how it was an overall issue including all genders. I think this helped pave the way for my argument because it set the tone to how I the decision makers will perceive and receive my topic. I find this step important because it allows the person making the argument to be well prepared and it makes it easy to adapt to potential changes that could arise.
Chapter five focuses primarily on identifying and developing propositions for problems that people think are relevant. It goes over 6 steps for choosing a valid proposition based on a perceived “feeling of doubt.” While all six steps may not be necessary, the collectively ensure a well thought out and firm proposition. The six steps include identifying the question, surveying implicated objectives (or understanding what is the goal accomplishment in regard to the question), searching for new information, considering alternative options, considering costs and risks of each potential proposition, and then finally choosing one of the propositions. The authors then go on to talk about analyzing and strengthening the proposition chosen. This includes identification and ranking of the issues that the proposition addresses as well as understanding how the decision makers will react to these issues and propositions. In general, with all these methods of critically analyzing the proposition, ...
Overall, I found your blog post to be very interesting and relatable because I also took public speaking last year. I remember how my instructor stressed the necessity to engage the audience and try to understand their points of view in order to more effectively persuade them. I find your choice of localizing the issue for your audience to be a very smart decision as audiences are more likely to engage in the issue being presented if they are able to relate to the issue. Also, I think that by stating that both females and males are susceptible to sex trafficking, you were able to furthermore relate the audience to the issue. Lastly, I agree with your statement that it is important to set the tone in order for decision makers to be prepared and adaptable because that way decision makers can better understand which course of action to take.
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