Chapter 13

In Chapter 13 it talks about the style and presentation in arguments. Arguments have their own styles that can me outlined into three basic styles of communication, identifying them as high, middle, and low. High argument styles are generally formal and serious. Middle style is ordinary from a commonplace to professional. Last, the low style is informal. Style and word choice are important factors in arguments. The words that you choose for an argument help define style. Words should match the tone that you want to establish. It is also important to control connotation the unspoken associations that surround many words. Also, sentence structure and argument can define the style of an argument. To keep readers involved a series of sentences needs variety. Then you have punctuation and argument, punctuation affects the act of arguing and can enhance style. Such as, exclamation points to indicate a speakers tone, or question marks to help drive home the point. Figurative Language and Argument brings two major strengths to arguments. It aids understanding by drawing parallels between an unknown and known. Second, it makes the argument memorable. Metaphor is one of the most pervasive uses; it implies a comparison between two things. A simile compares two things while using "like" or "as." An analogy compares two things, point by point, to show similarity. Also, the other tropes such as, signifying, hyperbole, understatement and rhetorical questions.

A section that I found the most interesting was the examples in "Punctuation and Argument," I never really understood the importance of punctuation in the structure of a sentence, It can really change the tone of what you are reading and give some parts more importance than others. It’s a very powerful element in speeches and writing. Changing punctuation can change a lot on the writing. It’s also important to follow the punctuation while reading. If you bypass the punctuation the writing might mislead you and you can misinterpret what you are reading.


As for me, example that I can say about this section is the use of question marks in my writing, I like to ask a lot of rhetorical questions. I feel like it adds some tension to the argument. I can picture myself getting in my readers face like "huh? huh?" and I think that is an affective argument.