Commenting On Gail Stygall’s Paper/Multiple Perspectives

When I was first learning about the teaching of composition some years ago, I recall spending a good deal of time on rhetoric and its uses in argumentation. We didn’t deal at all with Toulmin or informal logic, but I recall learning about how writers need to be aware of how they are presenting themselves to the audience. More specifically, we were taught that writers need to present themselves as a fair-minded in order to be more effective in persuading others of their views. In order to achieve this representation of fair-mindedness, the student writer was encouraged to look at both sides of an argument – maybe even multiple sides. This then, was the rationale for looking at multiple perspectives while writing argumentatively.

I found Stygall’s discussion on the teaching of “ethics of argument” based on Toulmin’s model a more compelling, useful, and satisfying way to encourage student writers to acknowledge in their writing “the possibility of a number of points of view.” I like the way Stygall’s argument builds off of Toulmin’s, asking students to follow claims, warrants, and backings wherever they lead – even into other spheres (argumentative fields). I think this method of analysis of arguments will strengthen the students’ skill in analyses while helping them appreciate the real complexity of almost any argument. In the end, they will learn to dig deeper into arguments, learn to substantially appreciate other viewpoints, and write more persuasively. I hope.