Stygall’s approach to teaching argumentation

I found this piece of reading quite interesting. The author points out the conventions of academic discussion and writing: “a preference for the logical and the rational over the purely emotional and dramatic, a predilection over thorough analysis over the stereotype or hasty generalization, and the acknowledgement of the possibility of a number of points of view” (383). I remember that the latter one was not the easy point for me because in secondary school most things were given as right/wrong. It became more complicated at university level.

I think two-side discussion can be really organized in class. As in Stygall’s example, materials for a discussion can include few provoking issues. The important result of such a discussion can be the following: a) for some problems, the only one opinion can not be ultimate, and even sometimes both (or several) sides seem to be right; b) nevertheless, it is important to state your own opinion as well as defend it in order to find the decision.