Wysocki-Lynch Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of Wysocki and Lynch was all about further development of the purpose statement. I was a little discouraged when they stated right up front (on page 58) that it would be best to go through this chapter with a project in mind – because I had very little idea about my topic when I picked this up last night. However, I decided to plow through it anyway and hope that I could recall any useful information when I was actually working on my project.

There were two things in particular that I found rather interesting in this chapter. One was the idea that by presenting an argument you are, in fact, “designing futures” (p 60). The other is seeing arguing as a social activity, because you are trying to affect people’s experiences, attitudes, and/or opinions. We can see that these two views of argument directly relate to one another. “If we think of argument and communication as being about designing futures, then what argument can achieve is to give people ideas about what the future could be if their attitudes or beliefs were to shift somewhat” (p 60). Seeing argument in this light is mildly inspiring, but it also is a reminder to think carefully about what you choose to say and how you choose to say it.

The next portion of the chapter is all about composition and thinking. The authors encourage you to set aside time just to think about your argument and how you plan on developing and presenting it (Haven’t done that sufficiently either…it’s like these authors know me). They again come back to purpose, audience, and context. It’s important to make sure that everything you implement is working toward the overall goal. They remind you to consider your audience: their attitudes, priorities, and your relationship/experiences with them. Maintaining good standing with your audience is essential to an effective argument.  …So yeah, some of this was definitely review, but was still helpful in thinking about forming a more complex purpose statement.