Audience Analysis

            In this case, the target audiences that I will to try to reach are young people who have developed in the information era. This means that the entire audiences are only those who grew up with the internet and media always in their face. They will comprise of youths between 18-35 years old. I will not include their level of education or ethnic background. I suppose that the targeted audience already knows a lot about argument. This is due to the fact that it is everywhere on the internet and in the news. However, I do not believe whether they are able to know how to avoid confrontations or arguments, as they do not have the experience. My relationship with the entire audience is minimal. This is because I am of a different generation. This means that I will try to persuade their minds to looking into another point of view that is less confrontational. In this case, I would like to come across as a fellow spectator. This is due to the fact that I am in no way a professional on the subject. I am just a person who examined the essay and said “Deborah Tannen’s argument are intelligence.” This is the similar to my entire audience, as I have never thought about it that much. I want to come across as someone that wants things to be less provoking. I want to see things from all sides. I want my audience to see that there are more sides to a story and to open their mind to all kinds of different views without jumping to a fast conclusion.

Rhetorical Analysis on Deborah Tannen's Argument Culture

Deborah Tennan is an international known well writer on the argument culture. Much of her work is based on dealing with the world which has forgotten on how to listen and debate. Deborah clearly observes that people are so quick to argue. In the argument culture Deborah discusses how today society is no longer honors the American tradition of carrying out debates. The writer emphasizes that people no longer listen to the both sides and obvious not all sides of an issue. According to Tannen the society believes that the best way to settle a dispute is using litigation which pits one party against another. We would instead criticize and attack instead of peacefully discussing our differences of opinion. Tannen is for the idea that we should remember to settle our differences without offending others or causing damages and harm to them. Tannen seems to be agree that there are times where fighting is necessary and one must defend himself in times of danger. Her writing is full of advices and warnings if the society still wants to live peacefully.

            In “The Argument Culture,” Tannen tries to discuss how today’s society no longer respects the noble American tradition of debate (Tannen 43). She discusses the disagreement in the world when it comes to communication. For instance, society has used adversarial debates to generate problems with communication. Additionally, she explains how people do not want to take time and listen to both sides and not all sides of an issue. Tannen is able to grab the attention of her audience in the beginning of the essay. For instance, with questioning “noble American traditions” she is able to make the reader to read more about what traditions are in question. Through out the article, I found that Tannen has pursued to appeal her entire audiences through use of rhetorical. This is due to the fact that they are very effective and enlightening.   After I read her entire content, I was in a position to known various issues that she was hoping to bring to light. In the entire article, she tries to persuade or appeal the audience that in instances of problem solving, it is essential to respond in an adverse manner and to use a more constructive approach. This allows one to see it as a rhetorical situation, which is a mode for changing reality by the creation of dialogue which changes reality through the conciliation of thought and action (Tannen 43).   From this point of view, it is evidenced that Tannen’s article can be classified as rhetorical as she is appealing to an audience who can create changes in what she considers a problem.

            Additionally, she is trying to alter what she feels is “a persistent confrontational atmosphere that makes people approach public dialogue as if it were a fight” moreover, she helps her entire audience to approach a more dialogue-friendly manner of addressing issues that does not employ an adversarial format (Tannen 43). With this regard she tries to bring to light the “argument culture” and the unhelpful outcomes that come with it. She appeals her entire audience through, pathos, logos and ethos. In this article, Tannen appeals her audience by the use ethos. For instance, she looks at different sides of the argument. She depicts that it is vital to listen to both sides and not all sides of an issue. This helps her argument because everyone knows that she is not taking a narrow approach to the subject. Additionally, it is a way that helps the audience to see that she has done research and is able to make an informed argument which then makes it believable.

Tannen tries to appeal to her audience by use of pathos by bringing to light other issues in the society like politics and also other examples of how arguments work which often affect the people. Her political example is about a debate whereby the media was interested on the commentator’s opinion of “who won (Tannen 43) rather putting their interest in the substance of the debate and the candidates’ points of view. This describes the argument culture by putting focus on the winner rather than on the instances the candidate have on the different issues and on their plan to govern a nation. People should put more concern on such real topics which may have an implication and effect on everyday’s life. This is seen as a logical appeal and also an emotional one since the people can relate it on a personal level. Many decisions made have an impact on people for example a decision to go to war or heavy taxes affect people daily and have negative impacts on peoples mentality, attitude, health and rights. Tannen shows that when light is brought to issues about the media and how an argument culture influences them, we are affected unknowingly. One is able to realize how the media distracts one from the real issue and instead focus on other less important issues.

Tannen makes the strongest case for her view by appealing to the audiences logos. Logos deals with the person’s logical reasoning as an aspect of rhetoric. It is the most apparent in the methodical argument where she makes on her ideas the main issue on the article: the assumption that the best way of solving a problem is through conflict or opposition. She also includes polarization of issues in her examination. She states clearly that polarization grows from the argument cultures tendency thereby coming up with a contest with a given winner. Most problems cannot be solved by only looking at one side of the problem but common up with different approaches. Many issues such as abortions, privatization, executions that are very complex requires a lot of dialogue and can only be resolved by applying many different approaches. Another example she uses is criticism. Problems cannot be solved with critique. Many people are used to critique especially during classes which can result to arguments. She tries to show the disadvantage of criticism in her article

Tannen faces a few constraints or challenges as part of her rhetoric situation. Tannen discovers that the argument culture has a long history and its deep, thick and long ranging system. This pervades our culture especially in terms of military metaphors and the cultures natural and possibly unconscious urge to view the issues as a fight involving two sides and obvious one winner. Various metaphors are used in this article to emphasize more on the argument culture. Our culture should remain natural always free from unnecessary arguments and conflicts. Tennan faces challenges with the media. The media contributes to most arguments and conflicts in the society. Tennan faces what has been around great more years and with the way things work lately with the media, and our natural tendency to use various aspects of the argument culture which makes her task an intimidating effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Tannen, Deborah. The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue. New York, NY: Random House, 1998. Print.