Saturday, September 26, 2009

But Why Should I?

Dear Toulmin Method,
I appreciate how thorough you are when it comes to analyzing arguments, and I absolutely respect your intended purpose, that is to say, what you do. However, I'm having some problems getting motivated to make use of your... services. You see, I am studying to be a costume designer for the world of theater. It's true that theater performance in itself is a form of rhetoric, there is a speaker or speakers and an audience, but unfortunately there is very little argumentation in my future career.
When I meet with a director to discuss a production, the only times when I need to make claims and prove them, happen during conversations, which provides little time for me to apply your method. Argumentation and mature reasoning mean being willing to exhaust a claim until it's fully supportable, or you are forced to find a new one. Unfortunately if costume design followed these same processes, there would quite possibly never be another costume made. Costume design is about analyzing a character and making a decision on how to best represent that character, the process also has a time limit, meaning the faster a decision is made, the better for the production.
What I'm saying is that I will use you during my English class, because that is what I'm required to do. It does not mean I like you, or that I will ever call on you again. I just want to establish clear guidelines and boundaries for our relationship, so you won't get too attached and end up being hurt. That is all.
Yours for now,
Andrew Hill

2 comments:

  1. Fair analysis and fun genre. I have to imagine that you will exist outside of work, however, at times as well, won't you? Or you will have to analyze arguments made against supporting the theater and make arguments for funding?

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  2. Maybe practicing the Toulmin method will familiarize you with the qualities of a solid argument, and keeping this in the back of your mind will make you better able to analyze the arguments you hear while talking to directors? Even if you do not go through the Toulmin method step-by-step for each argument, it might give you a background for listening to and supporting your own arguments.

    Julie

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