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Rhetoric Techniques Used In Shannon Quick's The Socratic Dialogue

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We will all win arguments if we leave out the evidence. The Socratic dialogue, written by Shannon Quick shows an example of a two character dramatic dialogue. A Socratic dialogue was developed in Greece as a writing style. It is generally a discussion of a moral or philosophical problem between two or more people. The scene opens up in a classroom setting with the professor handing out a debate project. Two students, Jenny and Mark must choose and debate a topic to persuade the other of their viewpoint. After some discussion, they settled on Prostitution, to legalize and regulate the industry or to keep it illegal. Mark and Jenny use many rhetorical techniques in order to persuade the other of their viewpoint. Mark remembers the lesson on the Toulmin method to analyze arguments. He thought this could help him is making sure he had his claim with supporting fact and data. He also wanted to make sure his evidence backed up his claim and he was ready for a rebuttal from Jenny. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the techniques used by Mark and Jenny. Jenny used many rhetorical …show more content…

When he noticed he hit a nerve with Jenny, he immediately switched his strategy, he was not going to win on morals and emotion. It was obvious Jenny was passionate about her faith and convictions. He needed a rebuttal that would nullify her position and make his counter-argument stronger. Mark then suppressed the evidence that held Jenny back from seeing his viewpoint. For example, Mark said, “please for a moment look at only the facts. Let us leave the morality of the act and the emotions aside” (Quick 1). Mark effectively removed the emotions and morality that were holding Jenny back from seeing his viewpoint. Jenny was so strong on her moral argument she never sought after other information. With no other argument she has no choice but to concede. Mark effectively used the rhetorical techniques to persuade Jenny even if just for a

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