Key Points
"Write the voices of others into your text."
Chapters
Chapter 3
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In generating his own argument from something they say, the author suggests why he needs to say what he is saying, to correct a popular misconception.
Chapter 4
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To argue well, you need to do more than assert your own position. You need to enter a conversation and use other views as launching pad for your own.
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To make an impact as a writer, you need to do more than make statements that are logical, well supported, and consistent. You must also find a way to enter a conversation with other's views.
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What you are saying may be clear to your audience, but why you are saying it won't be. For it is what others are saying or thinking that motivates our writing and gives it a reason for being.
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Your own argument, the thesis, ... should always be a response to the arguments of others.
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Avoiding controversy, making statements that nobody can disagree with, is flat and lifeless, and fails to answer the "so what?", and "who cares?" questions.
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Something may be a perfectly true statement, but because nobody is likely to disagree with it, it goes without saying, and thus, would seem pointless if said.