Reading Response #10

Carolina Gonzalez

Text
Greene, Stuart. Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in WRiting a Researched
Argument. The Subject is Research. Ed. Wendy Bishop and Pavel Zemliansky. Portsmouth,
NH: Boynton/Cook, 2001. 145-64.

Summary
In the reading Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched
Argument the author, Stuart Greene, argues that in order to compose a compelling research
paper, one must treat it like entering a conversation that has already been going on. When writing
a research paper, displaying the understanding of claims others are making, the questions others
raise, and the conflicts addressed in the pieces being read are highly critical in a research paper.
Greenes reasons for questioning this writing construct include the historical context behind any
given argument and the fact that engaging in and leaving an argument does not mean that it is
over. Greene expresses the importance of clearly identifying the issue and situation, framing a
good question, and the critical steps for writing, reading, and doing research. Greene concludes
his argument by stating that research is a social process if one can understand inquiry as a way to
enter a conversation.

Claim
The most beneficial idea a student outside if this class can take from this article is the
understanding of treating a research paper like entering an initiated conversation.
Treating the paper like entering a conversation will aid other students with the
understanding of the process of a research paper.

Data
... making an argument entails providing good reasoning to support your viewpoint, as
well as counterarguments, and recognizing how and why readers might object to your
ideas (Greene 28).
... it is important to find out who else has confronted these problems, conflicts, and
questions in order to take a stand within some ongoing scholarly conversation (Greene
28).
Connection
F rom reading this article, one can clearly understand that Greene is attempting to convey the
importance of writing and doing research for a research paper as with the view of entering an
argument. The most beneficial idea a student outside if this class can take from this article is the
understanding of Greenes main argument, treating the paper like entering an initiated
conversation.
Treating the paper like entering a conversation will aid other students with the understanding
of the process of a research paper. Understanding this viewpoint will facilitate the concept and
the process of a research paper. In this quote Greene introduces the idea of treating a research
paper like an argument. ... making an argument entails providing good reasoning to support
your viewpoint, as well as counterarguments, and recognizing how and why readers might object
to your ideas (Greene 28). Research and writing arguments are directly related; to compose a
research paper a student must take a stand and support what they think and feels is correct with
reasons they believe to be good reasons. In order to Take a strong stand in a research paper, one
must jump into a conversation that has already taken initiative and provide points to support
that certain view. In the following quote, Greene connects argument/conversation to writing in a
deeper notion. ... it is important to find out who else has confronted these problems, conflicts,
and questions in order to take a stand within some ongoing scholarly conversation (Greene 28).
Doing so will help students to read with an open mind towards the claims writers make in the
sense that writers want their audience to think and feel in a certain way. In other words, to know
or to enter a conversation with knowledge of what other writers have already claimed and the
questions and problems they encountered before you did, will create a stronger and facilitated
research paper.

Vocabulary
1. Tenor; he general meaning, sense, or content of something; ... until you decide that you
have caught the tenor of the argument
2. Akin; of similar character; ... to develop an argument that is akin to a conversation it is
helpful
3. Transculturation; a process of cultural transformation marked by the influx of new culture
elements and the loss or alteration of existing ones; ... ask yourself how the writer uses
two framing concepts transculturation and contact zone...