Rhetorical Analysis on Deborah Tannens Argument Culture

A Move towards Better Communication Deborah Tannen graduated from The University of California, Berkely, M.A. in 1979 with her PHD in Linguistics. She is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University. Tannen has written many books where she applies her theory of Linguistics to everyday situations. Some of her books are: That’s Not What I Meant!: How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationship (1986), Talking from 9 to 5: How Women’s and Men’s Conversational Styles Affect Who Gets Heard (1994), The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue(1998), and I Only Say This Because I Love You (2001). In an essay from the book, The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialouge, Tannen†¦show more content†¦Not to make them change, but to think about the way you handle a conflict. There is one point in the essay that Tannen goes off in a different direction and loses your attention. She goes from talking about high-tech communication pulling us apart to road rage. She stat ed â€Å"Road rage† shows how dangerous the argument culture-and especially today’s technologically enhanced aggression-can be.† (406) I had a hard time seeing the relationship between the â€Å"Road rage† and technology. Though road rage is definitely dangerous, I did not feel that this was relevant at this point in the essay. Tannen’s intended audience for this essay is the society as a whole; she is addressing each and every one of us. At some time or another in our life we have come upon a situation where we have to decide whether we fight for our own beliefs and opinions or if we let someone else shape the way that we feel. Should we go to â€Å"war† with them?, no, but we should stand up for what we believe in. In this essay this is what Tannen is attempting to get across though she wants you to look at â€Å"all sides† of the problem and just not the main two. The wording of this essay was easy to follow; she for the mos t part keeps on track with her thoughts. She transitions from one example to another very well and breaks her different thoughts into separate parts. The sentences are well written they were not long, but were long enough to get the point across. The