The Negative Culture In Deborah Tannen's The Argument Culture

The first chapter of Lying About Hitler examines the challenges to objectivity that surfaces in the court case between David Irving and Debra Lipstadt. Evans was requested to participate due to his objectivity, however, impartiality within the field of History comes under scrutiny. Evans examines what it means to history and its importance to the court case. The trial transforms into a study of whether the Holocaust had been depicted truthfully or had objectivity created our modern notion. Irving’s belief of preconceived notions and opinions corrupting studies in the field, if true, would discredit many historians’ works. Lipstadt believes that Irving’s anti-Semite sentiments are the cause of him misrepresenting and falsifying sources. Evans

In the society we live today we surround ourselves with positivity and negativity. The stuff that is happening today are they getting better or worse? Based on the article “Taking a ‘War of Words’ Too Literally”, by Deborah Tannen, she defines the new norm of our society “the argument culture”. Tannen discusses her experiences and states that we are more confrontational and less open to others.

The first chapter introduced the reader to the art of rhetoric. He describes how rhetoric works through real life examples. He demonstrates ways that rhetoric persuades us like, argument from strength, and seduction. He tells the reader that the sole purpose of arguing is to persuade the audience. He showed that the chief purpose of arguing is to also achieve consensus, a shared faith in a choice.

“The war on drugs, the war on cancer, the battle of the sexes, politicians’ turf battles- in the argument culture war metaphors pervade our talk and shape our thinking,” affirms Tannen. We approach the world in an argumentative frame of mind.”

The Holocaust should be educated to the students so they may be aware of genocide, and prevent genocides from being committed in the future. Many genocides are not noticed, letting the people who control the genocides get away with what they have done. The article "Combating" from the Holocaust Memorial Museum stated, "Germans destroyed most documentation that did exist before the war " ("Combating"). This quote shows the importance that genocides need to be noticed, before all traces of them are destroyed. Students

Deborah Tannen's book, The Argument Culture, is a compelling piece that looks at the perceived "argument culture" that is permeating the United States and the West in general. I do agree with what Ms. Tannen is saying, that there is a form of argument culture, but I think it could be argued that there is a contrasting part of American society called a "nice culture" as well. On the one hand, you have people who will argue about topics whenever the opportunity arises, but on the other hand you have people who will avoid confrontation at all costs. Ms. Tannen somewhat acknowledges other ethnic cultures in the United States that tend to argue in different ways, "You do not have to go to a foreign country to experience these cultural differences [of how people argue in different cultures.] Americans of different ethnic backgrounds can experience them just by making friends." (Tannen, 211)Acknowledging ethnic culture differences is important but to homogenize it into just an argument culture is wrong.It could still be argued that there is a converse culture in the United States that is based around niceness and civility. You can see it in the world around you where you are taught to use your manners as much as possible or in fast food jobs where workers are supposed to be as "nice" as possible and if anybody makes a mistake they are supposed to apologize as sincerely as possible. Another example of this nice culture is contrast to the argument culture is when adults are arguing

speaker, audience. In their writing (chapter 1) argue that everything can be turned into an argument. They support their claim by first telling about Michelle Obama's tweets about her concern of a kidnapping, by terrorist group Boko Haram, of more than 200 Nigerian girls in 2014. Then by explaining how we make arguments. The author’s purpose is to inform readers about make arguments by using ethos, pathos, and logos.

The Lewinsky Scandal… A perfect example as to why we cannot accept everything at face value before carefully examining it first. Everyone thought President Clinton was behaving himself in the White House, but, as it turns out, he was most definitely not. This can be the same for history. We must carefully consider different aspects of articles so that we do no make the mistake of believing everything we read. In order to fully understand an article, we must understand the author that wrote it. It is necessary to examine prejudices, sources, information left out, and missing background information before accepting an article. This method of critical analysis allows us to better understand the article

Deborah Lipstadt, author of Denying the Holocaust: the Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, recently gave a TED Talk entitled “Behind the Lies of Holocaust Denial” about her experience with being chosen to write the book, conducting the research for it, and enduring the libel lawsuit against her that resulted. The book addressed Holocaust deniers, those who insist the Holocaust didn’t occur, and her speech mainly addressed how truth and facts are, as she put it, “under assault” (Lipstadt 11:58). The fifteen-minute impassioned speech employed the three persuasive strategies: Logos, by using straightforward facts; Ethos, by being established a well-respected author and college professor; and Pathos, by appealing to emotion through

Growing up, people learn about the past of their own kind and of the world they live in. One reads history in books, hears history from parents, and studies history at schools. Knowing the history of one's ancestors allows one to understand the past and change for a better future. Significant battles, civil movements, and reformations teach people valuable lessons and help the society to improve. The Holocaust, one of the most well-known history events, represents a perfect historical example of discrimination and racism. However, a number of people started to deny the known facts of the Holocaust and even the event itself. Despite of what these people say and how convincing their reasons are, this piece of history is to be protected from

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.

In the excerpt by Deborah Tannen entitled, The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue Tannen speaks about the oppositional nature of public discourse. She expressed her thoughts on how we are determined to seek certainty by using arguments from two different standpoints, as if there are no additional angles that can be examined. Oftentimes, there are more than two sides of an issue, but due to the way society has taught us, we only look at issues from two extreme perspectives. I find Dr. Tannen to be extremely intelligent in her observations of how people communicate using debates and opposition as a means to express what we believe to be true. Although Americans habitually view issues from only two extreme points of view, dialogue solves more problems than debates because it does not cause division among people as frequently as debates does.

As Hajime Tokuno describes it, “Deniers have subjugated science, in this case historical science, to a political agenda, creating a pseudoscience called Holocaust Denial” (Tokuno 2).

Deborah E. Lipstadt’s book “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory” is a journey into the history of the Holocaust denial movement. She explains in excessive detail that as time continues to go on, people have concluded that the Holocaust did not exist or that it was extremely exaggerated. Lipstadt is an Associate Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. She was a consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; also in 1994 was appointed by Bill Clinton to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, where she served 2 terms “Third Annual Bamberger Memorial Lecture with Deborah E. Lipstadt (November 22,2005) “. With many accomplishments under her belt, Lipstadt writes with no

These actions of subverting the authority of science and academia is where the Holocaust revisionists come into the picture. Many of the most prominent revisionists derive their authority from their title as historians. Perhaps the most famous of these people is David Irving. David Irving was a renowned historian in his knowledge of Nazi Germany. He published multiple books that were incredibly detailed looks into World War II. Of his works, he is well known for Hitler’s War, The Destruction of Dresden, Churchill’s War, and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich. Throughout all of these books, Irving used his position as a historian to uncover lost documents and gain credibility for outlandish Holocaust revisionist theories.