Sequence in forming an argument:

Induction vs. Deduction (6)

Induction: from specific to general;

From a diverse body of evidence to a reasoned conclusion;

Deduction: from general to specific;

From premises to a forced conclusion;

Premise: an assertion or proposition which forms the basis for a work, theory, etc.; an initial or basic assumption; a starting point for reasoning;

Motif vs. Theme

Motif: art and Archit. A (usually recurrent) feature of a composition, esp. a distinctive or salient one; the structural principle or dominant idea of a work;

Theme: The subject of discourse, discussion, conversation, meditation, or composition; a topic

1 Parade - Hoboken, New JerseyRobert Frank’s The Americans 1958

Motif vs. ThemeInductive mode:

from specific to general

Motif: American flag Textual Evidence: The national flag

obscures the individual faces;

Watching vs. parading; A little town called

Hoboken in New Jersey;

Puns on hobos?

Tension between the National identify vs. individual identify;

The theme of obscuring/obscurity;

Marginalization; Spectatorship vs.

participation;

Intratextual Relationships

Whilst the term intertextuality would normally be used to refer to links to other texts, a related kind of link is what might be called'intratextuality'-involving internal relations within the text. Within a single code (e.g. a photographic code) these would be simply syntagmatic relationships (e.g. the relationship of the image of one person to another within the same photograph). However, a text may involve several codes: a newspaper photograph, for instance, may have a caption.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality refers to the various links in form and content which bind a text to other texts. Each text exists in relation to others.

Integration/Expansion:Intra-textual/Contextual & Inter-textual

Contextual information:

About the artist; Historical

background about Hoboken;

Any contextual information about the picture

Light research: What other critics have

said about the picture/book—intellectual interdependence;

Join the critical discussion;

Intellectual independence

Don’t Jump Too Fast

Set up a sound-board to test your claim Does your claim echo in other pictures? Does it apply to other pictures in the

book? Look for consistency/continuity Form larger patterns; Is it too narrow or too wide?

starts with a focal point of a controversy;

Because an argumentative essay attempts to change the way people think, it must focus on a debatable topic, one about which reasonable people disagree. Factual statements—those about which people do not disagree—are therefore not suitable for argument.

An argument starts with a focal point of a controversy;

The Last Kiss by Feng Zikai

Debatable topic Similarities and

differences between the two frames;

Textual evidence Should we criticize

the mother? Contextual

information

Stephen Toulmin

Stephen Edelston Toulmin (25 March 1922 - 4 December 2009) was a British philosopher, author, and educator. Toulmin devoted his works to the analysis of moral reasoning. Throughout his writings, he sought to develop practical arguments which can be used effectively in evaluating the ethics behind moral issues.

Claims

Claim: the statement of fact, definition, value, or policy that an arguer asks the audience to accept, believe, and act on.

There are 24 hours a day. (It is a fact, not a claim)

As Conflict being the soul for the drama, so is the controversy for an argument

A claim, explicit or implicit, is made on the assumption that it is controversial. The first thing to do is to identify a focal point of disagreement over some meaningful issue. A claim should be specific and contestable, and consequential like throwing a rock into a pond. We expect to see some ripples.

Therefore, a claim is a consequential statement that raises someone’s eyebrows, change people’s mind, and to change the world for the better, hopefully. You need to raise the level of your claims—like asserting something. In your essay, you need to foreground your claims in the very beginning.

Claim vs. Opinion

Claims Well supported

with evidence and other means;

Opinions Simply air what

you think

Claim vs. Thesis StatementThe Two Could Overlap

A claim is a debatable statement;

A thesis statement may not be that militant;

2 City fathers-Hoboken, New Jersey

National identity vs. individual identify?

Uniformed city fathers;

Continuation vs. incongruity

7 Navy Recruiting Station, Post Office-Butte, Montana

Incongruity between the two social functions of the office;

A pair of feet resting on the desk;

Slide 31 online “Join-Navy Ask me about it”

17 Fourth of July-Jay, New York

66 Movie premiere—Hollywood, California. Copyright © Robert Frank

Another Example of Obscurity

it’s all glamour and heartbreak (I don’t know whose face is sadder: the woman on the left with her hand up to her mouth, or the movie star)

http://blog.lizkuball.com/2007/03/americans-and-calle-csar-chvez.html

The Depth of Field

the depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears acceptably sharp in the image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.

Foreground/Background?Center Decentered?

In some cases, it may be desirable to have the entire image sharp, and a large DOF is appropriate. In other cases, a small DOF may be more effective, emphasizing the subject while de-emphasizing the foreground and background. In cinematography, a large DOF is often called deep focus, and a small DOF is often called shallow focus.

The DOF is determined by the camera-to-subject distance, the lens focal length, the lens f-number, and the format size or circle of confusion criterion.

Self-Representation/Sequence11 Motorama-Los Angeles (boys)12 New York City (young men)

26 View from hotel window-Butte, Montana

Obscured view A little mining town A run-down place

(what if the resources were exhausted?

The Butchart GardensVictoria BC, Canada

A Taoist Transformation (limestone/the Sunken Garden)

32 U. S. 91, leaving Blackfoot Idaho

33 St. Petersburg, Florida

34 Covered Car-Long Beach, California

33 St. Petersburg, Florida

Sequence & ConsequenceCovered Car-Long Beach 77

Car Accident-US 66, between Winslow and Flagstaff, Arizona 79

13 Charleston, South Carolina

22 Café-Beaufort, South Carolina

Black & WhiteContrast in Scale

City Fathers/Yale GraduationYom Kippur/Funeral