Definitional

Key questions

What is it? Who are they?

Used for

Resolving disputes of classification and identity
Not about quality!
It's about membership in a category:
- Not "Is our downtown traffic bad?"
- But "Is our traffic a problem?"
These are important questions because "what it is" or "who they are" determines how we treat it or them.

This is not childhood

Makes use of

Criteria match reasoning
- Establish criteria for a member of the disputed category
- Demonstrate relevant properties of the subject
- Show how they match the criteria
Illustrating, comparing, emphasising connectives:
- for example, such as, equally, especially, in particular

Other notes

Revolves around "being" words: is/is not, are/are not, am/am not
Often precursor to a proposal argument ("So what should we do with it? How should we respond to them?")

I tell the class, “I am legally blind.” There is a pause, a collective intake of breath. I feel them look away uncertainly and then look back. After all, I just said I couldn’t see. Or did I? I had managed to get there on my own—no cane, no dog, none of the usual trappings of blindness. Eyeing me askance now, they might detect that my gaze is not quite focused. . . . They watch me glance down, or towards the door where someone’s coming in late. I’m just like anyone else.

Sight Unseen

Context ideas

Speaker roles: Lawyer, advocate, critic, scientist
Situations: Cultural, political, or scientific controversy

Liking isn't helping bus shelter

Example: Buff Pikachu pauses warmongering to show us his 8 step skin routine

Example: Presentation to the U.N. Panel on Pokemon

Teaching Argument Writing with Frankenstories