Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love

Summary:

In the article by Jim W. Corder, "Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love," he states that authors write about personal history, and they choose what to add and what not to add. But as Corder explains, "we are all fiction-makers/historians" (16). This is because someties we don't tell everything that's happening, or sometimes we can't find what's needed in our stories. "We are always seeing, hearing, thinking, living, and saying the fiction that we and our times make possible and tolerate, a fiction that is the history we can assent to at a given time" (17). We sometimes make things up, or sometimes. Corder states that when we don't understand or know something, we must go and find the answer. But not everything that we learn or experience can be said in its entirely.

As Corder states, "each of us is a narrative" (18). Some narratives can be "threatning" (18). This is when our narratives become an argument. He explains that everything that we do makes us an argument. Corder also states that "steadfast" is evidence that will make each narrative satisfying. This leaves us hopeless and there will be opposition. In order to solve this, "we have to see each other to know each other, to be present to each other, to embrace each other." In order to solve this, the argument has to be delivered differently.

Corder also states that an "argument is emergence" (26). When making an argument, one has to learn to love. "Rhetoric is love, and it must speak a commodious language, creating a world full of space and time that will hold our diversities." It is important to establish a good communication and to listen.

Synthesis:

I honestly did not clearly understand what Corder's argument is. I can relate myself when he says that what we write is fiction. This is because we don't write exactly everything that we experience or learn. I can also see how we are an argument, and how everything we do is pretty much an argument too. And in order to solve it, one has to listen, but most important, one has to learn how to love.