argumentation communities

A detailed Summary of argumentation communities

Arguments can be made anywhere we want them to be made. We can look at some of these arguments that we are making by examining the communities we use to make them in. Perceived in terms of context, argument is discussed in terms of the "audience" to whom it is addressed or in terms of the "community," "field" or "sphere" in which it takes place. (McKerrow, p.27) By looking at a professional sports event I will address the audience and the community to explain the argument that is taking place. More specifically, the sports event that I will choose to analyze is an NFL game.

To explain the idea of argument in communities, the community itself must be defined. "Communities are typified by the specific rules which govern argumentative behavior, by social practices which determine who may speak with what authority, and by their own "display" of these rules and social practices in response to challenges from within or outside the community."(McKerrow, p.28)

The first part of the community is defined by the specific rules that govern argumentative behavior. For a football game these rules refer to the fans in creating the community. As fans, if we want to be apart of the community, we realize there are rules that we need to a

By looking at a professional football game we can see how arguments can occur in any community. First by defining the community that argumentation occurs in specifically for a professional football game, we could then look at what the argument is within that community. We can also see what elements must occur for there to be argumentation at all in that community. Finally, not only was shown the community, which argumentation can happen in, but also the audience that is involved in the argumentation that happens in this community.

The display of the fans' communal interactions takes place at the football game. Their community is the arena or stadium, which the game is taking place in and all the people who are there to take part in the game. The fans themselves are apart of this community. Through interaction of the fans they are once again arguing for the victory of their football team over their opponent.

The second way in which the community is formed is by the social practices which determine who may speak with what authority. In a football game it is usually the referees. They are the ones who make the calls on the field when there is a penalty. The argument being made here is that a player or players from one team have committed a penalty against the opposing team. The referee is arguing that something illegal, in the form of professional football rules, has been performed.

The coaches are also the ones who argue in the communities through authority. They are experts on football, so when they recognize something that isn't working for their team, they are the ones who argue for change. This change is usually comes in the form of the plays that the players perform.

The ways in which the fans argue are simple. They can one, argue with a fan from another team that their team is the better one and will prevail with a victory. Secondly, the fans can argue with the officials of the game by not agreeing with a call they have made. Finall

Some common words found in the essay are:
, football game, Press Inc, social practices, professional football, professional football game, apart community, community professional football, football team, game community, occur community, community professional, social practices response, determine speak authority, practices determine, argumentative behavior, display rules social,

Approximate Word count = 1332
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English