Frames for Arguing: What Do People Think They’re Doing When They Argue?

This chapter is the first of five on argument production. The overall goal of this portion of the book is to explore the process of invention. That is, why do people argue what and how they do? The goal is to understand the general orientations that people have toward arguing as well as the specific orientation they have toward a particular topic or argumentative moment. The general orientation is important to one’s expectations about the interpersonal relationship in which the argument will occur and the specific orientation may be in control of what content is thought of, or made public.