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The word argument has been covered with many， often negative， myths—irrational fights， heated debates， for arguments take various shapes and are employed for different purposes in our life.Some are more formal， such as speeches and argumentative essays while others are not so formal and may not in fact look like arguments at all， such as posters， billboards， commercials， bumper stickers， and blogs.Even pictures and t-shirts can make arguments as well.Some people seek to force their opinions on others while others simply want to present an idea.In order to understand what argument is， it is probably more productive to debunk the myths shrouded around the word argument .This section will first present and debunk the myths about arguments and then define the term argument through describing the general features of arguments．
Many people associate the word argument with fight because in our daily life we tend to use the word fight to mean our verbal disagreement.For example，“I had a huge fight with my mom yesterday about what major I should choose for my college！” The word fight is often used interchangeably with the word argument .For example，“ My roommate and I had a huge argument last night about her smelly Doufu！” We also see such verbal fights in TV sitcoms， emails， or business negotiations.Moreover， anger， red face， and shrieking voice seem often to go along with these verbal fights.As we recall similar experiences in our life， we know that in most of these occasions we are not being reasonable， tend to stick to our opinions no matter how the other party yells； the more they yell， the more stubborn we would become.As a result， instead of resolving the conflict to reach an agreement， we end up being more hostile to each other and making things even worse than before.Associating arguments with verbal fights is harmful to interpersonal communication and unproductive in building relationships and should be avoided when we try to use arguments to reach agreement．
Another common misconception about arguments is that arguments are often equated with personal opinions.It is true that arguments do contain opinions， but opinions are very different from arguments.Personal opinions are based on personal experiences， intuitions， feelings， emotions， or beliefs and are mostly subjective.Some of them might be reasonable， but people do not rely on the reasonableness to believe that their personal opinions are true.In most cases， we tend to hold onto our personal opinions for no obvious reasons or out of some unexamined， unsupported personal experiences， feelings， or haunches.For example，“I like strawberry ice cream”， and “I hate people sneezing” are statements of personal opinions， which we often say without providing necessary evidence.What typically follow these statements are statements such as “ I have liked it since I was a baby” or “ I just hate it．” On the other hand，arguments are positions supported by clear logical reasoning and reasonable evidence．Turning the strawberry ice cream example into an argument， we might say “ I like strawberry ice cream not only because it looks and tastes good but also because it does not melt so fast and is not so expensive．” This statement is an argument， which is obviously supported by clear logical thinking and sufficient and relevant evidence．
A popular misconstrued image for arguments is heated debates.Debate is defined as “a formal contest in which the affirmative and negative sides of a proposition are advocated by opposing speakers．” There are many kinds of debates， such as presidential debates， parliamentary debates， moot court debates， public forum debates， etc．Arguments are often considered as synonyms for debates because both of them do provide logical reasoning and reasonable evidence to defend some given positions．However， as the rules and policies for debates often require that debaters must defend their sides， debates allow little room for negotiation and concessions and consequently turn arguments into a win-or-lose game.Good arguments， by contrast， try to seek agreements by examining multiple sides， making concessions， and allowing refutations．
Facts are important evidence for most arguments.Although we believe in the saying that facts can speak truth， the same facts can be interpreted differently from different perspectives， with different theories， or by different people.As arguments tend to provide multiple interpretations of the same fact， some people often misunderstand such allowance of multiple interpretations of facts as manipulation of facts， thus labeling arguments as manipulative.Admittedly， some arguments do manipulate statistics， twist facts， or hide their biases， but good arguments are always ethical and try to avoid doing so．
As many arguments aim to convince the audience of a truth and persuade the audience to take actions based on that truth， sometimes people tend to believe that the aim of arguments is to make absolute truth statements.For example， when examining the causes of Chinese international students’ frequent plagiarism in American schools，we may argue that this problem is often caused by differences in educational systems and cultural values， different notions of laws and policies， lack of training in academic writing from home， etc.As we argue about these causes， we are simply exploring the possible or probable causes of this problem and try to convince our audience of this probability.Quoting the classical definition of argument from Aristotle in Rhetoric ， we see that argument is a process of “ discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion．” Good arguments seek to enhance the probability but not to declare absoluteness．
As discussed above， good arguments are reasonable and ethical.Because of these features， many people conclude that good arguments are good forever， regardless of situations and audience.As audience can differ in gender， education， profession， age，class， religion， etc．， the evidence， reasons， and logical reasoning we employ to appeal to different audience values and expectations must be different accordingly.For example， selling SUVs of a certain brand to different potential customers needs different evidence.To a college girl， we highlight its safety and coolness； to a man of forty， we emphasize its power and capability on country roads and mountain paths； to a mother of three， we appeal to her need for safety and space； to a retiree， we work on his or her nostalgia or loyalty to this brand or patriotism.Besides the factor of audience， situation is also an important factor for arguments.Situations include timing， place， occasion，medium of delivering the message， and many other nonverbal elements.For example， if you want to propose a curricular reform， you may not succeed at your first trial when everyone believes that the old curriculum works fine， but later when the enrollment rate drops or students frequently protests against the curriculum， you will have a better chance of winning the school council of curriculum．