Constructing an Argument

Arguments on the Web are constructed by both the author and the reader. For this construction to be possible, the text must be open with a shifting center. So traditional notions of argument, author, reader, and text are problematic in hypertext. Authors must negotiate the terms of the argument with the reader rather than assume they can present a linear argument that persuades the reader to accept the author's point of view. The electronic medium gives freedom to each of these elements, allowing the argument to be not so much an author's decree, but an agreement between author and reader using the centerless text as a tool for arriving at that agreement.


Argumentation on the Web Re-evaluating the Elements
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