[a习作temp] argument220 有拍必回，高频 [复制链接]

marie198599
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电梯直达

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发表于 2005-8-25 09:23:57 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

"A recent study showed that in describing a typical day's conversation, people make an average of 23 references to watching television and only 1 reference to reading fiction. This result suggests that, compared with the television industry, the publishing and bookselling industries are likely to decline in profitability. Therefore, people who wish to have careers as writers should acquire training and experience in writing for television rather than for print media."

In this argument, the author contends that people who wish to have careers as writers should auquire training and experience in writing for television rather than for print media. To support the conclusion the author point out that people make references to watching television more than to reading fiction. Futher more, the author also point out that publishing and bookselling industries are likely to decline. A careful check of the argument ,however, would demonstrate how groundless it is.

The threshold problem of the argument is that whether the number of references to watching television or reading fiction has relation to the time that the people really spend on the two things. The author supply no proof in the argument to demonstrate the contension.

Another problem contends that whether the study showed that people's references to watching television are much more than references to reading fiction in a typical day's conversation are representative and valid. No evidence is provided to show that the study include a large enough sample and the sample is representative. Perhaps the study only shows the habit of a
few housewives' opinion while exclude the view of the students, teachers and many other kind of people.

Even assuming that the difference of the number of references can represent the interest of the people and the survey is valid, the author fails to convince us that fiction can represent the whole publishing and bookselling industries as we know that there are so many different kinds of book besides fiction, such as prose, poem, novel and so on. In this case, the author's claim that compared with the television industry, the publishing and bookselling industries are likely to decline in profitability is totally
unconvincing.

Lastly, the author even concludes that people who wish to have careers as writers should acquire training and experience in writing for television rather than for print media. Because there is no sigh shows that wrinting for television is the only method to gain success for a writer. And the author also commit the fallacy that writers can acquire training and experience in writing for television. Perhaps the televison industry have enough writers to write and need no more writer. Or Perhaps the writer can achieve success by writing for film industry.

In conclusion, the argument cannot convince me if I am not provided with the evidence that the study is valid and the result of the study can represent the trend of people's preference of televison to fiction. What is more, to strenghthen the argument, the author also need to prove that fiction can reprensent the whole publishing industry and there is no way for a writer to attain success other than writing for television.

[ Last edited by staralways on 2005-8-26 at 11:50 ]