I was assigned to read Stuart Greene’s article “Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument” for my class today, and let me tell you, it really opened my eyes. Nothing that was said was particularly profound or new knowledge to me, but Greene simplified something that I had found so complicated.

Source: Floragraphy

In short, Greene claims that in research, we need to

1. identify an issue that exists between two conflicting points of view
2. identify the situation that calls for a response
3. frame a question that specifies your perspective.

For me, the third point is the biggest takeaway from the article. Greene defines framing as “a metaphor for describing the lens, or perspective, from which writers present their arguments” (14). In other words, framing is the angle of approach you take to a certain issue; it will limit your “range of vision” and therefore, limit the information you include in your sources.

Framing meets BEAM

I know, I know, you’re probably getting tired of reading about BEAM since I’ve discussed it in my previous two blog posts (link to 1, link to 2). But it’s just so applicable!!

Framing reminded me of the method sources that Bizup talks about in BEAM. Method sources can offer a general model or perspective for analyzing an exhibit source. In other words, it is the lens through which you look at the issue.

Source: Pixabay

Framing meets the Principle of Selectivity

When you are researching and looking for sources, obviously, you are going to refine your search to articles that will apply to your desired topic. It would be foolish to just read sources that have no change of supporting your argument, and honestly, no one has time to do that.

I was also assigned to read Katherine Tirabassi’s article “Journeying into the Archives: Exploring the Pragmatics of Archival Research,” in which she offers a few principles to guide those beginning archival research. One of those is the principle of selectivity, which she defines as “developing an understanding of how archivists select and omit materials for an archival selection” (172).

Just as archivists must determine which materials to include in a given collection or archive, we as authors and researchers must select what sources to include in our compositions. In doing so, we are framing the issue further, and focussing our lens of approach.

Wrapping it Up

Framing is your perspective and view on the issue at hand. You can use sources as methods to define your approach or you can use them to present the issue through a certain view.

Source: VideoHive