Ordering an Argument for a Reader · 为读者安排论证的顺序
Concede first, press second
- Concede before you press and you address a reader who now believes you are fair.
- Press first and concede afterwards, and the concession reads as retreat.
- Same two paragraphs, opposite effects — because the audience changed in between.
Concede first and you sound fair; concede last and it may sound as if you found the receipt after the sale.
先让步,后施压
- 先让步再施压,你面对的读者此刻已认定你是公允的。
- 先施压再让步,那份让步读起来就像退却。
- 同样两段,效果相反——因为受众在两段之间发生了变化。
先让步显得公允；最后才让步，可能像货都卖完了才找出收据。
A concession is most effective when placed... · 让步放在……时最为有效
The reader who then reads your claim has already decided you are fair. · 随后读到你主张的读者,此刻已认定你是公允的。
Choosing a comparison for this audience
- Before using an analogy, ask what it requires the reader to already accept.
- If that thing is exactly what they dispute, the comparison concedes the argument.
- A safe comparison borrows something the audience holds and your opponent does not contest.
为这个受众选择比喻
- 在使用类比之前,先问它要求读者预先接受什么。
- 如果那样东西恰恰是他们所争议的,这个比喻就等于让出了论证。
- 安全的比喻,借用的是受众持有、而你的对手并不争议的东西。
Anticipate where a reader will refuse · 预判读者会在哪里不接受
Mentioning an objection is not answering it, and the fourth step is the difference. · 提到反对意见不等于回应它,差别就在第四步。
An analogy is safe as long as it is vivid. · 只要类比生动,它就是安全的。
It must borrow something the reader accepts; if it borrows what they dispute, it concedes the argument. · 它必须借用读者能接受的东西;若借用的是他们所争议的,它就等于让出了论证。
Managing how you are perceived
- Your syntax and diction are building a picture of you while you argue.
- Measured language reads as someone who has weighed the case; emphatic language reads as someone compensating.
- The picture you build is part of the evidence a reader uses to decide whether to believe you.
管理你被如何看待
- 在你论证的同时,你的句法与措辞正在为你塑造一幅形象。
- 克制的语言读起来像一个已经权衡过案情的人;强调的语言读起来像一个在补偿的人。
- 你所塑造的这幅形象,是读者决定是否相信你时所用证据的一部分。
Match each choice to the picture it builds of the writer. · 把每种选择与它为写作者塑造的形象配对。
The picture you build is part of the evidence a reader uses on you. · 你所塑造的这幅形象,是读者用来衡量你的证据的一部分。
A concession after the fact reads as retreat. The same sentence placed before your strongest paragraph earns credibility and placed after it looks like backing down — because the audience that reads it is not the same audience in the two cases.
**事后的让步读起来像退却。**同一句话放在你最有力的段落之前是赢得可信度,放在其后则像是认输——因为在这两种情况下,读到它的并不是同一个受众。
Describe an opposing position in terms its ____ would accept. · 用其 ____ 自己也能接受的措辞去描述对立立场。
Loaded description costs credibility silently with any reader who does not share the bias. · 带色彩的描述会在任何不与你同感的读者那里无声地损害可信度。
Bias and credibility
- Word choice that reflects a bias costs credibility with any reader who does not share it.
- The cost is silent: they do not argue back, they simply weigh everything else less.
- So the safe rule is to describe positions in terms their holders would accept.
偏见与可信度
- 反映偏见的用词,会在任何不与你同感的读者那里损害可信度。
- 这一代价是无声的:他们不会反驳,只是把你其余的一切都看轻一些。
- 因此稳妥的规则是:用持有某立场者自己也能接受的措辞去描述那个立场。
Select all · 所有 the checks in this lesson's audience pass. · 选出本课面向受众的检查中的所有项。
Length is not an audience question. · 长度不是面向受众的问题。
An audience pass
- Find each comparison and ask what it requires the reader to accept.
- Find each loaded word and ask whether the reader you want holds that view already.
- Find your concession and ask whether it comes before or after the paragraph it was meant to protect.
面向受众的检查
- 找出每一个比喻,问它要求读者接受什么。
- 找出每一个带色彩的词,问你想要的那个读者是否已经持有这一看法。
- 找出你的让步,问它是在它本要保护的那一段之前还是之后。
"The cost objection is right as far as it goes" placed before the case says: I have weighed this. Placed after the case, the same sentence says: I could not answer that. The words did not change; the reader had.
"关于成本的反对意见,就其所及而言是对的"——放在论证之前,它说的是:我已经权衡过这一点。放在论证之后,同一句话说的是:那一点我答不上来。词句没有变;变的是读者。
Concede before you press — the audience that reads your claim will already have decided whether you are fair. Choose comparisons that borrow something the reader accepts, keep diction measured, and describe opposing positions in terms their holders would accept.
先让步再施压——读到你主张的那个受众,此刻已就你是否公允作出了判断。选择借用读者能接受之物的比喻,保持措辞克制,并用持有者自己也能接受的措辞去描述对立立场。