The Triumph of the Yell

The Triumph of the Yell: Summary

                Tannen, in her article, "The Triumph of the Yell" discusses how today's society prefers to fight and yell rather than seek out the truth in civil disagreement in order to inform the audience. He explains how the world today is all about defeating the other person and because of such a, "Winnowing process." (9), places like schools where many expect to be, "A community of intellectual inquiry turned out to be a ritual game of attack and counterattack." (9). He then continues to display how ineffective yelling is at finding out the truth through an anecdote in which a man during a talks show, "Nearly jumped out of his chair, threw his arms before him in gestures of anger and began shrieking -- first attacking me, but soon moving on to rail against women." (13) which resulted in a riot. Tannen's comments about how people are prone to yelling than agreeing in this culture of critique. This is because "Fights have winners and losers. If you're fighting to win, the temptation is great to deny facts that support your opponent's views and present only those facts that support your own." (4). In conclusion, people are failing to seek out the truth because they are too occupied with yelling the loudest to become the "winner" of the fight.

The Triumph of the Yell: Rhetorical Precis

                Tannen, in her article, "The Triumph of the Yell" (New York Times, 1994) asserts that journalists, politicians, and academics are prone to resort to yelling, which in turn weakens their argument. She uses examples for how poor civil disagreement can become and proves her thesis that people fail to seek out the truth and choose to fight instead as stated in anecdotes such as when a feminist researcher screams, "It's an argument!" (1), when a college graduate says she felt she had fallen into a "Den of wolves." (10) and during a talk show when a man, "Nearly jumped out of his chair, threw his arms before him in gestures of anger and began shrieking (13). The purpose in Tannen's article is to suggest the audience to seek out the truth instead of converging into a battle to see who can yell louder yelling in order to strengthen their argument. The author writes in formal tone for an audience looking to better their arguments because, "In a society where people express their anger by shooting, the result of demonizing those with whom we disagree can be truly demonic." (14).

Tannen, Deborah. "The Triumph of the Yell." The New York Times 14 Jan. 1994: n. pag. Print.

Reflection

                When I began writing my precis I closely followed the one I made in class with Blake, Brendan, and Ryan because that one was great (appraisal from Neel validated its proficiency). It turned out good, at least what I thought was competent. Upon further review Ms. Neel pointed out how my second sentence lacked more convincing evidence because it focused on only one anecdote. I adjusted it by adding in more anecdotes with short quotes. Overall I think I did a great job with my first rhetorical precis.