Resumen de Electronic deconstruction of an argument’s rhetorical structure using its discussion forum supplement
A recent technological innovation is the appending of electronic discussion forums to online arguments, such as carried by online newspapers. This facility allows readers to post responses to an argument and to debate issues raised in it. Such discussion forums can be regarded as supplements to these arguments. I highlight the utility value of this electronic supplementarity for critical reading of arguments. I show how, using corpus linguistic software, keyword analysis of a discussion forum appended to an argument can illuminate whether or not the rhetorical structure of the argument is unstable, is in a state of deconstruction. Since I use corpus linguistic method to conduct this content analysis, I refer to this approach to critical reading as Electronic Deconstruction. The theoretical stimulus for this approach comes from the work of the French philosopher, Jacques Derrida.
