On Fisking
Here are some brief definitions and/or descriptions of what it means to "Fisk" an argument:
Fisking 101, on the value of Fisking, on the joy of Fisking, the Samizdata brief definition, and because it's most relevant for our class, one on Fisking as a Rhetorical construct.
Some examples of what Fisking looks like (not all are done well, but focus on the style's form):
- A defense of Al Franken against Bill O'Reilly here.
- A snarky attack on Barbara Streissand here.
- A pretty good point-by-point on a specific separation of church & state case here.
- A rather whimsical attack on public schools (in defense of home schooling) here.
- A Fisking of Dan Rather during "memogate" here.
I think that might give you a good start.
2 Comments:
This whole fisking thing has me a little confused. I understand the concept, I just find it hard to believe that someone like myself could "fisk" very well. With very little background in politics, how is someone like me going to anaylze a politicians or pundits argument?
You don't need a background in politics (or anything else) to fisk arguments meant for a general readership. You can look at whether they use logical fallacies, which we're starting to cover in class.
Also, you can attack their presentation of evidence, as per our last quiz.
Post a Comment
<< Home