guest speaker Antigone?

When I saw the title, I was totally excited to read the Kastely article on “Antigone.” Antigone! Yay, a way for me to legitimately introduce literature into my English 1000 class! Reading through the article, I was totally on board with the idea of “argument” being about discovering rather than confirming one’s opinions. This concept goes against my initial assumption of what argument is, but on thinking about it, I believe it’s much more intellectually and practically beneficial to consider argument as a way of working toward an opinion that has yet to be confirmed. And as Kastely points out, in “real life” it often isn’t helpful to have Winners or Losers in a debate, as in a highschool debate contest.

But I was confused by Kastely’s interest in “questioning the viability of argument.” I agree that it’s difficult for people to have real arguments (rather than “I’m right and you’re wrong” confrontations), but isn’t this a problem with human beings, and not an issue about argument itself?

And I’m forced to acknowledge that my students would not appreciate reading “Antigone” for the sake of the concepts outlined above. My students would rather have me present the concept of effective argumentation by itself, shorn of any literary models or associations. Ancient Greece is too far from their comfort zone, and it’s universes from their areas of interest.