When one argues, assumably in a professional manner, he or she is attempting to prove their own point and hopefully persuade someone's position on the subject being discussed. In "The Lawyer and the Ghost" by Charles Dickens and "There Was Once" by Margaret Atwood, the banter between the two main characters is argumentative and persuasive. By the end of each passage, the opposing character had changed his/her mind about the matter at hand. These short stories attest to the main idea that argumentation is not something that you can simply do and win. Rather, argumentation is a sophisticated and artful approach and when used correctly, can correctly backup your view point and easily persuade an opposing side. 

As someone who is conducting an argument, you must first have view point on the topic at hand. The whole debate revolves around the stance you take, making it vital for the person to really consider how and what they are vouching for. The Lawyer in "The Lawyer and the Ghost" shows this position taken in his discussion with the aggravated spirit. The Lawyer only asks one thing from the ghost, saying "it does appear to me somewhat inconsistent, that when you have an opportunity of visiting the fairest spots on earth... you should always return exactly to the very places where you have been most miserable" (Dickens 307). The Lawyers position was clearly addressed in his question towards the spirit, flustering the ghost, almost as if the statement answered itself. In most typical horror stories, a spirit or ghost will overwhelm the victim and make them leave or cause distress. However the Lawyer formulates a stance and addresses his argument towards the spirit, which he later concretely backs up. The stance and action taken by the lawyer ended up changing the whole story in an ironic fashion in which he makes the ghost leave his presence instead of vacating the premises himself.

Argumentation is all about how you present your information and what you can prove from it. An article called "Thinking and Reasoning" discusses the main points and forms of argumentation. Once a position is taken, an argument needs to have solid, concrete evidence in order for people to have a "complete understanding of human (debaters) reasoning and cognition" (Hornikx and Hahn Vol. 18). Proving that one's stance is logical and reasonable makes the argument much stronger. In "There Was Once" the two people in the story were discussing the beginning of a fairy tale. One character, assumed the classic beginning that all fairy tales followed suit with. However the other character, continued to stop and correct the other. As one character stated "There once was a poor girl, as beautiful as she was good, who lived with her wicked stepmother in a house in the forest" (Atwood 305) but she was quickly corrected by the other character saying, "Poor is relative. She lived in a house, didn't she?... Then socioeconomically speaking, she was not poor" (Atwood 305). The first speaker argues their case and mentions how the girl in the story sleeps by the fireplace, but using logical thought, the other speaker responds by saying, "They had a fireplace! With poor, let me tell you, there's no fireplace... come down to where they sleep in cardboard boxes, and I'll show you poor" (Atwood 305). This statement by the speaker proved that the use of the word poor was incorrect in the terms of the story because the idea of poor was not one with fireplaces or any sort of comfort. Proving this point made the argument of the speakers much more understandable and reasonable, giving their argument much more strength and validity. This claim made by the speaker, made the first sentence of their story change to something more acceptable by the new terms. Just like Atwoods piece, "The Lawyer and the Ghost" displays affective reasoning through the lawyer's conversation with the ghost. While describing the ghosts old room, the lawyer mentions, "this is a very uncomfortable room. From the appearance of that press I should be disposed to say that it is not wholly free from bugs" (Dickens 309) and how the ghosts would be "much more comfortable elsewhere" (Dickens 309). Reasoning with the ghost and convincing him to leave showed how effective the lawyer was with his arguement. Yasuma Tanaka, author of "Psychological Factors In International Persuasion" wrote about how persuasion was more than just a sense of convincing somebody, but a form of communication. Because both arguments were so valid and well thought out, the speakers were able to "influence the thought and behavior of  the receiver" (Tanaka 53) during their conversations, which is considered the most important part in an overall debate. Changing the opinion of the receiver is what makes the argument so effective.

The ability to argue requires more than just an idea or raw opinion, but rather, a well taken stance and concrete, logical evidence can create a strong and valid argument that can sway the ideals of any person. This ability to persuade in both passages drastically changed the outcome in an ironic and progressive fashion. For instance, the lawyer helped a troubled spirit move on past it's troubled history. While the 2 speakers writing the fairy tale came to realize that they didn't need to start at the beginning like every other story, but instead take a more direct and present tense approach. Using argumentation in characters can alter the expected plot of the story at any second because it doesn't rely on what the story may be about or represent, but rather it depended on pure logic and reasoning which had no binding characteristics towards the text. 
