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Library's collection Library's IT development CancelIn this study, the writer analyzed the types of argument structures used by
Barack Obama and John McCain in their transcript of the third presidential debate
and the differences that occurred. The theories used in this study are the theory of
argument and argument structure by Bierman and Assali (1996), the theory of social
factor by Holmes (2001) and the theory of four temperaments by Keirsey (1998). The
data are the utterances of McCain and Obama during their third presidential debate
which was held on October 15, 2008 at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y. that
contained argument. McCain used linked type the most (37.5%), which was followed
in succession by mixed (27.5%), serial (20%), and convergent (15%). On the other
hand, Obama used mixed the most (50%), which was followed in succession by
convergent (21.875%), linked (18.75%), and serial (9.375%). The findings show that
there are differences in terms of the most frequent type of argument structures that are
used by McCain and Obama. McCain used linked type the most maybe because of his
personality as an Artisan who likes to do things based on their understanding of facts
at hand. On the other hand, Obama used mixed type the most maybe because of his
temperament as an Idealist who has the ability to relate things and to deal with
people. This study inferred that personality traits namely one?s temperament may
influence one?s use of argument in general and argument structure in specific.