Argumentation

The extract “Family Matters” from Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian’s biography Tiger Woods mainly uses indirect argumentation to show the influence Tiger Woods’ family had on him, and the influence that parents generally have on their children. 

Instead of saying directly that Tiger was pushed to play golf by his dominant father, the text gives lots of examples of how Tiger felt unhappy or how his teachers were worried. This makes the reader work it out himself.

The first section focuses on Tiger being controlled by his parents, leading to his social awkwardness and his extreme focus on golf. The teacher’s account that Tiger was unhappy supports this claim. The authors mention that Tiger Woods was “vastly different” (l. 7) from other children his age, adding that he interacted mostly with adults. We can see that Tiger was pushed to pl...