Argumentation

Alexis Petridis’ article, “Robbie Williams: ‘My main talent is turning trauma into something showbizzy’ ” is characterised by a mix of direct and indirect argumentation. For most of the article, the writer lets Williams describe his struggle with addiction and anxiety in his own words while approaching other topics such as his relationship with his family and the entertainment industry.

Although these topics are related, for most of the article, neither Petridis nor Williams connects them directly. As readers learn details about the topics, they can draw their own conclusions about them. Other times, both Petridis and Williams explain their ideas in a straightforward manner using direct argumentation.

We encounter direct argumentation at the beginning of the article, as the writer expresses his surprise that Robbie Williams is smoking again. He explains the reasons why he is surprised in a direct manner: “For one thing, we’re in the kind of central London hotel where you suspect it’s ruinously expensive to ignore the no-smoking rule” (ll. 7-9); “But for another, Williams made a bit of a song and dance about giving up smoking when his first child wa...