Dostoevsky's Argument Analysis

Improved Essays
Introduction
A moved used by Dostoevsky would be to justify your position- one would have to weigh in on topics with no obvious answer and form an opinion. Once the opinion is formed the individual has to break down reasons, causing the individual to take a position. “When you take a position, you privilege one way of thinking above others” (Mauk, Stayer & Mauk 112). Once the writer adopts a position there has to be a purpose, referred to as the sub-move adopt a positon and purpose. “The position depends on the purpose-the overall motivation of the argument” (Mauk, Stayer & Mauk 113). Academic writers have to ask questions such as who the audience is and what the aim, when using this sub-move is. There also has to be evidence to justify your position, which incorporates the next sub-move- line up the evidence. “Evidence is information from the world beyond the argument” (Maul, Stayer & Mauk 114). After the evidence is lined up, one would have the ability to break down reasons. Breaking down the reasons gives insight on the position you have taken.
…show more content…
The protagonist, referred to as Raskolnikov has committed a crime. He is approached by Poerify Petrovich who begins questioning Raskolnikov about an article we wrote, suggesting he was implying extraordinary individuals had the right to commit a murder. “The whole point is that in his article all people are somehow divided into the ‘ordinary’ and the ‘extraordinary’. The ordinary must live in obedience and have no right to transgress the law, because they are, after all, ordinary. While the extraordinary have the right to commit all sorts of crimes and in various ways to transgress the law, because in point of fact they are extraordinary” (Dostoevsky

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Raskolnikov can not be placed as a hero or villain, because the reader knows murder is wrong but to what extent? Can murder be justified if it was to benefit the less fortunate? The reader will even question why society listens to labels of “right” and “wrong” and decides what is right and what is…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Explain the pro’s and cons of the argument, or give some types of details as to why the topic is an argumentative one. Provide information that would capture the reader’s attention from the beginning. Just like a journalist would do from the summary of an article or book. A writer’s job is to make the readers want more than just an interesting topic, and to also provide information of their research to make it…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The primary locations in Crime and Punishment are made realistic by immersing the reader in details and the direction of the story at the same time. The Hay Market is one example where the mood of the story is captured and is described on page 9 as working “painfully on the young man’s nerves”. It describes the smells as an “insufferable stench” and filled with “drunken men”. The reader’s observations match with the emotions that should be felt throughout the story such as descending into a dimly lit bar is a symbolic way for Raskolnikov to end his innocence. The author’s style quickly brings us to these conclusions.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “But hardly had he succeeded in regaining a straight face than he glanced again, as if involuntarily, at Razumikhin, and broke down once more: the smothered laughter burst out all the more uncontrollably for the powerful restraint he had put on it before” (Dostoevsky 210). In an attempt to maintain his facade of an innocent man, Raskolnikov intentionally laughs at Razumikhin as they approach Porfiry’s door. Fearful that Porfiry will deceive him, Raskolnikov presents himself as a carefree man to dissolve any of Porfiry’s impressions. The calculated “involuntary” glances he shares with Razumikhin reveal the extent to which he can play the role of an innocent man (Dostoevsky 210).…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gabriel Roche Professor Paul Calkins English 1-B 4/21/2016 An Analysis of Dostoevsky, by Charles Bukowski The poem Dostoevsky, by Charles Bukowski, is an inspirational poem that tells the story of how Fyodor Dostoevsky, a famous Russian author of the 19th century, was given sudden reprieve from death by firing squad, and because of this turn of events, was allowed to write and create, and thus was able to inspire the author as well as countless other writers. For me this immediately reminded me of Stephen King, and specifically his Dark Tower series.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Superman Does Not Dream

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Superman does not Dream In Part 3 of Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov once again wrestles with his emotions after his murder of Alyona and constant evasion of the police. The police just found a piece of Raskolnikov's writing from about two month before. He describes his belief for the need of some great being to be above the law, in order to make their society more safe. Once reminded of his old writing, Raskolnikov begins to wrestle with himself whether he truly could consider himself the superman.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As much as the questions in the common assessment attempt to assess students’ common knowledge and progress, they fail to be objective and should be clearer. The semantics of questions vary upon how they’re interpreted. Also, what seems to be reasonable turns out to differentiate with the established answer choices in many cases. Along with that, with the state of being subjective, more than one answer choice can be correct. In the English 1 - Unit 5 Common Assessment, a letter is provided for the readers to analyze and base answers of given questions with.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Punishment becomes the only way that Raskolnikov can redeem himself in the eyes of Sonia and the moral rules of society. Once he understands that “crime must be punished because it was a crime” then he finds an understanding not rooted in “his future behavior or moral salvation” (Cowley 89, italics in original). Sonia accepts his actions and though she initially rejects what he has done, her “courageous goodness” leads her to what Cowley calls a “loving understanding” (89-90). This form of understanding does not rely on a basis of beliefs and desires, but rather on discovering something in “the justificatory economy of the situation….by turning one’s attention toward the object in a loving way, a transformative way” (Cowley 90). Sonia accounts for Raskolnikov’s actions through a transformative kind of loving understanding that the novel has been building towards.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ultimately, in Raskolnikov's mind all men are separated into two different groups; ordinary and extraordinary. The concept of Raskolnikov’s theory is that the “extraordinary man”, as he calls them,…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So I killed the principle, but I didn’t step over, I stayed on this side... All I managed to do was kill”(274). This quote represents his interpretation of good and bad, along with justification of certain crimes. Raskolnikov wants to believe that he is an exceptional being, but the quote itself proves he isn’t able to escape his…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Spilt Sense In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, This insight will focus more on the death of Lizaveta as it more notable to how the killer is affected by it. Thus, the killing of Lizaveta with an axe and the subsequent inner struggle of the protagonist reflects his dual personality dilemma more than the killing of Alyona Ivanova. First, Raskolnikov's name means schism which refers to a divided sense that occurs between two entities based on opinions or beliefs. The fact that Raskolnikov is named as such is meant to reflect his split between his emotions and his actions and the way he thinks.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky invites the reader to explore the results of fully embracing utilitarianism as a moral philosophy. The novel does this through Rodya, a character who adopts utilitarianism and acts in unsettling ways. I will argue Dostoevsky does not challenge the core premises of utilitarianism, but instead asks the reader to think about the consequences of this ideology. Rodya is both nonreligious as well as utilitarian to the extreme. Rodya is (at least in part) persuaded to kill Alyona by the conversation he overhears, which evidences his commitment to utilitarianism.…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Culture, the beliefs and custom of a group of people, begins to shape a person from the second that they are born on to the rest of their life. Customs can affect how a child is raised, which in turn affects their thoughts and actions. In the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky the main character, Raskolnikov, is pushed to commit a murder due to his beliefs on power and class. The strict class and power based Russian society directly affected Raskolnikov’s psychological and moral traits.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Raskolnikov places himself on a pedestal, equating his power and prominence with Napoleon, someone who he believes is “capable of evolving something new” and has “never hesitated to shed blood” in this pursuit. (Dostoevsky, p. 220). He rationalizes his crime by claiming that he is like Napoleon, one of the extraordinary men who “in virtue of their innate power” are “criminals”. (Dostoevsky, p. 220). However, one of the most vivid and gruesome scenes in the novel, Raskolnikov’s dream involving the slaughter of an innocent mare, demonstrates that Raskolnikov has fallen short of this ideal.…

    • 1601 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the midst of a visit with his family on page 230 of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the moment arrives where Raskolnikov must confront the inner turmoil his murders cause, leaving him in such disconnect with his surroundings that he believes he will never be able to express himself with anyone. This inevitably paves the way for irreparable isolation and paranoia, driving him to confess his actions and begin a new life with honesty and love. A couple days after Rodya kills an old pawnbroker and her sister, his own mother and sister come to St. Petersburg, and Raskolnikov is halfway through a frustrating and hesitant dialogue with them when he realizes that his relationship with them, as well as with the rest of the world, including…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays