Arguing with the intertextual resources of sayings and stories in Chinese opinion essays

Recommendations from composition guidebooks published in Hong Kong

Abstract

Using sayings and stories in Chinese argumentative essays or opinion essays (yilunwen) (e.g., as evidence) has been recommended in Chinese education systems, while this tradition has stimulated discussion in intercultural rhetoric literature, with the sayings and stories perceived as “typical Chinese rhetorical features” that are not expected in English argumentative essays (Wei, 2020, p. 3). To understand such features in situ in Chinese language education, we draw on the view of intertextuality as a social construction (Bloome & Egan-Robertson, 1993) and conceptualize sayings and stories as intertextual resources (Bazerman, 2004a) to be drawn upon in Chinese opinion essays following certain conventions. Through systematic searching and selection, we obtained a collection of 10 composition guidebooks published in Hong Kong and analyzed their recommendations for drawing on such intertextual resources in Chinese opinion essays in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE). Employing a data-driven matrix analysis approach, we analyzed 230 extracts from the 10 guidebooks and teased out expected uses of intertextual resources: quoting sayings and incorporating stories to fulfill five rhetorical functions. By reference to curriculum mandates in Chinese language education in Hong Kong, we highlight the significance of the intertextual resources as carriers of Chinese culture that students are expected to identify with and point out the underlying purpose of using them to illuminate opinions on moral themes.