The Argument
Essay: Be an
Attorney
ENGL 111
Take a stand on the issue
If you’ve watched an episode of Law & Order, you’ll be
familiar with its famous introduction:
"In the Criminal Justice System the people are represented by two separate, yet
equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the District
Attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."
For the Arguing Your Stance, you should now
think of yourself as an attorney, taking a
stand on the facts and arguing your case.
Be an Advocate
Attorneys are also called
advocates, someone who
acts on behalf of others,
fighting for them in the legal
system…
An Advocate…

Takes an informed stance on the issue

Supports a specific viewpoint or course of action

Attempts to convince others to accept this view (or least
that the view is reasonable) or take this action (or least
endorse the course of action).
Write an Argument-Based
Thesis Statement
To be an advocate, your thesis statement for the
Argument Essay needs to be…
 Focused
Makes a claim about some specific aspect of the issue
rather than on the issue as a whole

Debatable
Takes a stand on the issue that
others may reasonably disagree
with

Supportable
Offers a claim that can be proven
using sound reasoning and
valid evidence from research
Examples of Weak Thesis Statements
1.
2.
3.
Thesis Statement
Its Weakness
I can’t stand war movies.1
not supportable: a personal preference
cannot be supported with evidence from
research
The National Football League is
in trouble.2
not focused: lacks any specificity about
how it is in trouble and why
Many developing nations suffer
from food shortages.3
not debatable: this is an easily
established fact rather than a claim with
which many people may reasonably
disagree
From Roen, Glau, and Maid 423
From Roen, Glau, and Maid 423
Based on Maimon, Peritz, and Yancey 129
From Exploring to Arguing
One approach to generating a
thesis statement for your Argument
Essay is to re-envision controversies
in your Exploratory Essay as a
argument-based thesis statement.
Below are examples of thesis statements
exploring controversies related to a
topic. Next to each are new argumentbased thesis statements derived from
those theses.
Examples of Argument-Based
Thesis Statements
Informative Thesis Statements
Argument-Based Thesis Statements
Throughout the United States, more and more
cities have been enacting public smoking bans.
Despite opposition from smokers and business
people alike warning of dire results, these bans
appear to persist as a result of mostly positive
outcomes.
Cigarette smoking should be banned
in enclosed, public spaces, where
smoking poses a significant risk to
non-smokers’ health.
With the increase and strengthening of public
smoking bans, the practice of "vaping,"
consuming nicotine through a vaporizer rather
than a combustible cigarette, has increased.
While marketed as safe, many warn of
potential dangers vaping may have.
Vaping, like smoking, poses serious
health risks to young people. Thus,
the FDA should impose the same
restrictions on vapor cigarettes as it
does on traditional cigarettes.
Examples of Argument-Based
Thesis Statements
Informative Thesis Statements
Enacting gun regulations is challenging because
of the different and competing ways in which
the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution is
interpreted by involved groups, such as special
interest groups, congressional legislators, and
the US Supreme Court.
There are two major forms of sex education:
Abstinence Only and Comprehensive.
Although there are opponents of each of these
forms who argue they are ineffective or
counterproductive, research suggests that both
varieties show a certain amount of
effectiveness.
Argument-Based Thesis Statements
We ought to enact common-sense
measures, such as universal
background checks and mandatory
reporting of suspected straw
purchases, to help keep guns out of
the hands of criminals and the
dangerously mentally ill.
A combination of sex education
methods, including abstinence-only
for younger teenagers and
comprehensive sex-ed for older
teenagers, is the most effective way
to raise up young adults who will
make wise decisions regarding their
sexuality.
Argument-Based Thesis
Statements
Most argument-based thesis statement will
make one or more of the following types of
claims:
 Claims
of Definition or Classification
 Claims about Cause and Effect
 Claims about Value
 Claims about Solutions or Policies
Claims of Definition or Classification
(Reid 442-443, “Purdue”)
These types of claims focus on debatable
understandings of facts, ideas, or principles (definition)
as well as how those facts or ideas fit specific criteria
(classification).

These types of claims can be tricky because one must avoid
focusing on facts or definitions that are not up for debate.

A thesis based on this kind of claim is strongest when arguing
about facts, ideas, or principles many people
misunderstand.
Weak claim: “Socialism emerged from the writings of Karl
Marx.”

This is simply an easily established fact
Strong claim: “Socialism, properly defined, is not a scourge to
our free society but is something we actually already do.”

This claim stakes an argument for how a concept is
misunderstood or misapplied.
Claims about Cause and Effect
(Reid 443-444, “Purdue”)
These types of claims focus on the possible causes of a
particular problem or situation and/or the possible
effects of a particular problem or phenomenon.

The causes and/or effects addressed must be debatable or
in question.

You might also argue against causes and/or effects that
others claim.
Weak claim: “Your high school grades will affect the kind of
college you get into.”

This is a claim about a cause that most wouldn’t doubt.
Strong claim: “School suspensions do not improve student
behavior; rather, they negatively affect the educational
success of students.”

This claim stakes an argument about the negative effects of a
measure or action many people support.
Claims about Value
(Reid 444-445, “Purdue”)
These types of claims focus on making a judgment about
something’s worth, importance, or ethicality.

Such a judgment must be based on reasons that your audience will
concur with; it can’t be based on personal preferences or your own
personal sense of morals or religious values.

Such a claim should avoid the appearance that it is attacking others’
personal morality or values
Weak claim: “The banning of prayer in schools is reprehensible.”

This claim dismisses many people’s strongly held views about
religious freedoms for the sake of one’s own religious views.
Strong claim: “Prayer in schools, if conducted in a way that
respects everyone’s individual freedoms, is not only constitutional
but laudable.”

This claim can be judged based on highly regarded constitutional
principles as well as on behavior and policy many people may
consider to be admirable.
Claims about Solutions or Policies
(Reid 443-444, “Purdue”)
These types of claims focus on proposed or existing
policies/laws or solutions to a problem.

A thesis based on such a claim may either endorse or support a policy
or solution or argue against it.

Must appeal to those who may benefit from the change in policy or
solution as well as those who must enact the policy or solution
Weak claim: “Standardized tests in schools should be abolished.”

This claim doesn’t lay out the benefits of such an action and may be
unfeasible.
Strong claim: “The high-stakes approach to standardizing testing
is leaving out some of our brightest students. Instead, the
importance placed on standardized tests should be reduced,
making way for a more comprehensive approach to measuring
student performance.”

This claim offers a solution that may be more feasible to implement
and suggests the benefits of enacting a new policy.
Combining Claims
Often claims of the kind above can be combined
to make more complex, interesting, and persuasive
thesis statements:
Thesis Statement
Combination of Claims
A combination of sex education methods,
including abstinence-only for younger
teenagers and comprehensive sex-ed for
older teenagers, is the most effective way to
raise up young adults who will make wise
decisions regarding their sexuality.
This thesis involves both a claim of
definition or classification
(explaining and grouping different
kinds of sex-ed) and a claim about
a solution (proposing a new
approach to sex-ed).
Vaping, like smoking, poses serious health
risks to young people. Thus, the FDA should
impose the same restrictions on vapor
cigarettes as it does on traditional cigarettes.
This thesis involves both a claim of
cause and effect (establishing the
health risks of vaping) and a claim
about a policy (expanding FDA
regulations).
Works Cited
“Developing Strong Thesis Statements.” Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Purdue University, 23 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.
Maimon, Elaine, Janice Peritz, and Kathleen Blake Yancy. The Brief
McGraw-Hill Handbook. 2nd Ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2012.
Reid, Stephen. The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers. 9th Ed.
Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011.
Roen, Duane, Gregory Glau, and Barry Maid. The McGraw-Hill Guide:
Writing for College, Writing for Life. 3rd Ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013.