ESSAY #4: ISSUES AND ETHICS
Argumentative/Persuasive Research Paper
Learn, compare, collect the facts! In your work and in your research there must always
be passion. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
INTRODUCTION
In addition to reflecting and expressing on meaningful experiences (Essay #1/memoir),
informing and explaining in a college admissions essay (Essay #2/expository essay), and
reacting to cultural and historic sites that give you a sense of self and a sense of place
(Essay #3/mid-term), you also, during your college career, find yourselves debating
issues important to you, particularly argumentative topics involving an ethical dimension
and multiple sides (pro/con) and researching for evidence from credible sources.
Essay #4 asks you to consider issues involving ethics. An issue is a question, problem,
debate, or controversy. Ethics involves a study of (1) appropriate rules for human
behavior, (2) values such as right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, just and unjust,
and (3) obligations and duties.
Before forming an issue, first consider numerous argumentative topics that interest you.
Select topics that you feel passionately about, perhaps causes that you promote. Here are
some sample topics: doctor-assisted suicide, electronic voting machines, and genetically
modified food.
When you have decided on an argumentative topic that engages your interest, turn the
topic into a research question. This research question will be your issue and will appear
in the introduction to your argumentative/persuasive research paper.
When creating issues, we sometimes use the word “should.” For example:
1. Should Texas vote to legalize doctor-assisted suicide?
2. Should genetically modified food be labeled?
Not all issues have to begin with “should”:
1. Are electronic voting machines a threat to democracy?
2. Is genetically modified food safe to eat?
During the course of your research, you may need to modify or fine tune your research
question.
As you conduct research by locating credible sources and examining both sides of your
issue, you will eventually write an argumentative assertion or thesis.
Furthermore, you support that argumentative thesis with your line of reasoning. Your
line of reasoning consists of (1) reasons, (2) concessions and (3) refutations.
Jeff Lindemann, English 1301
1
These reasons, concessions, and refutations are backed up with credible, documented
evidence presented as direct quotes, paraphrases, summaries, and facts and statistics.
This essay requires establishing appeals to logos (logic), pathos (non-logical appeals to
emotion), and ethos (ethics, author’s credible and authoritative persona).
WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOR ESSAY #4
In a 1,000 word double-spaced argumentative/persuasive essay, select and narrow your
research topic, formulate an issue (research question), and take a stance (argumentative
thesis) on this debatable topic involving an ethical dimension. Devise an argumentative
structure using reasons, concessions, and refutations. Incorporate a minimum of three
credible sources documented using Modern Language Association (MLA) citation format
(both in-text and works cited).
Thirty-three to fifty percent of your essay should be documented material in the form of (1)
facts and statistics, (2) direct quotes, (3) paraphrases, and (4) summaries. Use both
argumentative and persuasive strategies. Establish appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos.
Include a title page, formal topic outline, and an MLA works cited page.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Purchase a pocketed paper folder.
1. Left pocket includes list of topics, any creating and discovery activities, research
proposal, Xeroxed or downloaded articles/pages from books with bibliographical
information (source material used in the essay should be highlighted), at least one
marked rough draft, and self and peer critique response sheet.
2. Right side pocket includes final draft (title page, annotated topic outline, final
draft, MLA works cited page).
Jeff Lindemann, English 1301
2
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Let’s examine the fundamental decisions you should consider for an argumentative/
persuasive research paper: purpose, audience, genre, tone, argumentative/persuasive
strategies, research question, and argumentative thesis.
PURPOSE
At times your purpose is only to argue: to take a position and present a case for that
position using a carefully planned argumentative structure. Other times your purposes
are both to argue and persuade an audience by using persuasive devices involving
diction, tone and sentence sstyle.
AUDIENCE
Make an audience analysis before writing essay #4. Your audience is our class and the
larger HCCS student body. You will need to address multiple audiences. You might
consider your audience in thirds: (1) one third of this audience already believes your
assertion. (2) One third of your audience is unsure. You will need to inform this group
and persuade them. (3) The final third of your audience is your opposition.
TONE
Your tone for this kind of essay is one of concern, urgency, involvement, even passion
for a strongly held cause. Tone is a part of the persona/voice you must adopt to convey
your argument. You must come across as someone who can be believed, someone who
cares about the topic, and someone who is a voice of authority because you know the
topic and have researched both sides of the issue. A strong tone can also be persuasive
strategy. Note the persuasive tone in Barbara Huttman’s “Crime of Compassion.”
STRATEGIES
To accomplish your argumentative purposes, we have a special set of strategies: (1)
reasons, (2) concessions, and (3) refutations.
Further strategies appropriate for a research paper might include (1) background/history,
(2) common ground, (3) definitions, (4) examples, and (5) cause/effect relationships.
In addition to argumentative strategies, this essay also requires persuasive strategies. First,
keep in mind that a strong argument is persuasive. However, appeals to pathos, that non-logical
pull at the heart/emotion, are also persuasive. These appeals include persuasive diction:
connotation, imagery, figurative language (such as metaphor, simile, etc.), and allusions.
We can make other persuasive appeals through sentence structure: rhetorical questions,
balanced sentence, anaphora, intentional fragment, and short simple sentence.
THESIS
Your thesis is your argumentative stance: the side of the debatable issue you take, your main
assertion. Your thesis might include a claim or combination of claims:
1. claim of value (The death penalty is immoral.)
2. claim of policy/action (The death penalty should be abolished.)
3. claim of inference (The death penalty is successful as a deterrent to murder.)
Jeff Lindemann, English 1301
3
Your argumentative thesis might be a combination of claims linked with “because.”
Following the word “because” are your reasons
Because the death penalty is a successful deterrent to murder, capitol punishment
should not be abolished. (claims of inference and policy)
Your thesis might also contain several “because” claims:
Texas should vote to abolish the death penalty. (general)
Texas should vote to abolish the death penalty because it does not deter murder, it is
racist, and it is expensive.
Your thesis reveals the subject matter of your essay and provides the basic argumentative
blueprint for structuring your essay.
ORGANIZATION
No one way to structure your argument exists. You can use any combination of the
argumentative strategies to develop a structure or line of reasoning that is organic to your
argument. At least one concession and refutation is required for this project.
Introduction: Introduce your issue by engaging reader interest, begin to establish your
own credibility (ethos), create a controversy, problem, or debate. Perhaps establish
common ground, perhaps explain how your subject matter is misunderstood, establish the
ethical dimension of your issue, and offer your research question. In a longer essay, you
may want to write more than one paragraph of introduction.
Thesis: Your thesis (argumentative assertion) can appear anywhere in your essay. The
traditional position is at the end of your introduction, following your research question.
However, if you have a controversial thesis, you may want to withhold it until your
conclusion.
Background: Provide the history or brief narrative of past events relating to your subject.
If needed for you audience, define key terms. Review basic facts about your topic.
Reasons: The majority of your essay will be reasons why you believe your assertion to be
true. Each reason should be directly related to your thesis. Each reason will be a topic
sentence paragraph. Order by beginning with your weakest reason and build to that your
strongest reason comes last. In the body of your topic sentence paragraphs, offer credible
and documented evidence. Give the reader facts and statistics, expert testimony, and
informed opinion.
Concession(s): When you concede, you recognize the opposition’s reasoning. If you want,
you can even offer documented evidence in support of the opposition’s reasoning.
Refutation(s): When you refute, you attempt to disprove, call into question, discredit,
diminish, or destroy the opposition’s reasoning. You might want to point out weaknesses in
Jeff Lindemann, English 1301
4
the opposition’s thinking and draw attention to fallacies (errors in thinking). You can use
documented evidence in your refutation to help you refute.
Conclusion: In the conclusion, you summarize your main points and drive home your
argumentative assertion. Perhaps remind the reader about the weaknesses in the
opposition’s reasoning, underscore your own logic, or make an emotional appeal (pathos).
End with a strong, persuasive last line.
You must decide how you want to organize your essay. Will you include your thesis in
your introduction or save it for the conclusion? Will you begin your argument with your
concession and refutation or place your own reasoning after your introduction? You may
write your concession and refutation in one paragraph or split them into two paragraphs.
USE OF SOURCES
You will need at least three credible, correctly documented sources to help you support
your thesis and line of reasoning. Your Modern Language Association (MLA)
documentation will be in two parts: (1) in-text and (2) works cited. In the body of your
essay, you will want to introduce sources and give in-text documentation linked to the
works cited page.
Use source material by offering (1) facts and statistics, (2) direct quotes from informed
sources, (3) paraphrases, and/or (4) summaries.
Sources must come from materials in the HCCS library (books, periodicals, and databases)
or from sources you have approved by me. (A periodical is a print source such as a
newspaper, magazine, or journal.)
Although the HCC Library subscribes to many more data bases, the following three will
help you as you start your English 1301 argumentative/persuasive research paper. You may
access these from your home by using the barcode on your student ID card.
1. SIRS Knowledge Source
2. Opposing Viewpoints
3. JSTOR
Do not conduct open, general searching on Google. All sources must come from the HCC
databases, books, printed periodicals, or from Internet sources approved by me. You will
probably be safe with URLs that end in gov or edu.
Do not use Wikipedia or any general encyclopedia as a source.
And finally, remember what Ivan Petrovich Pavlov says about research: Learn, compare,
collect the facts! In your work and in your research there must always be passion.
Jeff Lindemann, English 1301
5