What’s the difference between
Arguing and Persuading?
• Argument seeks to win over an audience
by appealing to reason
• Persuasion, on the other hand, works by
appealing to an audience’s emotions,
feelings, prejudices, and beliefs
» The Prentice Hall Reader Ch. 9
Argument notes
• An argument has multiple perspectives,
but not necessarily pros & cons.
• You can be for or against, but you need to
know what you benefit from it.
Essays Require
Topic - the topic is a noun
Cohesion – the connection between reading,
writing, and thinking
Unity – one central idea
Thesis
• When you want to argue or persuade, you
start with a thesis –
something you want to convince others of
The Five Part Thesis
•
•
•
•
•
Qualifier:
Topic
Universal Idea
Directions/Reasons
Claim
Qualifier
• A Qualifier (subordinating conjunction)
(Although, Since, Even though, while, etc…)
A Qualifier “qualifies” or acknowledges the other
side of the argument.
Remember that the qualifier begins with a
subordinating conjunction; it is a subordinate
clause; it may acknowledge the other side of the
argument, but it is subordinate to the
independent clause which contains the main
idea.
Topic
• The Topic is always a noun – something
you can touch
Examples:
• Cell phones in schools
• School uniforms
• Compulsory voting
Universal Idea
• The Universal Idea is always an abstract
noun (you can’t touch this). Abstract
nouns include things like:
• democracy, freedom, equality, love, hope,
justice etc…
• The Universal Idea Creates UNITY
Claim
• The Claim is a verb (illustrates,
demonstrates, reveals etc. NO “Be verbs
allowed!
• It must be arguable
Direction
• Direction is the reason for where we are
going in the essay.
• Examples
• Evidence
• You data will support the claim of the
direction.
• Directions are the basis for your claim.
The difference in scores when using universal idea
in your thesis and not using one
• 9
• 8
____________ 5
Figurative
• 7
• 6
____________ 4
• 5
____________ 3 __________________________________
• 4
• 3
____________ 2
• 2
• 1
Literal
5 Part Thesis
Cell Phones
Label the 5 parts of this thesis!
Although cell phones have allowed us
to be basically continuously connected to
the world, they have greatly diminished the
amount of respect we have for one
another by invading our privacy,
desensitizing our emotions, and causing
disruptions in inappropriate settings thus
making us an inconsiderate society.