Improving Argumentative
Stance
Prewriting and Organizational Strategy
What is an argument?
What is an academic argument?
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A means of discovering truth, negotiating
differences, and solving problems
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An intellectual effort that is intended to solve a
problem by drawing people together
Do’s and do not’s of academic argument
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Do look beyond surface and personal needs/
desires
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Do NOT communicate personal associations
or reactions to a controversy
Academic Argumentative Writing
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Definition: writing that attempts to prove the
validity of a point of view or an idea by
presenting informed reasoned arguments.
Informed reasoned argument:
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what you KNOW and
what you THINK
Academic argumentative writing engages others
through language; it does not seek to “win.”
Constructing an argument
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What do I know?
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What are the key points your research brings out?
What are the answers to the five W’s + how?
Do any cultural or historical influences pertain?
Which points are most important? Which are least? Why
do I think this?
What do I know that will help my reader understand my
topic in a new way (vs. merely repeating source material)?
What don’t I know that I need to include?
Moving from knowing to thinking
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Summarize what you know from each source
Evaluate what you read
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What in my source material makes we evaluate it
the way I do?
What is not in my source material that makes me
evaluate it the way I do? Is that clouding my
reasoning?
Moving from knowing to thinking
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Analyze the parts that make up your topic
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Break the whole into relative components
How do they relate to one another?
Allows you to see the topic differently and
discover what you might say
Synthesize the ideas or parts
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Bring ideas together to make connections
Consider whether disparate ideas actually do or
can connect in some logical, reasonable way
Choose a stance
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Reflect on what your source materials brought
together will support
Choose a stance for which you have
confidence in your defense
Choose a stance you can argue sincerely
Not taking a stance = Boring paper
Argumentative Strategy/Structure
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Classical
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Introduction: warms up the audience, establishes
goodwill and rapport with the readers, and
communicates the thesis
Narration: summarizes relevant background
material, provides any information the audience
needs to know about the environment and
circumstances that produce the argument, and sets
up the stakes–what’s at risk in this question
Classical Argument (Cont’d.)
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Confirmation: lays out in a logical order (usually
strongest to weakest or most obvious to most subtle)
the claims that support the thesis, providing evidence
for each claim (Provides a chain of reasoning)
Refutation and concession: looks at opposing
viewpoints to the writer’s claims, anticipates
objections from the audience, and allows as much of
the opposing viewpoints as possible without
weakening the thesis
Classical Argument (Cont’d.)
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Summation: provides a strong conclusion,
amplifying the force of the argument, and
showing the readers that this solution or
viewpoint is the best for meeting the
circumstances
Reminds the reader what’s at stake and the
importance of the situation
Provides sense of closure vs. breaking off
Variations on Classical Argument:
Logical Order
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Climactic order
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Introduce controversy ending with a thesis
Build from least powerful to most powerful
argument
Rank subpoints in order from least to most
powerful also
Based on the principle of primacy/recency
Two sides of the controversy
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Introduce controversy ending with thesis
Present opposing view
Present your point of view
Show and connect evidence to support why
your view is better
Present and respond to counter
arguments
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Introduce controversy ending with a thesis
Present main counter argument
Show its flaws
Present your argument
Show its strengths
A variation of the above is to concede the
merits of the counter argument then show the
greater merits of your argument
Concession (Rogerian Argument)
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Introduction that leads to thesis
Summarize opposing points acknowledging
their merit
Transition paragraph that winds down to your
position (On the other hand. . . ); never say the
other side is wrong or that yours is better
Support your position
Conclude
Other logical strategies
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Problem/solution
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Introduce
Define problem
Give some background
Provide solution
Compare and contrast
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Consider similarities and differences among
various sources
Two organizational patterns
Compare and Contrast
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By source or subject
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Introduce controversy
Summarize each source or subject
Discuss both the obvious and the more subtle
similarities or differences
Compare and contrast main features of each
Be sure that all discussion supports the thesis
Works best if summaries can be brief
Compare and Contrast
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By criteria (more complex)
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Introduce controversy
Compare or contrast several authors
simultaneously
Examine their views and discuss the comparisons
or the contrasts at the same time
Works best if multiple points are being discussed
or if passages are long and complex