From topic to Question/Argument to Rationale
Narrow your topic to manageability. A focused paper concentrates on just one or two aspects or
angles on the topic. Your topic should address specifically a text that we’ve read. Consider:
what do you really care about writing? What do you want to persuade others into thinking?
Formulate a research question now.
Now think, “so what?” Why is the answer to your question important to you? To your reader?
Example argument:
I am writing about race in Othello because I want to demonstrate to my reader how the play
shows Othello transforming from a noble army captain to the very “black devil” that people
frame him as in order for us to understand how the play confirms racist stereotypes even when
it seems to subvert them.
ORIGINAL:
I am writing about gender roles in Medea because I want to demonstrate to my reader how the
play shows the most extreme revenge possible—the destruction of a man’s family line—as the
direct result of Jason’s dismissal of Medea in order for us to understand how the play cautions
its Athenian audience about neglecting or underestimating the value of women and other
“underclass” people.
OUR CHANGES/QUESTIONS:
I am writing about how Medea challenges gender roles because I want to
demonstrate to my reader why Medea commits the most extreme revenge
possible in order for us to understand how the play cautions its Athenian
audience about neglecting or underestimating the value of women.
 Is extreme revenge the most important point?
 Why the most extreme revenge? In order to show…
Medea challenges gender roles by showing the extreme revenge possible
because she was neglected by Jason. Consequently/As a result, the play
cautions its Athenian audience about neglecting or underestimating the
value of women.
Medea shows the consequence of undervaluing women is the destruction
of his family line. Consequently/As a result, the play cautions its Athenian
audience about neglecting or underestimating the value of women.
Fill in your ideas below:
I am writing about _______________________ (topic) in
________________________ (text title) because I want to persuade or
demonstrate to my reader (who/what/when/where/how)
____________________________________________________________
_____ (something you want the reader to notice in the text/argument) in
order for us to understand (who/what/when/where/how)
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________ (problem/rationale)
Note that this template can lead to a wordy argument. That’s okay! Once you’ve filled
it out, if your argument is wordy, you can then edit/refine it by making it into two
sentences. The point is that it helps you get your argument out on the page.
Other templates for arguments:
1) X reveals Y
2) Through X, the text shows Y. Consequently….
3) Through X, the text celebrates/questions/criticizes Y. Consequently…
Through Enkidu’s journey from “wild” man to civilized one, and his critique of Shamhat and the
hunter after he has been civilized, The Epic of Gilgamesh questions whether the civilizing
process is a wholly good one because it highlights the losses that humans suffer when they lose
touch with nature. Consequently, the epic suggests that valuing nature, and natural life, is also a
necessary part of civilized life.
Through repeated images, especially in the short lyrcial poems, where emotions evoke
memories lost to rational recollection Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection, the play stresses
the importance of emotions as a way to knowledge. Consequently, the rasas in each act
function as lessons on how to use gut feelings as a way to deepen self-knowledge and
awareness.
Two similar arguments using these templates, posed a few different ways:
Through displaying Jason’s ability to break oaths with no legal consequences, and Medea’s
resulting use of violence outside the law to get revenge, the play argues for the injustice of
mistreating women and “underclass” people as well as showing the consequences of this
mistreatment. Consequently, the play highlights the need for legal recourse for even the noncitizens of Athens, as a way to avoid non-citizens resorting to more disturbing extrajudicial
measures.
Through stressing the utter brutality of Medea’s actions, and by making her
take the most extreme and shocking action—killing not only the princess,
but her own children, the play emphasizes the consequences of dismissing,
mistreating, and offering no legal recourse to women and other non-citizens
of Athens.
The incessant focus on cities in The Epic of Gilgamesh reveals....