How do we begin to formulate an argument that includes literature, images, the law, and political
theory?
Begin with (this is NOT your argument, but a way to work towards it):
(i)
A quick description of the topic/your interest: what are you interested in? What’s
happening that grabbed your attention? What led you to this issue?
You can actually use this personal story as a point of entry to your argument. Don’t
ramble, but use it as a “vehicle” to direct your readers towards the important point you
want to make.
(ii)
Formulate a set of research questions that you will pursue: what are the questions you
want to ask, given the background information, articles, etc. What do you want your
readers to “get” or see?
REMEMBER: a good argument is essentially a question. So it’s a good idea to
identify your questions…
(iii)
These questions lead us towards a clear thesis statement of argument.
A well-formulated argument is NOT simply a statement of fact, or a sentence that
“describes” a text.
INSTEAD: an argument forwards a hypothesis – a speculation that you “PROVE” using
the paragraphs in your paper.
A well-formulated argument sentence will consist of at least two clauses, connected
with a “because”. You have to “set up” the argument first, and then get to your point – yr
in a seminar class; a thesis statement is not going to consist of one sentence.
THEN:
a) Formulate some sort of introduction/flashy way to draw your reader in...(it could be your
personal interest/what drew you to this topic)
b) Present your argument...(if you are using a "Primary Source" - that is, a novel, a set of films,
CNN images, etc. include the relevance of looking at these in your argument). Some of
you are writing about an "Idea" (NOT about a novel, image, or film), so introduce the
idea here, and make your argument.
c) LIST 10 sources (secondary - which means: books, articles, interviews, etc. that comment
ON/critique/have relevant arguments pertaining to your argument or Primary Source).
FOR EACH ENTRY, INCLUDE:
 MLA listing (a must)
 What is the author's main point/set of arguments? Describe briefly.
 What is the relevance of these arguments/information to your topic/paper? How will
this be helpful to your paper?
EXAMPLES
1. Writing about the imagery that bombarded us after 9/11: “I’m interested in exploring what those images were
about. What do they make us ‘do’, think about, agree to?
a) The images that bombarded us were not meant to simply assure us that we knew who was responsible for this
horrendous tragedy, but these advertised images of ‘Threat’ helped impress, in our collective mind’s eye, the image of
the new, threatening ‘Other’: we, as a public, were being taught to police our environment, and to locate our terror on
specific bodies.
NOW: say why this is significant/what repercussions such manufacture of Others have on our nation, given our ethos of
‘inclusion’ of Otherness?
b) Baudrillard writes/argues that 9/11 was a “mediated” event – it no longer belongs to the realm of a “real” experience
because….In fact, Baudrillard points out that thse spactacular nature of the attacks were made into a ‘mega movie’ on
that very day, leading us to ….(explain his point about why this is problematic). Frederic Beigbeder, in his novel, was
one of the first people to approach ……..(introduce the novel/what’s it about)?
Your argument: Beigbeder’s attention to—and inclusion of the intimate details of the buildings, the aeroplanes that
destroyed the buildings, as well as the minute-by-minute events that shaped the last 93 minutes of three lives trapped in
the building—helps construct an intimate account that is far from the mediates, spectacular vision we have of
9/11/2001. (Why is this important to consider?)
2. Writing about the significance of personal narrative/testimonial in the American tradition of writing:
a) Rukshana Khan realises, on her way out of the meeting room in which she met her first Guantanamo inmate,
that her nation has “duped” her. She writes…
SO now: connect her “memoir” or her “diaries,” as she calls her writing, to that fine American tradition of testimonial –
it comes from a Puritan tradition (!): each person is allowed/given the power to interpret God’s word and will (possibly),
in an intelligent manner, after having learnt how to read the bible. Khan, the daughter of Afghani-Americans, adopts the
possibility of “self-narration” and the enormity of power that such testimanial gives the person who has access to
language and legal discourse, to educate the American public about……..
THEN: say why this is significant to explore – her writing as part of an American tradition, and what power such stories
have in our imaginary as Americans.
b) Address/write about Filkins, in the same way, or in some related argument.
3. Jonathan Safran Foer: beautiful writing, but hard to formulate an argument about.
BUT: several of you wrote in your exams about how this little boy lives in “suspension”: after the loss, but before
grief arrives.
Oscar maintains himself there…and yet, at the same time, we find, from reading Pauline Boss’ article, that one of the
survival techniques that she observes in the group with whom she works is that they are able to maintain a sort of
“suspension” in their minds about the person they lost.
Questions: why is this state of suspension ‘bad’? What is the problem? What do we learn, through Oscar’s journey,
about how to live with loss, and come to a sort of suspension that is actually helpful?
What does the story of Oscar help us understand?