Writing Arguments
Quickwrite #5
• For today’s class, you read two sections about
writing that makes an argument/supports a
position. Think back over the past few days.
What are some of the arguments/positions
that you have seen made/supported? Have
YOU made any arguments or supported any
positions? What were they? How did you
make your arguments effective?
Three Basic Building Blocks of Written
Arguments
• The Issue: This is the topic, subject, or
controversial issue you have chosen to write
about.
• The Claim: This is a statement of opinion or value
judgment about the issue. (This should be your
thesis statement.)
• The Evidence: This is the reasonable, logical
support that explains and backs up the claim you
have made about the issue. (This will come from
your research and your own conclusions you
make having read extensively about your topic.)
Characteristics of Argument: An
Explicit Position
• In your introduction, after you have given your
audience context, you will need to state your main
argument/position explicitly. (This means you need to
come right out and say it rather than implying it or
hinting at it.) See p. 66-67 of Everyone’s an Author
• This allows your readers to know exactly what you are
arguing or what position you are supporting.
• You might choose to qualify, or add certain conditions
to your explicit statement in order to make sure that
you aren’t making a claim you can’t possibly support.
(See p. 85 of Everyone’s an Author)
More About Qualifying Positions
• Unqualified Position – Hard to support
– Eating organic food will always help everyone live
longer.
• Qualified Position – Still an explicit claim, but
easier to support
– There are many potential health benefits to eating
organic food.
– Notice how the word “potential” doesn’t make any
promises the author can’t keep while still making the
claim that the audience should consider eating
organic food.
How do I decide what my explicit
position is?
• Before you can have an explicit position, you will need to do
your research. (See p. 84 of Everyone’s an Author.)
• Essay 3—the media analysis essay—asks you to observe
some part of the media closely and make a claim about the
patterns and connections you observed.
– Your explicit position will be based on looking closely at several
examples of media that do what you say it’s doing.
– Your explicit position may also be based on a response to other
sources you have found, online or in print, that deal with your
issue.
– Read any relevant sources, taking notes and responding to the
ideas of the authors. This will help you to have your own explicit
position.
• Don’t try to write your thesis until you have already done
research and read the relevant sources you find.
Characteristics of Argument: A
Response to What Others Have Said
• This is why research is so important. A strong
argument cannot exist without acknowledging
the other arguments that have been made about
the subject.
• Choose strong, complex sources with ideas that
cause you to think deeply about the issue.
• Notice how the example on p. 69 of EaA responds
to ideas others have about buying from local
farmers. She realizes that others have raised the
question of efficiency, and she responds to it.
Characteristics of Argument:
Appropriate Background Information
• This helps your audience to understand why your
topic is important.
• Background information might take the form of
statistics, as it does on p. 70-71 in EaA in the
piece of the article about women and minorities
in the sciences.
• Background information might take the form of a
personal narrative as it does on p. 72.
• Background information might include a brief
history of relevant events. (Use moderation
here.)
Characteristics of Argument: A Clear
Indication of Why the Topic Matters
• Find ways to make the topic interesting to you. If you don’t
think your argument matters, that will be obvious in your
essay.
• Clearly lay out for your audience what is at stake in your
argument.
• Often, as you do your research, you will start to notice
patterns, just as the author of the example on p. 73 of EaA
did. She noticed how the media was portraying female
political candidates like Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, and
eventually used these two woman as examples of a problem
that went beyond just the two of them to how media
portrays female politicians in general.
Characteristics of Argument: Good
Reasons and Evidence
• “Remember that persuasion is always about connecting with an
audience, meeting them where they are, and helping them see
why your position is one they should take seriously or even
adopt” (Lunsford 64).
• In order to help your audience take your position seriously, or
perhaps even adopt it, you need good, solid, reasons and
evidence.
• Reasons and evidence might be provided by your research
(statistics, expert analysis, etc) or by your own personal
experiences, if relevant.
• This is probably the most important characteristic. If your
reasons and evidence are weak or poorly explained, you lose
credibility with your audience.
A Very Brief Intro to Quoting Sources
and Giving Credit
• In MLA format you MUST give credit to your sources TWICE.
• You must give credit in the body of your paper as soon as
you use the quote.
• Mark or indicate all words/ideas that come from sources.
– Put quote marks around all word for word quotes.
– Indicate when you are about to start summarizing a source.
– Immediately after the end of each quote/summary, put the
author’s last name ONLY in parentheses (if there is no author,
put the name of the article in quotes inside the parentheses).
– Our textbook calls this “In-Text Documentation,” and I will often
call it “In-Text Citation.” The index for how to do it is on p. 407,
and the section is on p. 410-415
A Very Brief Intro to Quoting Sources
and Giving Credit
• The second way you MUST give credit is at the
end of the paper on a Works Cited page.
• “Cite” is a word that people use to mean “give
credit to.” So, when I say, “You need to cite
your sources correctly,” that’s what I mean.
• Each type of source requires different
information on the works cited page.
• The Works Cited index is on p. 408-409 of EaA,
and the examples are on p. 416-443.
Good Reasons and Evidence in Your
Academic Work
• As you do your research and begin to put forward
your own explicit claim about the topic, ask yourself:
– What reasons/evidence were most convincing to you? If
they convinced you, they might also convince your readers.
– What additional insight/observations do you have about
these reasons/evidence? What can you add to the
conversation?
– Are there any reasons in support of your claim that your
research does not mention? If so, mention them in your
paper, and stress that there hasn’t been a lot of talk about
the reason you came up with.
Characteristics of Argument: Attention
to More than One Point of View
• Acknowledge people who disagree with you,
and respond to them. (See p. 76 in EaA)
• Notice how the authors on p. 76 respond to
possible questions/concerns their readers
might have – the first answering concerns
about the lack of scientific certainty when it
comes to climate change, the second
responding to the idea that admissions
officers don’t consider each student carefully.
Attention to More than One Point of
View in Your Academic Work
• As you do your research and begin to put forward your
own explicit claim about the topic, ask yourself:
– What ideas/reasons in your research did you most
disagree with? If you ran into the same ideas you
disagreed with multiple times, it’s likely your readers have
too.
– You will want to quote one of the ideas you disagree with
in order to respond to it in a complex way, explaining your
disagreement in a fair, credible manner.
– We will talk more about this on the week we discuss
“Answering the Opposition.”
Characteristics of Argument: Authoritative
Tone
• To establish an authoritative tone…
– Know what you’re talking about. This means having a deep
understanding of the issue you are writing about and doing the
research.
– Write like you know what you’re talking about and are sure of your own
position.
– Avoid phrases like “this is what I think, but everyone has their own
opinions.” You SHOULD acknowledge others’ opinions, but you should
do so in a SPECIFIC way that you will then RESPOND to.
– Avoid phrases like “This is just my opinion.” An opinion is never “JUST”
an opinion. It is a point of view informed by REASONS. And if you feel
the need to downplay it by putting “just” in front of it, you might need
to re-examine your reasons.
– Find a balance. You don’t want to sound too arrogant, but you don’t
want to sound unsure of yourself, either. (It’s possible to be of two
minds about something, though. You just need to clearly and
confidently explain WHY exactly you are “of two minds.”)
Characteristics of Argument: An
Appeal to Readers’ Values
• Strong arguments appeal to shared values – the essay about work
on p. 79 of EaA appeals to the shared idea that there is honor and
meaning in work that supports a family, even if that work is hard
or repetitive.
• The essay “Our Schools Must Do Better” on p. 89 appeals to a
shared belief in the value and importance of public education.
• This is also sometimes referred to as finding common ground.
• If your topic is one that you care about, you should be able to
identify the values that inform it.
– For example, the writer of the essay about women who are politicians is
appealing to the value of equality and fair treatment for women, and
she’s pointing out how the media is failing to live up to that value.
Sample Argument: In-Class Writing
• Think of something you enjoy doing. A show
you enjoy watching, a sport you enjoy
playing/watching, a hobby you enjoy
participating in. Something that you really like
doing. If you like doing it, it’s very likely that
you know a lot about it, and you’ve run into
people who have different ideas than you do
about this Thing You Like.
Sample Argument: In-Class Writing
• Make a list of “Unpopular/Controversial Opinions” that you have.
– This is your chance to say, “Team X REALLY shouldn’t have traded Player Z because he
WASN’T WORTH IT.”
– Or maybe, “Everyone really thinks that Character B should be with Character A, but I
think she should be with Character C.”
– Or try, “Lots of people think Character A is a _____________, but I disagree with that
interpretation of his/her character because ____________.
– You could also do, “Everyone thinks that Movie X is the best (or worst) one of the
____________ films, but I don’t think so because __________________.”
– Or perhaps, “Everyone seems to think that the best way to… (tie a fly in fly fishing,
paint a model airplane, achieve a certain look with eyeshadow, set up a certain type
of defense in soccer/football etc, insert your own area of expertise here) is
_______________, but I think it’s _______________.
• YOU ARE NOT LIMITED TO THESE. They are just examples. If YOUR unpopular
opinion doesn’t fit any of these, DON’T USE THEM. Make your own explicit
statement.
• We will be making an outline of our in-class writing as soon as everyone has
chosen an “unpopular opinion”
Sample Outline
• Introduction
– Introduce hobby/controversy – why opinion is unpopular
– Thesis – Makes explicit claim
• Body Paragraph 1 – Topic sentence: First reason I believe claim is right
– Fact/observation that supports reason 1
– Another fact/observation that supports Reason 1
– Personal experience that supports reason 1
• Body Paragraph 2 – Topic Sentence: Second Reason I believe my unpopular opinion
is the right one.
– Summarize one reason people think the opposite of my topic sentence for paragraph 2
– Respond to that reason – show why it’s wrong.
– Give another example/fact that shows reason 2 is valid.
• Body Paragraph 3 - Topic Sentence: Third Reason I believe my unpopular opinion is
the right one.
– Continue support as in previous paragraphs.
• YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO USE THIS OUTLINE. Make an outline that fits YOUR
needs. Also, you don’t have to write in complete sentences for the outline.
– Remember to think about paragraph order. You might put your paragraphs in order from
most convincing to least, or least convincing to most, if you want to end on a high note.
Unpopular Opinions – In Class Writing
• Write an in-class essay in which you state your unpopular
opinion explicitly and defend it.
• Use the characteristics of argument, which are…
– An Explicit Position (this is your thesis)
– A Response to What Others Have Said (Attention to More Than
One Point of View)
– Appropriate Background Information (assume your reader is not
terribly familiar with your hobby/area of interest)
– Good Reasons and Evidence
– Authoritative Tone
– Appeal to Readers’ Values
• Use your outline as a roadmap and refer to your textbook
for additional help.