The AP Argumentative Essay
AP English Language and Composition
** Information taken from 5 Steps to a 5, Second Edition by Barbara L. Murphy
and Estelle M. Rankin, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, 2007
The AP Argumentative Essay
Most frequently, the AP exam will present
you with a prompt that could be a brief
excerpt, a quotation, a statement, or an
anecdote. . .
The Argumentative Essay
In this type of essay, you will be asked to do
the following:
– Understand the nature of the position taken in
the prompt
– Take a specific stand- agree, disagree, or
qualify- with the assertion in the prompt
– Clearly and logically support your claim using
your own experience, reading, and/or
observations
• What does it mean to:
– Agree? I think about this subject in the same
way as the writer/speaker.
– Disagree? I think the writer/speaker is totally
wrong.
– Qualify? I think some of what is said is
correct and some of what is said is incorrect.
• Regardless of the synonyms used, these
are your only three choices on the
argumentative essay.
Classical (Ciceronian) Formula for
an Argument
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Present the issue/situation/problem
State your writer’s assertion/claim/thesis
Support your claim
Acknowledge and respond to real or
possible opposing views
• Make your final comment or summary of
the evidence
Logical Appeals
• Ethical (Ethos)- an appeal to the reader’s
good sense, good will, and desire to “do
the right thing”
• Emotional (Pathos)- an appeal to the
reader’s fear, patriotism, etc.
• Logical (Logos)- an appeal to inductive
and deductive reasoning
Induction and Deduction
• Induction: forming a generalization from a
set of specific examples; premises make
the conclusion certain
Example: Margo has 17 stuffed teddy bears,
3 stuffed cows, 11 stuffed monkeys, 4 stuffed
camels, and 6 stuffed elephants. Margo likes
to collect stuffed animals.
Induction and Deduction
• Deduction: reaching a probable conclusion
based on given premises; uses the syllogism, a
format which consists of a major premise, a
minor premise, and a conclusion; goes from the
general to the specific
Example:
– Major Premise: All lions are cats
– Minor Premise: Leonard is a lion.
– Conclusion: Therefore, Leonard is a cat.
Watch out for Logical
Fallacies!!!
Logical Fallacies
• Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning and
fall into several categories:
– Non sequitur argument: Latin for “does not follow”;
argument where the conclusion does not follow from
the premise.
• Example: Diane graduated from Vassar. She will make a
great lawyer.
– Begging the Question: where the writer assumes in
his assertion/premise/thesis something that has yet to
be proved
• Example: Taking Geometry is a waste of time. High school
students should not be required to take this course.
Logical Fallacies
• Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning and
fall into several categories:
– Circular Reasoning: restates the premise rather
than giving a reason for holding that premise
• Example: I like to eat out because I enjoy different foods and
restaurants.
– Straw-man Argument: the speaker/writer attributes
false or exaggerated characteristics or behaviors to
the opponent and attacks him on those falsehoods or
exaggerations
• Example: You say you support allowing people under
eighteen to drive. I will never understand why weak-willed
drivers like you are willing to risk your life and the lives of all
other drivers with these crazy teenagers on the road!
Logical Fallacies
• Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning and
fall into several categories:
– Ad hominem Argument: technique that attacks the
person rather than dealing with the issue under
discussion
• Example: We all know Sam has several speeding tickets on
his record. How can we trust him to vote for us on the issue
of a trade agreement with Europe?
– Hasty Generalization: drawing a conclusion about
an entire group based on evidence that is insufficient
• Example: The veterinarian discovered a viral infection in five
beagles. All beagles must be infected with it.
Logical Fallacies
• Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning and
fall into several categories:
– Overgeneralization: often called stereotyping; here,
the speaker/writer draws a conclusion about a large
number of people, ideas, etc. based on very limited
evidence
• Example: All members of Group A are not to be trusted.
– Post-Hoc Argument: cites an unrelated event that
occurred earlier as the cause of a current situation
• Example: I saw a black cat run across the street in front of
my car five minutes before I was hit by a foul ball at the ball
park. Therefore, the black cat is the cause of my bruised
arm.
Logical Fallacies
• Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning
and fall into several categories:
– Either/Or Argument or False Dilemma:
writer/speaker asserts that there are only two
possibilities, when in reality, there are more
• Example: Tomorrow is April 15; therefore, I must mail in my
tax return, or I will be arrested.
Kinds of Support/Evidence for the
Argumentative Essay
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Facts/Statistics
Details
Quotations
Dialogue
Needed Definitions
Recognition of the opposition
Examples
Anecdotes
Comparison and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Appeal to Authority
Does it Matter what tone I take on an
argumentative essay?
• Not really…the College Board is open to a
variety of approaches on this type of
essay.
• Just be sure that your choice of tone is
appropriate for your purpose.
Will I be penalized for taking a unpopular
or unusual position on the given issue?
• No, as long as you are addressing the
prompt and appropriately supporting your
position, you will not lose points for taking
a “different” approach.
• Your essay is graded for process and
mastery of language, not for how close
you come to agreeing with your reader’s
viewpoint.
Planning Your Time on the
Argumentative Essay
• 1- 3 Minutes: reading and working the
prompt
• 3 Minutes: Deciding on a position
Planning Your Time on the
Argumentative Essay
• 10 minutes: Planning the support of your
position
• 20 Minutes: writing your essay, based on
your preparation
• 3 Minutes: proofreading