Organizing Your Argument
Always consider (and empathize
with) your audience when thinking
about the best way to organize your
information.
First things first…
• Organize your thoughts. In
one to two sentences, explain
your topic and what your
argument is within that topic.
This is called your working
thesis statement/argument.
• Think about where your
statement(s) would go in your
paper. Do you envision it
coming immediately within
your composition, or at the
conclusion? You don’t want it
(or your audience) to get lost
in the middle of your essay.
The Classical Approach
(Thanks, Aristotle)
• Introduction (What you are trying to say)
– Consider your audience. Tailor your tone accordingly
• Main point/thesis statement (What, why, how)
– Help your audience see why the issue should be important
to them.
• Evidence supporting your main point/thesis statement
(How you are going to say it)
– This is the heart of your paper.
• Discussion of other perspectives – acknowledge the
opposition
– Refute or break down the other side. Do not ignore contrary
opinions.
• Conclude with some type of call to action
– Consider the power of your final lines. You want your
audience to remember your main points.
Another Approach
• Introduce the issue (What you are trying to say)
– Consider your audience. Tailor your tone accordingly
• Offer reasons and evidence for your main point/thesis
statement (How you are going to say it)
– This is the heart of your paper.
• Discussion of other perspectives – acknowledge the
opposition
– Refute or break down the other side. Do not ignore
contrary opinions.
• Draw your conclusion/main point/thesis statement
(What, why, how)
– Help your audience see why the issue should be important
to them. In this organizational approach, your audience
feels some agency in the thesis. They (hopefully) come to
the same conclusion with you.
• Conclude with some type of call to action
– Consider the power of your final lines. You want your
audience to remember your main points.
Now, you need to consider the BEST
structure for your paper’s topic.
This will also require you to
consider the ideal audience and
tone. It is a puzzle; think about
how each paragraph best fits
together. Ask yourself:
– Does the thesis
statement/argument control the
organizational outline?
– Are all of my main points relevant to
my thesis?
– Does my argument progress, or
does it seem to stall? Do I
contradict myself?
– Am I sufficiently supporting my
points with researched evidence?
– Have I made room within my outline
for oppositional viewpoints?
When you are ready to construct your
paragraphs, think about the “job” you want
each one to do.
Each paragraph should be supportive,
strong, and considerate.
Transition appropriately; try to be
consistent and coherent in tone.
Don’t forget about the power of the topic
sentence.
– It should be clear and relevant to the
preceding paragraph.
– It should control the direction of its
paragraph.
When completing a paragraph, ask
yourself the following questions:
– Do I have enough evidence to support
this paragraph’s topic sentence?
– Do I have too much evidence? Will my
reader be overwhelmed and
confused?
– Am I stretching evidence at all?
– Can I say, in a nutshell, what the
purpose of each paragraph is?
Finally, consider the following modes of
arrangement for your paper’s information:
• Narration
(share anecdotal information)
• Definition
(illustrate terms)
• Description
(activate those sensory details)
• Process
(describe sequence of steps)
• Cause and Effect
(explain why something happened)
• Analogy
(comparison between two unrelated
topics)