The art and aims of argument

“Why can’t we be friends?” The art and aims of argument

Most of the time, when we think of argument we think of something like this…

Or this…

Maybe even this…

But ACADEMIC argument is a bit different… • The word ARGUMENT comes from the Latin verb arguere, which means: • “to make something clear” • Argument in this sense of seeking clarity has a two-part form or structure: • 1. The statement of an opinion and • 2. One or more reasons for holding that opinion.

For Example: “Student loans for college ought to be more widely available” Here, you have stated WHAT your opinion is, but you have not yet given your reasons for having the opinion that you do. “Because rising costs are preventing too many capable but impoverished students from attending, student loans for college ought to be more widely available” Now you have made something very clear—WHY you take the position you do. If this WHAT + WHY formula looks familiar it’s because…

IT’S THE SAME FORMULA AS A THESIS!!! THESIS= WHAT + HOW (you’re going to prove) (you’re going to prove it) **aka, WHY you feel the way you do!!**

We all know someone like this: • The caption says “what’s the point of looking at your side of the argument when it’s wrong?” • All arguments are self-expressive to some degree, meaning, they are usually things we feel personally invested in. Because of this, arguments can get heated sometimes.

Our opinions play a large role in making us what we are: conservative, liberal, or independent; a religious person, and atheist, an agnostic, etc. • Because what we think is so much of what we are, we typically hold our opinions with deep conviction and genuine passion—so much so that we often fail to QUESTION our own opinions or to listen to the arguments of other people who disagree with us.

ARGUING TO CONVINCE • The most important part of arguing to convince is AUDIENCE. • Often students make the mistake of writing a persuasive essay with the TEACHER as their audience. Remember that you are writing your essay for a PURPOSE and that purpose is aimed at some person or group of people.

Finding Your Audience: Questions to ask before writing • Who is your intended audience? What preconceptions and biases might they hold about your topic? • What is your aim(purpose) for writing? • What claim do you eventually want your readers to accept? • What reasons are likely to appeal to this audience? • How should you arrange the reasons to make the greatest impression on your readers? • How should you lead into the argument? (do you already have commonplaces? Or do you need to establish them?)

Sample Thesis Statements: • Thesis: “Wearing fur coats is immoral” • This thesis expresses an opinion, but it is not precise, nor is it aimed at a particular audience. Assuming an audience of fashion-conscious people, possible consumers of fur coats, Carolina needed a thesis statement that would make her audience reflect on their behaviors/decisions, not defensive about them.

Thesis Refined: “Wearing fur coats is an unjustifiable use of animals.” • This statement is less offensive to her audience and more specific, but she wanted to emphasize that her point applies to animals that have been killed for their fur alone, so she refined her position further…

Thesis Refined: “Killing an animal simply to obtain its fur is unjustifiable.” • This statement is better, but it still ignores the problem of some justified uses of fur, such as within an ethnic tradition. She tried one more version.

Thesis: The desire to be fashionable does not justify killing an animal to obtain its fur.” • The author was reasonably satisfied with this version, so she accepted it as a tentative thesis that could guide her in drafting her essay.

HOW TO RESEARCH • FIELD RESEARCH: • Questionnaires and Surveys • You may be able to get some information of some topics, especially if they are school-related, by doing surveys or questionnaires. Be forewarned, however, that it is very difficult to conduct a reliable survey. • Interviews • You can get a great deal of current information about an issue as well as informed opinions by talking to experts.

BEWARE OF THE BIG BAD INTERNET! • The internet can be deceiving—do not use sources that are not ACADEMIC related. Things NOT to use: • Blogs • Wikipedia (sorry) • .com sites • You need to be sure that the source you are using is reliable and will make your argument stronger!

Before you use ANY information from an internet site, you need to make sure that the site you are using has: • 1. an author • 2. a date of publication • Also pay attention to: • 1. the date it was published (is it still relevant?) • 2. the bias of the writer (has their personal views gotten in the way of reason/logic?) • If it does not have an author that you are able to locate on the site, it is NOT a reliable source. If no one wants to personally claim the information, why should you?

MISSION • Our mission for Persuasive Essay is to do two things: • Create a well-written essay  (of course) • Move outside of our comfort zone and create ARGUMENTS that are: • Cohesive • Reasonable/Logical • Academic

The art and aims of argument