Notes About the Argument Paper

Notes About the Argument Paper

This is, arguably, the most difficult paper you are going to write.  Many students have an extremely hard time with this paper, primarily because they have never done anything like it before.

The Type of Argument to Write

First of all, let me remind you that this paper has a thesis.  It is not a report.  In a report, all you do is digest information, and puke it back up on paper; you are not trying to prove anything.  Think of news reports: they merely give information, but have no opinion about that information.  However, in an argument, you are trying to prove something, based on your opinion.

This paper is meant as a persuasion paper.  This means you want to get others to agree with you.  This is different from an opinion paper.  In an opinion paper, all you want is to express your feelings on a topic; you aren’t trying to get people to agree with you, which is what you do in a persuasion paper.

Choosing a Topic

Usually, I let you write about anything.  However, there are some taboo topics for this paper. Why? These are highly emotionally charged topics that students do not seem to write well about.  Even when they try to be logical, they aren’t. It is just easier to disallow them.

I have divided the list into two parts—emotional topics you can’t write about, and ones you can. The “can” list exists because it has been proven to me that students can form decent arguments about these topics. You do not have to use one of the “Can List” topics; this is just to let you know what “hot topics” are or are not acceptable. As long as your topic is not on the “Can’t List,” you can write about it. When in doubt, ask me!

Once you have a topic, you need to think about your attitude towards that topic.  This concurs with audience.

Audience

People will agree with you, or they won’t.  But, it gets deeper than this.  Here is a basic list of “attitudes”

• The audience totally agrees with you
• The audience totally disagrees with you
• They audience doesn’t care
• The audience is sitting on the fence—they can see both sides of the issue, and don’t know with whom they agree most strongly
• The audience agrees with you on some points, but not on others; I call this the “provisional audience.”
• The ignorant audience—they are not informed enough to make a decision.

For an example, for these notes, I am going to use “Uniforms in public schools” (not college, obviously).  My thesis is this: Uniforms should be required in the American Public School system from grades K-12.

• I will have people who completely agree with me.
• I will have people who completely disagree with me.
• I will have people who don’t care about the topic
• I will have people who can see why I think this, but also why people who disagree with me see it differently
• I will have people who agree with me…to a point.  They may say that uniforms should only be required up to grade 8.  Or maybe that they shouldn’t be required until high school, since that’s when trouble really seems to start.
• I will have people who don’t know enough about the topic to have an opinion.

Appeals

Since you are trying to persuade, you have three types of appeal you can make: Logical, Ethical, and Emotional.

• Logical: This is where you use facts, data, and numbers to prove you have a valid claim. You get this information from reliable and well-respected sources.  There are three main types of this information:
  • Data: Statistics, numbers, etc., as aforementioned
  • Expert Testimony: This comes from people who are well-known in their fields. These are people who write books and article, work in universities and research facilities, etc.
  • Eyewitness Testimony: This can border on emotional appeal, because the person involved in not an expert, merely someone who experienced a particular situation and therefore has firsthand knowledge of its effects
• Emotional: Here, you try to tug on the heartstrings of your readers.  By approaching their feelings, you are touching their humanity, and hope they “have a heart”.  This can be dangerous turf, however, because, if you will remember, we all feel very differently about different topics.
• Ethical: This has to do with a writer’s character. You present yourself as fair and accurate.  The way you (novice) writers will do this, is by using citation, to show you are not plagiarizing, and by not relying only on emotional appeal to persuade your readers.

Since you don’t know where you audience stands, it is best to assume that they either totally disagree with you, they don’t care about the topic, or they agree with you only to a point.  Why?  Because then you are assuming you have resistance to overcome, and when this is the case, you know you can’t rely only on emotional appeal.

Outline

Please see the Assignment sheet on D2L for this.  I give you different ways to present your outline

And what is a Counterargument?

Good question.  A counterargument is basically what the other “side” would say in response to your arguments.  If you look at the outline I give on the Assignment page, you see this topic presented, with different outlines. One thing people have against school uniforms is that they take away from a student’s individuality.  Yes, it is true that clothes help express who we are, however, students are not in school to express their individuality—they can do that in their personal lives.  Students come to school to learn. And, just because everyone is wearing the same clothes, more or less, doesn’t mean they are drones or robots.  They are still individual people with unique interests and ideas, and these can be expressed in school sports, clubs, etc.

Do you see what I just did? I brought up what “other people” (those who disagree with me) would say about one of my arguments, and then I refuted it (shot it down, also called rebuttal).  If you have ever been on a debate team, or watched a debate on TV, you know this is standard practice with argument (though it can sometimes disintegrate into mudslinging).

Types of Logic

As the PowerPoint will show, there are a few ways to put logic into your papers: Induction, deduction, and claim-evidence-warrant.

Induction: This is essentially like an example paper—you give the reader multiple examples of something happening, and come to a general conclusion based on that evidence.

Deduction: Here, you make a generalization, and then give specific evidence to support it.  Sherlock Holmes did this, if you will recall—he would accuse a person of murder (the generalization) and then give multiple pieces of evidence to prove it.

Another way to deduce is by syllogism. In mathematical form, it is:

If A=B

And B=C

C must, therefore =A

In logic, A is the major premise, B is the minor premise, and C is the conclusion.

You must be careful, though, that the conclusion follows. In the PP, you see a good syllogism—the Declaration of Independence.  But, does this make sense:

1. My hat is green
2. Grass is green
3. Therefore, my hat is grass.

Silly, huh? You can have poor connections, if you aren’t careful.

Claim-Evidence-Warrant: Please use this form of logic, as it is easiest to organize your paper by.

Claim: This is a “point” or argument the writer is making

Evidence: This is self-explanatory—it’s evidence, either facts, data, stats, examples, etc., that you have gathered to support your claim.

Warrant: Essentially, this is your interpretation of the evidence—what does it mean, and how does it tie into your claim? OR, what does the claim and its evidence lead you to conclude? OR, how does the claim and evidence relate to the broader picture?

Here is an example:

Claim: Uniforms in public schools will help with student safety

Evidence:  (I would research this information—here, I am “winging” it) Students who belong in the school are easily identified from strangers; if a student is reported missing, it will be easier to ID them and where they belong, since they are wearing a uniform, etc.

Warrant: Given the rough nature of American society, student safety is paramount; uniforms in public schools will only help to ensure their well-being. And, this is what most parents want—to feel that their children are as safe as possible when they are away from home.

If you do this for each point you are trying to argue, you will see a solid structure take shape in your paper. You can also easily mix in counterargument with this type of logic.

Logical Fallacies

When you go over the PowerPoint, you will find these to be quite self-explanatory.  Be sure you understand them, though, since you might have a little assignment about them!

In Conclusion…

Essentially, that’s about it for notes.  If you read the student essay in Chapter 20, as you are supposed to, you will see Kessler has made her research paper into an argument, included citation, and outlined her paper.  This is a really good example of a persuasive paper.