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Claim/Position/Arguments Project Spring 2012 Contexts for Claim/Position/Arguments A claim, position, or argument starts with a desire to make your

position known about an issue you care about, feel invested in, or find intellectually stimulating. Your sense of exigency, or motivated curiosity, drives you to learn more about the issue. We will refer to the claim/position/argument in this project context as a position argument. A position argument states a claim that reasonable people hold substantially different opinions about. For example, people might use words indicating value judgments about the issue, such as should be, should not be, the best, the worst, too much, and not enough. Topics for your Position Argument Below is a list of topics that you could write about in a position argument. 1. Media is responsible for the rise in criminal cases against youngsters. 2. Music and art education should be made compulsory for middle school students. 3. Can Facebook replace face-to-face interaction? 4. Should the death penalty be banned in America? 5. Should the government invest more in alternative sources of energy? 6. China is the new threat to Americas supremacy. 7. Peer pressure makes a person realize his potential sooner. 8. Teachers are essential for learning. 9. Education kills creativity. 10. The egg came before the chicken. Talk with classmates to decide which ones would make good topics for argument and present your rational/reasons for your point. From that narrowed list, choose one topic that you feel is going to be the best topic to write about for your thinking. Drafting a Working Thesis Statement Develop a working thesis statement. Revise it as needed. As you work through your position argument, revisit your thesis statement periodically to see if it still represents your thinking accurately. You may need to revise it several times as you shape your position. Identifying Other Perspectives Think about your working thesis statement. Who would agree with it, who might agree with it, and who would disagree with it? Why? Divide the possible perspectives into at least two and preferably more than two camps. Fill in the chart below to help you keep track of them. People who agree would think People who might agree would think People who disagree would think

Then, using a key term on your topic, conduct an Internet search to find newspaper or online news source editorials, or any other reliable sources that help you illustrate these positions. For example, if you wanted to survey the range of opinion on file sharing of music, you could try these steps:

1. Go to Google News: http://news.google.com/ 2. Type, file sharing (in quotation marks) in the search box at the top of the page, and then
click on Search News. Your search results will include a long list of editorials on this topic from various news sources around the world. You can tell from the title of the page and the brief summary whether its directly related to your topic. Even the first few search results for file sharing reveal a broad range of opinion, with headlines like File sharing is not the problem and File sharing online: Good or bad for the local musician? 3. Add to your chart a summary of each position or each editorial that looks helpful. (Be sure to include the citation information.) 4. Analyze an editorial on your topic from each camp, focusing on questions like these: What position does the editorial take? What evidence or reasons does the editorial provide? What are the stakes of the argument? Does the editorial address the views of the other side? What doesnt the editorial say that it might have said in the interest of arguing its position more effectively? Thinking About Reader Motivation Using your working thesis statement and the information you have gathered so far about alternative perspectives on your issue, answer the following questions about reader motivation as they relate to your topic. It is important to keep your answers in mind as you shape your content to suit the occasion (kairos). 1. 2. 3. 4. How do readers feel about the topic? What would catch their attention in an introduction? What background information will they need to grasp your claim? What points do the people involved in this debate seem to agree on, for the most part? What points do they disagree about? List these separately.

Listing Your Reasons and Evidence Use a chart like the one below to help you list the reasons and evidence that you have compiled for your argument. My Claim Is: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Reason #1 Evidence that Supports It

Reason #2

Evidence That Supports It

Reason #3

Evidence That Supports It

Shaping Your Evidence Use your Analyze An Argument to help guide your development of your position argument. The evidence you present should based upon the criteria we used for our Analyzing An Argument activity. Considering Ethos-Pathos-Logos Based Appeals The goal of argumentative writing is to persuade your audience that your ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else's. The Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the means of persuasion, appeals, into three categories: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos (Credible or ethical appeal) means, convincing by the character of the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect. Pathos (Emotional) means, persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. We can look at texts ranging from classic essays to contemporary advertisements to see how pathos, emotional appeals, is used to persuade. Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument. Logos (Logical) means, persuading by the use of reasoning. This will be the most important technique we will study, and Aristotle's favorite. We'll look at deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective, persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough. We'll study the types of support you can use to substantiate your thesis, and look at some of the common logical fallacies, in order to avoid them in your writing. Take some time to write various paragraphs of your argument in ways that use ethos- pathos-logos based appeals. You may choose to use only one appeal (ethos, pathos, or logos) or, you may choose to use a combination of any of the three appeals (whichever works best for the evidence you are presenting). At some point, have a peer, parent, friend, or enemy review your paragraphs to see if you have written in ethos, pathos, or logos style. Read someone elses paragraphs and take mental notes on how they use ethos and pathos to appeal to the reader. Revise your paper if you think your thinking could be adjusted. Using a sticky note, tell the writer by writing how these appeals work (or dont work) for you as a reader. When you are confident you have addressed the issue of appeal, you are ready for the next step.

Conceding and Refuting Other Viewpoints When you concede, you give credence to an opposing or alternative perspective, and you grant that some members of your audience might disagree with you and agree with anothers point. When you refute, you examine an opposing or alternative point or perspective and demonstrate why it is incorrect or not the best response or solution. If you have researched and considered your argument, you should be able to conceive of many of the opposing and differing perspectives within your ongoing debate or argument. Rhetorically, concession and refutation give your writing a gravitas, or vital weight. Two methods exist for contending with readers with hostile or differing perspectives. You can demolish their arguments viciously (as many argument writers on un-moderated message boards do) or you can anticipate the objections some of your readers will bring to your argument and then

refute them tactfully. If you address possible objections in a fair-minded but direct way, you increase the likelihood that the opposition will understand and perhaps be won over to your position. Your fair-mindedness also enhances your ethos with neutral readers, who will consider you a reliable and trustworthy source. You should place your refutation in your argument where it will do the most good: If your readers are likely to have a refuting point in the forefront of their minds, then you will need to address that opposing issue earlier rather than later. The longer you put off dealing directly with the likely objections of readers, the longer you postpone their possible agreement with your position. If there are important contrary views that your readers might not have made up their minds about, then your refutation will likely work best later in your essay.

The important principle to remember is that effective writers raise issues (as in a refutation) at the opportune momentjust at the time when readers expect them to be discussed. Position Paper When you feel you have fully developed your topic, you have considered reader motivation, you have solid evidence to support your position, you have examined ethos-pathos-logos, you have determined how you want to present other viewpoints, you are ready to create your written position paper! Use the Maze graphic organizer to assist in planning out and organizing all of your information. Attached is a Position Paper Rubric.

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