Argumentative

Essays
Is AI threatening classical Legal Business?
Work from home works well
Legal Rights in a Quarantine
Should nuclear weapons be outlawed worldwide?
Should cigarettes and other tobacco products be outlawed?
Smoking is injurious to heath
Social distancing is the panacea against corona infection
 Assertion/claim
(A)
ARGUMENT Reason
(R)
Drafting an
argument: Evidence
Structure (E)
Impact
(I)
A+R+E+I


Have direct Assertions


Strong logic and reasoning

 Evidence that is supportive

 Explain the importance of your argument

(impact)
 AnAssertion or claim tells ----- what do
you think?
A reason tells ----- why do you think so?
 Anevidence tells ---- How do you know
that what you think is true?

 Anassertion is proven by clear

reasons that are supported by relevant
evidences.
Assertion-what you think
Reason- what you know
Evidence- what you see/ experience
 Assertion/ Claim:
Laptops and cell phones should be allowed in the classrooms

Reason1:
Laptops really help in accessing the text for all subjects.

Evidence1: (Specific egs)

In our language class, when we forgot to bring our novel ‘The Trial’, we could
quickly go to LMS and access the soft copy to refer to. Similar thing happened
in our Sociology class, where we just opened the research article that Sir was
discussing and highlighted the important portion and added some
notes/remarks on the margins.
Impact:
Allowing laptops can really lighten our bags and save paper
 Whether violence is ever
justified?

Let’s  Take a position and explain in what conditions

violence can be justified?
Argue...  Provide an example to support your position
 Explain how your example supports your
position and restate your claim
 Pizza is a healthy
Let’s alternative to fast food
Argue…
 Little Big George – a cute short
movie with a strong argument

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPupxtZ6bQQ
Online resources to understand
an argument
 https://wac.colostate.edu/resources/writing/guides/argument-part
s/
Types of claims/assertions

 Claim of Fact
 Claim of Value
 Claim of Policy
 Claim of cause and effect

 Not simple to separate as most writings contain more than one

type of claims
Claim of fact

 Posits whether something is true or false

 Something that has existed, exists or will exist.
 Seeks to establish an arguable idea as a fact
 More common in the fields of science, psychology, among others.
 Tend to become possible as new research appears making it
possible to claim fact ideas that were formerly arguable.

Example:
The genetic modification of human beings has the power to
eliminate several incurable conditions.
 The oldest known disease in the world is leprosy

 The death penalty does not deter crime.

Claims of value

 Based on preferences- likes or dislikes, good or bad

 Tries to establish the value, attribute, quality of anything

Example:

Capital punishment is unjust

Claim of Policy

 A statement that tells that action must be taken in specific

situations/policies

Example:
 The Death Penalty should be abolished in India
 India should pass The National Sports University Bill
Claim of cause and effect

 Claims of cause and effect are propositions based on the concept

that one thing influences or causes another.

 Example:
Video games make children prone to violence
Activity:

 Write three types of claims (fact, policy and value) on the topic of

Social media and bullying

Possible answers to the activity

 Sometimes people use platforms of social media- facebook,

twitter and other social media to bully each other

 It is wrong to use social media to bully people

 There should be criminal charges brought against the people who

use social media to bully others
Example (legal)

 Mr. Kashi is guilty of killing his wife- claim of fact

 Claim of value would investigate the intent – whether first-

degree, manslaughter, accident or whatever

 The claim of policy would be the punishment- acquittal,

imprisonment or execution
Modes of persuasion (Three
artistic proofs)
 ETHOS
 LOGOS
 PATHOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc1TrKIzAJM (a short speech)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L_G82HH9Tg (explanation with

examples)
Types of evidences
 Scientific

 Historical

 Testimonials

 Anecdotal

 Analogical

 Statistical
 Topic/ Heading

Argumentativ Introduction (Para 1)

e Essay
Main Body
Structure for a • Para 2
5 paragraph • Para 3
• Para 4
essay
Conclusion (Para 5)
 Topic/ Heading

Introduction
• Attention Grabber
• Importance of the topic/issue (why should the audience care?)
• Thesis Statement
• Transition Statement

Detailed Main Body

• Min 3 paras and each para must contain

format • Claim/ assertion (statement that supports the thesis)

• Multiple reasons and evidences to support the claim- facts, logic, stats,
quotes, anecdotes
• Transition statement

Conclusion
• Summarise the claims
• Restate why the topic is important
• Restate the thesis
• Ensure the logicality
Attention grabbers/ getters

 https://owlcation.com/humanities/Good-Attention-Getters-for-Essa
y-Papers
 First/first few sentences of the opening paragraph
 Aims to get the attention of the audience
 Questions
 Very crucial- as most of the readers decide whether to read or
not read the complete essay on the basis of its attention grabber
 Stories, Jokes, Comparisons, Facts, Statistics/data
Thesis Statement

  one or two sentences in the introductory paragraph

 Heart of any essay

 Controlling idea

 Provides subject, direction, position or angle and decides the

organisation of your essay
 A thesis statement:
 tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject
matter under discussion.
 is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to
expect from the rest of the paper.
 directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation
of a question or subject, not the subject itself.
 makes a claim that others might dispute.
 is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most
often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to
the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and
organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your
interpretation.
Essentials of a thesis statement

TOPIC CLAIM MAJOR POINTS

(SUB-CLAIMS)
Examples:

Going to college demands careful time management in the areas of

class time, study time and relaxation time

Advertisers target young people when marketing cigarettes, alcohol

and adult movies.

The vaccine created by our team of researchers is promising in the

fight against the virus. (The research paper would present evidence
and reasons why the vaccine might work against the virus.)
Sample Introduction Paragraph

 Nowadays, the information available before

you blink your eyes, but earlier, this did not
happen. Now students can determine whether
is it correct data or not. Therefore, educating
students about digitization can help to
understand the dissimilarities between beliefs
and propaganda from the sources.
A few links to online writing labs

 http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/thesis/ (link on
how to write a thesis statement)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKXkemYldmw (thesis
statement writing Purdue OWL)
Transitions

 https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/transitions/
 https://writingcenter.ashford.edu/transitional-phrases

 Guides the reader to move from one thought to the next

 Act as bridge between ideas, sentences or paragraphs
 Serve different purposes like showing a contrast, cause and effect or elaborating an
idea

(do refer to the links above to see different types of transition words or phrases in
detail)
Main Body- para 2,3,4

Min 3 paras and each para must contain

1. Claim/ assertion (statement that supports the thesis)

2. Multiple reasons and evidences to support the claim- facts, logic,

stats, quotes, anecdotes

3. Transition statement
Conclusion

 Equally important as an intro

 Closes the issue
 Never introduce a new argument in your conclusion
 Don’t rush while writing thinking it to be the last part
of the essay
 Write effectively and take some time to draft the
conclusion
 Restate Restate the claim

Essential Present
Present one or two sentences that accurately
summarise your sub-claims in support of the main
claim
components
of a Try to tell the significance/ how your claim would
Try
conclusion benefit the readers or society\

Call Call for action/ give future research possibility

 Classical
(Aristotelian)

Types/Models Rogerian
of Arguments:

Toulmin
Classical/Aristotelian Argument

 Given by Aristotle
 Uses Deductive Approach
 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/hist
orical_perspectives_on_argumentation/classical_argument.html
(understanding Classical model- very nicely explained with
running example)
 https://owl.excelsior.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/Aris
totelianArgument.pdf
(sample argument)
Five parts of Aristotle’s argument
model
• Gain audience’s attention and establish your
Exordium (Intro) credibility

Narratio • Give background or context

Proposito and • The claim/stance and the argument

Partitio
Confirmatio and/or • Positive proofs and refute counterarguments
Refutatio
Peroratio • Summarise your case and call for some sort of
(Conclusion) action
Rogerian Argument

 Proposed by psychologist Carl Rogers

 Aims to achieve consensus
 Takes a middle ground
 https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/organizin
g-your-argument/organizing-your-argument-rogerian/
(description)
 https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/organizin
g-your-argument/organizing-your-argument-sample-rogerian-argu
ment/
(sample Rogerian argument)
Rogerian model
Introduction to the • Description of issue at hand
problem
Summary of • Description of your opponent’s position
opposing views
Statement of • How you might move towards their view
understanding
Statement of your • Description of your opposition
position
Statement of • How they might move towards their
contexts view

Statement of • How aspects of your position benefit

Benefits them
Toulmin Argument Model

 Given by British Philosopher Stephen Toulmin

 Method of analysing arguments
 https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/organizin
g-your-argument/organizing-your-argument-toulmin/
(description)

 https://owl.excelsior.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/Toul
minArgument.pdf
(sample Toulmin Argument)
 Claim

Three major
Warrant.
parts
Support

Toulmin Warrant.
Support

Model
Qualifier

Three
additional
Rebuttal
parts

Backing