Critical Thinking

Chapter 13
Writing Argumentative Essays

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

 The main goal
 The main goal of an argument paper should be
to defend a position on a topic with clear and
logical reasoning so that the unbiased reader
will, if not be convinced, at least be aware that
the position is a reasonable one.
 If someone already agrees with you, not much
argument is needed.
 If someone is pigheaded and biased, no matter
how good your argument is, they will not
accept your conclusion. 13-2
Writing a Successful Argument
There are three stages:
 Before you write your first draft

 Writing the first draft

 After the first daft

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Before you write your first
draft
It is important to think before you write. The
more you do, the less frustrating writing will
be.
 Know yourself.
 Know your audience.
 Choose and narrow your topic.
 Write a sentence that expresses your claim.
 Gather ideas (Brainstorm and Research).
 Organize your ideas.
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 Know Yourself
 Are you prepared to be precise and accurate, offer
only premises you believe, be fair to the other side,
and credit your sources?
 Are you ready to simply present your argument well
and not just do it to “win a fight?”
 Are you ready to defend your beliefs, not merely hold
them because you always have?
 Are you ready to revise your beliefs should your
research convince you that you are wrong?
 Do you know enough about the topic? If not, do
research.
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 Know your Audience
 Quite simply, your intended audience should greatly affect your writing style
and what evidence you include.
 This is true of all writing. (Your letters to your grandmother are quite
different than your letters to your significant other.)
 But always be sure to know who your audience is and use appropriate
language and evidence.
 However, you should never change your position on a topic simply because
your audience will be more receptive as a result. The audience should affect
your choice of language, not your conclusion.
 Anticipating your readers reactions (e.g., objections) will help you write a
more persuasive argument.
 Try to appeal to common values instead of just telling them that they are
wrong.
 Assume they are skeptical, but open minded.

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 Choose and Narrow your
Topic
 Don’t overstep your bounds. Not even the
smartest of us tries to tackle wide topics all at
once—even in a book. Make sure to be specific.
 Instead of writing about modern work relations
in America write about whether employers have
the right to read their employees emails.
 You may want to limit your topic even more.
Maybe only talk about the rights of larger
corporations.
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 Write a sentence that
expresses your claim.
 This is so simple but it is essential! Yet so many students have a problem
with it or simply neglect to do it.
 An argument paper defends a conclusion: a thesis. A thesis must be a
statement that is true or false.
 So write down the statement you plan to defend. Make sure it is something
that could be true or false. (Could someone disagree with it?)
 Your thesis can’t be “I will address whether large corporations have a right
to monitor employee email.” That may be what you are going to do, but
that is not your conclusion!
 It doesn’t make sense to disagree with that. “No you won’t, you will compare
single to double barreled shot guns.”
 Your thesis should be something like “I will argue that large corporations do
have the right to monitor employee emails.” This is something that
someone could disagree with; it can be either true or false.

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 Gather Ideas: Brainstorm
Brainstorming is a method for generating ideas for a
paper. You can…
 …list supporting premises.
 …list opposing premises.
 …think critically about your claim (test for known
fallacies).
 …think on paper. Write what you know so far.
 …develop ideas through narration, description, cause,
effect, classification & division, contrast, comparison,
illustration and definition. (p. 403-405)
 …look over your brainstorming.
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 Gathering Ideas: Research
 See chapter 12.
 Gather facts:
 Facts can be hard to distinguish from non-facts. Be sure it is
not a matter of opinion and can be verified. Stats, reports,
and examples of actual events are good places to go.
 Acknowledge that you might be wrong about certain facts.
(Check out important stuff that you “just remember.”)
 Use reliable sources.
 Unless it is obvious, cite it!
 Opinions:
 Try to use informed opinions by informed people.
 Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but not everyone’s
opinion is justified. 13-10
 Organize Your Ideas
Try to find the most logical order in which to present your ideas. To help you out
try…
 Organizing by Premises: list the claim first, and then each premise.
 Organizing by method of development:
 Identify missing premises in your argument
 Discover if certain methods—illustration, contrast/comparison, definition, etc.—will work
best to defend each claim.
 Use the Problem-Solution Pattern: either…
 State the problem and then the solution.
 State the solution and then the problem.
 State the problem, some alternate solutions, and then your own.
 Use the Evaluative Pattern: compare to criteria.
 Respond to your Opponent’s Argument. either…
 Start the paper with opposing viewpoints.
 Mention them within each of your premise paragraphs.
 Save them for the end.
 Try Combining Patterns.
 By the end you should have a topic sentence for every major portion of your paper’s body.
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 Writing the first draft
The pre-writing phase is very important; if done
correctly and thoroughly the first draft should come
easy.
But be open to revision; don’t feel like you can’t
change what you came up with in the pre-writing
stages—even if it is your conclusion!
There are four steps:
 Provide an interesting opening.
 Include a thesis statement.
 Develop your body paragraphs.
 Provide a satisfying conclusion.
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 Provide an Interesting
Opening
 Usually, in an argument paper, you want to
introduce the topic and show why it is
important.
 If your conclusion is widely accepted, you may
need to show why you are bothering defending
it. (Perhaps it is not known that people do
disagree with your claim.)

13-13
 Include a Thesis Statement
 The more clearly, precisely, and up front you state
your thesis the better.
 This is not a mystery novel; you don’t wait to reveal the
“solution” until the end.
 The less your readers have to guess at what you are getting
at, the more they will understand your argument.
 Limit your thesis statement to what you will defend.
 It is also good to include some detail on how your will
defend your thesis (i.e., what your premises are, what
objections you will look at, in what order, etc.).
 This is often called a “roadmap” for it tells your reader
“where” you are going. 13-14
 Develop Your Body
Paragraphs
 Start each body paragraph with a topic
sentence (you should have many of these
already) and develop each paragraph with
details that support the topic sentence.
 Try to make sure the arguments flow as well as
possible.

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 Provide a Satisfying
Conclusion
 Always remember to “close up shop.” You don’t want to simply end your
argument after defending your last premise. Make sure you say “goodbye”
so the reader knows you’re done.
 In a shorter paper, there is no reason to repeat your whole argument;
maybe close with a restatement of your thesis statement.
 In a longer paper, however, it helps to restate your main ideas: your thesis,
and your main lines of support.
 It also helps to do one of the following:
 Return to an example from the introduction.
 Make a prediction about your topic.
 Ask a related yet answered question.
 Call for action.
 End with a different story.
 Emphasize the importance of your claim.

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 After the first daft
It is usually best to set it aside for a while, and then
return to it. (Otherwise you will look past mistakes.)
Usually our first words are not our best so don’t “fall in
love” with what you wrote and refuse to revise; be
open to revision!
There are four steps:
 Read what you have written and revise.

 Consider what you have not written and revise.

 Show your work.

 Edit your work.

 Hand it in.
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 Read what you have written
and revise
 Don’t just look for grammar, spelling and
awkward language.
 Try to read it from the vantage point of
someone who disagrees. Identify if you are
making a good case or if you are ignoring
objections, assuming what you always have, or
committing other critical thinking mistakes.

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 Last Steps
 Consider what you have not written: As you read, object to
your argument every way you can. If you find a serious
objection, you will need to revise to account for it.
 Show your work: Let someone else see it and get their honest
opinion. If they offer no criticism, prod them for some.
 Edit your work: Check each sentence for grammatical mistakes
and so forth. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Read it out loud!
(You can even get the computer to read it for you!
www.readplease.com) You’ll be amazed at the mistakes you
will find.
 Hand it in! Your paper will never be perfect so don’t wait until
you think it is to hand it in. Just make sure you have gone
through all the steps. 13-19