Argumentative Essay

In this kind of essay, we not only give information but also present an argument with the PROS (supporting ideas) and CONS (opposing ideas) of an argumentative issue. We should clearly take our stand and write as if we are trying to persuade an opposing audience to adopt new beliefs or behavior. The primary objective is to persuade people to change beliefs that many of them do not want to change.

Steps in choosing a topic 1. It should be narrowed down. X Marijuana should be considered illegal. (Not a good topic because it is too general. In some medical cases, marijuana is prescribed by the doctors and the patients are encouraged to use it in case of suffering from too much pain) Selling and using marijuana in public places should be considered illegal.

2. it should contain an argument.

X We should decide whether we want a bicycle or a car. (our stand is not clear: do we support having bicycles or cars?) If we are under the age of 30 and want a healthy life, we should definitely get a bicycle instead of a car.

X Are you one of those who thinks cheating is not good for students? (a question cannot be an argument) Cheating helps students learn. X Considering its geological position, Turkey has an important geopolitical role in the EU. (facts cannot be arguments) Considering its geopolitical role, we can clearly say that the EU cannot be without Turkey.

3. It should be a topic that can be adequately supported (with statistics, outside source citations, etc.)
X I feel that writing an argumentative essay is definitely a challenging task. (feelings cannot be supported; we cannot persuade other people)

Organization
There are three possible organization patterns: Pattern 1: Thesis statement: PRO idea 1 PRO idea 2 CON(s) + Refutation(s) Conclusion

Pattern 2: Thesis statement:

CON(s) + Refutation(s) PRO idea 1 PRO idea 2 Conclusion

Pattern 3: Thesis statement:

CON idea 1 CON idea 2 CON idea 3 Conclusion ---> ---> ---> Refutation Refutation Refutation

Supporting Ideas
This is the most important part when persuading others. We are asking some people to change their beliefs or actions. We should be supporting our ideas with such facts, statistics and/or authorities that there should not be room for any doubts.

Here are some faulty supports that you must avoid:

Thesis: Leaving the university and starting to work is good for the adolescent because Feelings, emotional arguments ( it makes one feel much better.) Irrelevant examples (wandering off the topic) ( he would then be able to take his girlfriend to expensive restaurants.)

 Oversimplification ( only then would he understand what it means to be an adult.) Hasty generalizations (... it is a widely known fact that all adolescents look forward to earning money.) Unreliable, even false outside sources ( according to www.doubtme.com, 80% of working men wish they quit school when they were at university and started working at an earlier age.)

Refuting opposing arguments

Before we start saying that the opponents are wrong, we should specify their opposing ideas. Otherwise, it would be like hitting the other person with eyes closed. We should see clearly what we are hitting and be prepared beforehand so that he cannot hit us back. We can do this by knowing what we are refuting.

e.g. X Some people may say that adolescents should not leave university education; however, they are wrong. (what they say is not wrong. Maybe their supporting idea is wrong /irrelevant /insufficient. We should state their supporting idea specifically to be able to refute it.)

 Some people may say that adolescents should not leave university education because they are not physically and psychologically mature enough to cope with the problems of the real world. However, they forget one fact: adolescents can vote or start driving at the age of 18 (in some countries even before that age!), which proves that they are considered physically and psychologically mature at that age.

Language

Signposts gain importance in the argumentative essay. They enable the readers to follow our arguments easily. When pointing out opposing arguments (CONs): Opponents of this idea claim / maintain that Those who disagree / are against these ideas may say / assert that Some people may disagree with this idea.

When stating specifically why they think like that: They put forward this idea because They claim that since Reaching the turning point: However, but On the other hand,

When refuting the opposing idea, we may use the following strategies: compromise but prove that their argument is not powerful enough: They have a point in thinking like that. To a certain extent they are right. completely disagree: After seeing this evidence, there is no way we can agree with what they say.

 say that their argument is irrelevant to the topic: What we are discussing here is not what they are trying to prove. Their argument is irrelevant.

To write an argumentative essay, use the following steps to help you: 1. Begin by introducing the debate topic in your own words. 2. Then write if you agree or disagree with the argument 3. Tell people why you hold that opinion and come up with ideas and examples to back up your arguments. Try to put these ideas in an order with the most important ideas first and links between each idea so that the essay flows well.

 4. Think about why people might have a different opinion (objections) and try to show why they are not important or they are not true. 5. Conclude with a brief summary and try to make a strong last sentence that people will remember.

For example Oprah Winfrey famously wrote," I believe the choice to be excellent begins with aligning your thoughts and words with the intention to require more from yourself." The rest of the article maybe forgotten, but that strong sentence is remembered.

The goal of argument is to gain your reader's assent to your central proposition, despite active opposition
We argue not because we're angry, but because arguing causes us to examine our own and others' ideas carefully. It causes us to weigh conflicting claims; to make judgments about the nature of evidence and the methods of investigation; to state our thoughts clearly, accurately, and honestly; to consider, respectfully and critically, the ideas of others.
http://www.powa.org/argument/index.html

Arguing in Context
Writer: A college freshman away from home and working part-time at a fast-food restaurant to pay her expenses, a serious student majoring in pre-medicine but getting mentally and emotionally exhausted from the various pressures in her life. Reader: Her parents, but especially her father who, she knows, will make the final decision after talking the issue out with her mother.

Her father is a successful banker, generally loving and supportive but a bit old-fashioned in that he wants the daughter to get the kind of education that would fit her for a more conventional "woman's role" in society, maybe dental hygiene or nursing since she is interested in medicine. Her mother almost always remains subordinate to the father, but exerts a great deal of influence on the father and has at least hinted that she supports the girl's desire to become a doctor. Purpose: To persuade her father to temporarily increase his level of financial support by a hundred dollars a month so that she can quit her job and concentrate more on her studies.

Stating Your Proposition

Argumentative proposition= thesis statement stating main point helps you direct, develop and monitor at 1st, hunches or good guesses probably will be modified or revised make a claim that is open to debate

Examples
Some people ruin things for everyone vague provides no direction A small group of thoughtless fans is jeopardizing the schools whole soccer program. precise
propositions

Anticipating Opposition
sense an adversary
How strong is the opposition? What arguments might it use against my proposition? How can I refute these arguments? Will I have to concede any points? Which of my arguments might the opposition try to discredit? How closely does my reader identify with opposition? Can I see any weak links in my adversary?

Pro and Con Chart

Proposition: The Medical Records department should set up an incentive program that pays all transcriptionists a bonus of ten cents a line for all lines typed over nine hundred a day.

For 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

(Pro) Faster typists would produce more lines. Faster typists would make more money. One less transcriptionist would be needed. One less word processing machine would be needed. Less office space would be needed. One less benefit package would be needed. Less overtime would be required. Less sick time would be paid.

Against (Con)
1. Typists would do not do other duties, such as paper work. 2. Typists would try to type the easier reports. 3. Typists would do a poorer quality of work. 4. Slower typists would be mad. 5. Typists could make more money than the boss. 6. Other people in the department would be mad.

Expanding Your Argument

Develop points listed in chart. Think in terms of paragraphs.
Examples, explanation, comparison and contrast, facts

Arguments for is confirming

Clear, reasonable, solid

Arguments against is refuting

Show how case is weak

Both are essential

Three Argumentative Appeals

Reason
Briefly informal reasoning requires clearly linking your
general claims with concrete, specific data.

Ethics
If you misrepresent the implications of your own value structure, or seek to hurt some individual or group, you can expect to alienate your readers.

Emotion
emotional appeals must be used with restraint and discretion, or they may prove counterproductive.

Inductive reasoning
Thinking begins with specifics and moves toward a generalization. If you were to taste several green, plump grapes and then draw the conclusion that all green, plump grapes are sour, this is inductive reasoning.

In writing
have you examined the evidence carefully? does the evidence justify your conclusion? have you given enough specific evidence to make readers believe your thinking is sound and conclusion is true?

Deductive reasoning
Thinking begins with general and moves toward specifics by taking a general principle that you know to be true and use it to understand a specific situation. For example, bad weather reduces business for outdoor restaurants. Today is cold and rainy. From this knowledge, you can say Business will be slow today at the outdoor restaurants. This is deductive reasoning.

Ethics
The best way to put ethical appeal in your writing is to build a strong, healthy relationship with your readers. Convince them that they can trust you to be fair, honest, well-informed, and well-intentioned. Then having established that trust, dont betray it.
http://www.powa.org/argument/appeals.html

Activity
Letting 10 represent the highest and 1 the lowest, rate the following public figures for their appeal to character. Of course, youll be considering more that just writing, but the activity should still give you some insight into what ethos is and how it affects credibility. When youve finished, compare your ratings with those of a partner. Discuss the reasons for your scoring. a. c. e. g. i. Manny Pacquiao Barrack Obama Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo Katrina Halili Tiger Woods b. Adolf Hitler d. Benigno Aquino Jr. f. BB Gandang Hari h. Michael Jackson j. Mayor Ampatuan

Emotion
Dont overdo emotion or people wont take you seriously, but a little bit of emotion will probably help if carefully reasoned and honestly presented.

Illustrate or dramatize an idea

For example, if stiffer measures are needed against drunk drivers, find a place to include a description of the face of a child who was injured in a drunk driving accident. OR tell the story of a driver who caused several accidents because the individuals license was never revoked.

Careful word choice

Drunk or intoxicated drivers a menace or a concern Thrown into jail or incarcerated Teach them a lesson or make them aware of the consequences of their actions

Form: Tradition and Innovation

essential parts include the

Introduction Statement of the Case Proposition Refutation Confirmation Conclusion

Introduction
Focus your readers attention. Begin with a fact or example Note a common misconception Raise a question Make a bold assertion

Introduction
Torture: The word itself brings shivers to the spine and sickness to the stomach. It conjures up pictures of bamboo strips being driven under fingernails, electric shocks being applied to delicate body parts and toes and ears being systematically cut off. Immediate sympathy is felt for the one being tortured and revulsion for the torturer. It is generally assumed that torture is barbaric, a throwback to a more brutal age. Enlightened, civilized societies reject it outright, and regimes suspected of using it risk the wrath of the United States. I believe that this attitude is unwise. There are situations in which torture is not merely permissible, but needed (Levin).

Statement of the Case

Tell the story behind the argument. Give any necessary background information. Clarify the issue. Characterize and define the issue in terms that work for your argument.

Proposition Statement
State your proposition (purpose) much as you would the thesis in a thesis/support essay Perhaps set up expectations by hinting at important sub points that will be considered.

Refutation
Examine and refute opposition arguments. Expose faulty reasoning. Use these transitions: since, because, if, therefore, as a result, consequently, however, but, on the other hand, so

Refutation
Torturing the terrorist is unconstitutional, but millions of lives surely outweigh unconstitutionality. Torture is barbaric. Mass murder is far more barbaric. Indeed, letting millions of innocents die in deference to one who flaunts his guilt is moral cowardice. If you caught the terrorist, could you sleep nights knowing that millions died because you could not bring yourself to apply the electrodes (Levin)?

Confirmation
Develop and support your own case, much in the manner of a traditional /thesis/support essay. Use examples, facts, and statistics to back up your claims. Base your appeal primarily on logic.

Confirmation
1. 2. 3. 4.

Order Second most important point Point of lesser importance Point of lesser importance Most important point anchors your argument like the knock-out punch in a boxing match

Conclusion
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Whatever you do, end strongly. Finish with conviction. Ringing conclusion Review of your main points A reference to something in introduction A plea for action Discuss defections from the opposition.

Conclusion
There is little danger that the Western democracies will lose their way if they choose to inflict pain as one way of preserving order. Paralysis in the face of evil is the greater danger. Some day soon a terrorist will threaten tens of thousands of lives, and torture will be the only way to save them. We had better start thinking about this (Levin).