The Argumentative Essay

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TheArgumentative Essay

• Your OWN argument rather than somebody elses

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AP Free Response Questions

• ANALYTICAL ESSAY
• Analyze how an author achieves his purpose in a
  passage
• Periodical Project, Hamlet test essay, in-class
  prompts from 1st quarter, 1st semester final exam
  essay
• ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
• Defend, qualify, or refute a claim.
• Hamlet essay
• SYNTHESIS ESSAY
• Take a position on an issue, incorporating
  material from a set of 5-7 sources
• Saint or Aint, CARP

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The Argumentative Essay

• Presents an opinion/question and asks you to
• Argue for, (support, defend, etc.)
• YES
• Qualify/Modify
• YES, BUT
• Argue against (deny, refute, etc.)
• NO
• Support with your reading, observation, or
  experience

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The Art of Persuasion in Action

• Everything we have studied about rhetoric comes
  into play here.
• Rhetorical strategies
• Any strategy that can be analyzed in other essays
  can be employed here BY YOU!
• 3 Appeals (Pathos, Logos, Ethos)
• Details/facts, examples, analogy, personal
  experience
• Patterns of development
• Style diction, tone, syntax, tropes and schemes!

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The Format for Your Essay

• Present a context for your claim.
• State your claim. Be clear about your position
  in reference to the topic/quote.
• Support your claim.
• Acknowledge/Refute opposition.
• Summarize and conclude.
• Not a be-all, end-all formula.

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An Argumentative Prompt

• Affirm, deny, or qualify the following statement.
  Support your position with material from your
  reading, observation, or experience.
• Illinois schools should eliminate the current
  three-month summer break and adopt a system of
  year-round schooling, in which students attend
  school for six weeks at a time, interspersed with
  two-week breaks.

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As You Plan, Consider

• Implications/Consequences
• If this happens, what might follow?
• The Big Picture
• Who/what else might be affected?
• Counter-Arguments
• What are the downsides to my proposal/position?
• Grouping/Structure
• What ties my points together?
• Context!more on that in a minute

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Argumentative Contexts

• Context a unified angle or domain of support
• Is there a _________ argument to be made about
  this issue?
• You can argue a position from a number of
  contexts. This helps you to focus your argument,
  so that you can cogently and logically accomplish
  your task within the 40-min. time frame.
• Your support need not all fall under one context,
  but frame it in terms of an overarching one

Cultural Academic Health Safety Political
Gender Historical Generational Medical
Moral Religious Environmental Social
Economic Aesthetic Self-Expression Legal
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e.g. Cars Should Be Banned.
SIDE CONTEXT SUPPORT
YES Health/Safety Fewer accidents, more exercise, less smog
YES Aesthetic fewer lots/garages ? more naturally beautiful world
YES, BUT Generational Only ban gas-guzzlers prior ages got along without them! Youngsters must learn frugality.
NO Cultural Modern car an American invention ban robs us of a cultural institution
NO Economic Lose 1,000s of jobs, exports
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As You Write

• Consider organizing by context, by chronology, by
  importance, or by scale (small picture?big
  picture)
• Avoid fallacies, especially generalizations
  overstatements
• Avoid lazy/meaningless statements
• Nature or nurture? Its mostly based on what
  you do as a person.
• You cant BS your way through this. You must
  show an ability to think maturely about an issue.

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The Theoretical Prompt

• Sometimes the prompt wont present an issue,
  but a provocative quote.
• Its been said that good can come from evil.
  Write a well-organized essay that affirms,
  denies, or modifies this statement. Support your
  position using material from your reading,
  observation, or experience.
• Reading, observation, experience? LIME!