Writing%20Argument

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Writing Argument
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To focus and refine the topic

• ??(issue)???(topic)???
• ????
• ??????????,???????
• ??????????(thesis)

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• Issue any topic of concern and controversy
• The question at issue
• Focus on one clear and precise question at issue

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• A single issue may contain any number of separate
  and distinct questions as issue. Your task as a
  writer is to isolate a particular question at
  issue and stay focused on it.

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The Thesis

• The thesis states the writers position, her
  response to the question at issue, the conclusion
  of her argument, the primary claim she is making.
• Your thesis takes central stage in both the final
  paper your write and the thinking you do as you
  conduct your research and prepare drafts. It
  controls the evidence you gather and clarifies
  the stand you want to take.

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• Sometimes when we begin exploring a topic for a
  paper, we may not know our position. We may need
  to learn more about the question at issue through
  research before arriving at a conclusion.
• We dont necessarily have to arrive at a
  completely yes or no response to the question at
  issue.
• Keep in mind that argument dont always have to
  be adversarial.

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• In essays by professional writers, the thesis is
  sometimes indirectly stated it may be implicit
  rather than explicit. In general, the more
  experienced the writer, the more she is able to
  write a focused essay without an explicit thesis.

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In sum

• Select an issue that is debatable, an issue on
  which you can argue more than one position.
• Narrow that issue to a focused question at issue.
• Write a working thesis that makes an assertion
  about this question at issue your thesis states
  your opinion on the question at issue.

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Two kinds of thesis statements

• Open thesis and complete thesis
• A compromise (three examples of p.91)
• Which thesis statement is preferable?
• The complexity of the topic, the length of the
  paper, the needs of your audience, and the
  purpose of your project
• A thesis is not necessarily restricted to one
  sentence.

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Exercise identifying the issue, question at
issue, and thesis

• ??lt???????gt,??????,???,September, 2006
• ???????(topic) ,??(issue) ,????????(questions)
  ,???????(thesis)

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• ??
• ??
• ??(???????)
• ??

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Writing Process

• WLTC, Ch.1 11-25
• VR, Ch. 1 11-30
• Class exercise 1. your writing process
• 2. checklist for critiquing personal writing

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• To find a source of information
• Clarify the writing goal
• Writing from personal experience

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• The first thing to remember is that you are
  unique.
• Things happen in the world that affect you, but
  they affect you in a specific way because you are
  yourself and not someone else.
• The interplay of personal uniqueness and outside
  events can supply raw material for informative,
  worthwhile, and interesting essays.

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• Brainstorming
• Free writing
• Issue tress (????)

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Peer feedback

• ????????????????issues tress
• ?????
• ???????

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Peer critiquing

• Checking lists of pp.17-18
• What did I find interesting?
• What does it look like I can learn from this?
• What insights caught my attention?
• What sentence or section seemed best?
• What sentence or section seemed weakest?
• What parts would I like to see explained more?

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• What parts should be omitted?
• What parts seemed real?
• What part seemed phony?
• What parts did the author really care about?
• What part seemed worth writing an essay about?
• What idea held the whole piece together?
• What was the most important idea?
• What idea might tie the different points together?

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Drafting the essay

• A draft is an attempt to impose structure on the
  ideas that you have been generating.
• To create a first draft, study the comments that
  your peers have made in order to find a topic
  that is both interesting and productive.

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shaping a written argumentrhetorical strategies

• Rhetoric The art of using language to good
  effect, to prove, to convince, to persuade.
  (Aristotle)
• ???
• The introduction
• The development of your argument
• The conclusion

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The Introduction

• Background information
• Relevant narrative that illustrates your question
  at issue,
• --euthanasia a day in the life of a terminally
  ill patient
• --a relevant quotation
• --to open with an opposing view and build your
  argument on a refutation of what is often the
  prevailing wisdom on an issue

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• State your thesis somewhere in the introductory
  paragraphs so that your reader is clear about the
  purpose of the essay

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The development of your argument

• Thesis have to be elaborated, explained, and
  defended with as much specific detail, example,
  and illustration as your can provide.
• You may draw on personal experience, research,
  and respected authorities to support your
  position.
• Called the confirmation of your position, this
  support should be connected explicitly to your
  thesis unless the logical ties are self-evident.

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• A single premise paragraph (p.94)
• A multipremise paragraph (p.95)
• How many premises should an argument have?

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The Conclusion

• No simple rule of thumb
• If your paper is long and complex, you need to
  help your reader by briefly summarizing where you
  have been and what your propose.
• If you present only a tentative or partial thesis
  in the introduction, then you need to be sure
  that your final position is clear in the
  conclusion.

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• If you think that further investigation is still
  needed before you can arrive at a responsible
  conclusion on the issue, then recommend what
  direction you think such investigation should
  take.
• If, as a result of your argument, you have
  definite recommendations for action, your
  conclusion can carry such suggestions.
• ??

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• Every discourse, like a living creature, should
  be so put together that it has its own body and
  lacks neither head nor feet, middle nor
  extremities, all composed in such a way that they
  suit both each other and the whole. (Plato,
  Phaedrus)

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The Dialectical Approach to Argument

• Effective argument is more than the
  straightforward presentation of a thesis,
  premises, and their support. Most issues worth
  arguing today are complex, with evidence
  sometimes contradictory or ambiguous.
• Interplay of conflict interweaving premises and
  counterarguments

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• What we agree with leaves us inactive, but
  contradiction makes us productive (Goethe)
• To argue the to her side with a friend until you
  have found the answer to every point which might
  be brought up to against you (Roosevelt)
• One mark of a maturing mind is the ability to
  take anothers point of view and thus be capable
  of considering two conflicting views on the same
  issue. (Piaget)

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Addressing counterarguments

• Pay careful attention to opposing views
• How such strategies strengthen your own position
  (p.97)
• How much counterargument?
• In any case, a writer cannot ignore the most
  compelling opposing premises even if they provide
  the greatest challenge to the writers own view.

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Refutation and concession

• ????????,?98-99?
• Rogerian strategy
• Empathythe ability to see the expressed idea and
  attitude from the other persons point of view,
  to sense how it feels to him, to achieve his
  frame of reference in regard to the thing he is
  talking about

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Essential triad in argument Logos, ethos, and
pathos (Aristotle)

• Logos the argument itself
• Ethos the disposition of the writer to present
  herself well
• Pathos empathy with the audience

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Logos

• Logos refers to logical appeal, and in fact the
  term logic evolves from it. Logos normally
  implies numbers, polls, and other mathematical or
  scientific data.
• Logos has many advantages
• Data is hard to manipulate, meaning that it is
  harder to argue against a logos argument.
• For the same reason, it may sway cynical
  listeners to the speaker's opinion.
• Logos enhances ethos by making the speaker look
  prepared and knowledgeable to the audience.

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• Logos also has many disadvantages
• Numbers may not be obvious to many listeners, so
  the argument may pass unheeded.
• Logos asks the question, "But why should I care?"
  because they are not as involving as emotional
  appeal.
• Logos can be downright confusing in some
  instances.
• The best way to present an argument is to combine
  logos with the other forms of appeal.

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Ethos

• Ethos (????) is a Greek word originally meaning
  'the place of living' that can be translated into
  English in different ways. Some possibilities are
  'starting point', 'to appear', 'disposition' and
  from there, 'character'. From the same Greek root
  originates the word ethikos (??????), meaning
  'theory of living', and from there, the modern
  English word ethics is derived.

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• At first speakers must establish ethos. On the
  one hand, this can mean merely "moral
  competence", but Aristotle broadens this word to
  encompass expertise and knowledge. He expressedly
  remarks that ethos should be achieved only by
  what the speaker says, not by what people think
  of his character before he begins to speak. This
  position is often disputed and other writers on
  rhetoric state that ethos is connected to the
  overall moral character and history of the
  speaker.

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Pathos

• Pathos is from ÏÎσÏειν paschein, the Greek
  word meaning "to suffer" or "emotion." Pathos
  appeals to the audience's emotions.
• Emotional appeal can be accomplished in a
  multitude of ways
• by metaphor or story telling, common as a hook,
• by a general passion in the delivery and an
  overall amount of emotional items in the text of
  the speech,
• and as a closing device, where pathos can be
  particularly powerful.

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• The essential bond between writer and reader that
  leads to meaningful communication
• To write convincing argument, you, the writer,
  must present yourself as a reasonable,
  sympathetic person at the same time that you
  convey respect for your readers.

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For an effective argument

• Express your thesis clearly
• Support your own position a thoroughly as
  possible
• Present relevant opposing views
• Provide appropriate concessions and refutations
• Develop empathy with your audience

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Application to Writing

• Logical joining of contrasting and concessive
  ideas
• Exercise, p.103

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More on Coherence

• To develop rhetorical patterns of coherence
  throughout paper
• To hold the different parts together by an almost
  invisible glue
• Your thesis should guide you as you build
  paragraphs and create a thread that weaves its
  way from opening sentence to conclusion, each
  paragraph relating back to the thesis.

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• Every sentence should follow from the sentence
  before it each paragraph must follow logically
  from the one preceding it.
• As a writer, you take your readers hand, never
  letting your reader stray from the flow of your
  argument.
• If you were to cut your paper into individual
  paragraphs, shake them up, and throw them in the
  air, a stranger should have no difficulty putting
  them together in the original order.

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• To arrange points in a logical sequence, select
  joining conjunctions and major transitions
  carefully, and repeat or echo key words to keep
  your reader focused on your train of thought.
• A caution coherent devices should not be
  heavy-handed or too obvious. Remember to go
  lightly on the major transitions. It is the
  logical progression of your ideas that is
  important, not the deployment of conjunctions
  alone.

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?? identifying coherent strategies

• Identifying the ways in which the writer has
  achieved coherence, both between sentences and
  between paragraphs. Explain the precise way in
  which each example works to create these links.

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Identifying rhetorical features of argument

• Thesis
• Premises
• Counterarguments
• Concession and refutations used to address the
  counter arguments
• Rogerian strategy

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Four approaches to writing arguments

• Arguing both sides of an issue
• Taking a stand
• Exploring on argument in depth
• Collaborating on a complex issue

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Arguing both sides of an issue

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Taking a stand

• A clear thesis to guide you as a writer and
  prepare your reader
• Support for this thesisplenty of well-reasoned
  premises supported with examples, explanation,
  and analysis
• Counterarguments with appropriate concessions and
  refutations
• Sentences logically joined for contrast and
  concession, cause and effect, and coherence

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Exploring an Argument in Depth

• An introduction that presents the question at
  issue with appropriate background, acknowledges
  its complexity, and suggests your thesis even
  though you may not be taking a clear stand either
  pro or con
• A detailed discussion of arguments for as many
  positions as possible

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• Refutations and concessions as appropriate for a
  thoughtful examination of alternatives
• Your personal recommendation on the issue, based
  on an evaluation in which you weigh the strengths
  and weaknesses of the positions you have
  presented, a synthesis of them, a call for
  further investigation, or a summary of possible
  alternatives.