A RGUMENTS Unit III: Structure and Assessment

A RGUMENT IN A CADEME Not disagreement Not focused on winning Based in logic and reason Recognizes complexity Truth-seeking Recognizes and addresses counter-arguments Evaluated according to strength/reliability of reasons and evidence

S TARTING POINT Start with a question rather than an answer. Why? Push you to examine more than just one side of the problem. How focused/specific? Depends on length, audience: Your paper 4 pages—not enough for a broad issue. Too broad: “Should church and state be absolutely separate?” Better: Should Virginia public schools allow a designated “worship space?”

CLAIM Statement/assertion of what you’re trying to prove. It’s the answer to your research question. Thesis is not a question. Major claim is your thesis. Too broad: “Church and State should be kept absolutely separate” Better: “Public schools, while keeping all other aspects of education religion-free, should allow a separate “worship space” for students to freely practice their faiths. Our class: do not underline thesis statement.

R EASONS What would be the “because” in your argument....allow worship spaces, because absolute separation of church and state infringes on one’s right to practice one’s religion. Generally, you need more than one or two reasons to adequately support a claim.

S UPPORT Ethos: Ethical Appeals Establishing your credibility and trustworthiness as a researcher and writer. Logos: Appeals to Reason Evidence: Facts Statistics Examples Illustrations Expert opinion Pathos: Emotional appeals Logos_Ethos_Pathos

U NIT 3 PAPER Not an original argument, but an examination of how sources support or argue for your claim and of how sources might refute your claim. Skills developed in this paper: scholarly research evaluation of sources through close and critical reading using critical thinking and synthesis of source material to arrive at a reasonable claim using sources to support your claim: accurate summary and critical analysis of sources integrating source material dealing effectively with counter arguments

A NALYZING AN A RGUMENT ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING Observations. From a series of observations, we can come to establish: Facts. From a series of facts, or from an absence of fact, we make: Inferences. Testing the validity of our inferences, we can make: Assumptions. From our assumptions, we form our: Opinions. Taking our opinions, we use evidence and the principles of logic to develop: Arguments. And when we want to test our arguments and to challenge the arguments of others, we employ: Critical Analysis (through which we challenge the observations, facts, inferences, assumptions, and opinions in the arguments that we are analyzing).

M ODEL OF P ROCESS FOR U NIT 3 Pose a research question: How might global warming affect the locavore movement? Do preliminary research to understand the social and intellectual contexts of the issue and to identify any points of debate htm htm sfed-beef-can-solve-global-warming/ sfed-beef-can-solve-global-warming/

Determine if scholarly research is available. Arrive at tentative claim: To reduce the negative impact and effects of global warming on the food supply and on the environment, small local farms will become the main suppliers of the global food supply. Find scholarly sources with support your claim: %20--%20Small%20Farm% htm %20--%20Small%20Farm% htm 46/ 46/ 32/ 32/

Find a scholarly source that refutes your claim: 46/ 46/ romPage=online&aid= Summarize sources and support and explain/analyze how they support your claim romPage=online&aid= Summarize source in opposition and rebut to show why your claim is valid. Determine what else you need to research/consider to write a full-scale argument in support of your claim.