Argumentative Writing: Prewriting and Drafting Argumentative Writing

Basics of Argumentative Writing Goal—convince your audience to think, believe, or act a specific way concerning a topic.

Basics of Argumentative Writing Four things that effective persuasion does are the following: 1. States a clear opinion on the topic. (main idea/thesis) 2. Gives convincing support for this opinion (reasons or evidence) 3. May appeal to the reader’s emotion. 4. Takes opposing viewpoints into account

Prewriting Choose a topic that 1. you will be interested in 2. the audience will find interesting 3. about which you are knowledgeable enough to write 4. about which you can identify opposing viewpoints 5. about which you will be able to write a statement of opinion

Prewriting A statement of opinion is written in this fashion: I believe __________________ because ____________, ___________ and ____________. You will need at least three reasons that you believe your opinion on the issue.

Prewriting Opinion—what a person believes or thinks about an issue but cannot be proved by direct observation (use of the five senses) Fact—something that can be proven by direct observation *One can check the truth of a fact

Prewriting Evidence 1. What kinds of support can I use to argue my position on the issue? 2. What pieces of support should I use? (Facts, examples, expert opinions) 3. What kinds of appeals can I make to the audience? (Emotional, logical)

Prewriting Audience 1. Who is my audience for this piece of writing? 2. What is my audience likely to feel about my issue? 3. What arguments will those who disagree with me use? 4. How can I convince them that these arguments are faulty?

Drafting The structure that follows is the structure you are to use to write your argumentative essay. Remember that your first draft should not be perfect—worry more about getting it written than about how it looks or if it has mistakes.

Drafting I. Introduction A. Hook the reader (see handout on basic essay structure) B. State the significance of the argument. (Why should the reader care about the issue?) C. Give background on the issue. (What is the history of the issue? What does a reader need to know to understand the issue?) D. State the thesis—your position on the issue— your statement of opinion.

Drafting II. Body A. Support for the thesis—each main point should be a topic sentence for a paragraph with supporting sentences that back up this topic sentence.

Drafting 1. Appeal to reason a. appeals to the audience’s intelligence and common sense: i. Facts are statements whose truth can be verified by observation or research, can be validated via the five senses ii. Facts employing numbers are statistics. b. uses cause/effect or definition structure

Drafting i.Cause/effect structure gives causes for events of conditions—why things happen (causes) and what happens as a result (effects). ii.Definition structure is when one gives a term and shows to what group it belongs and the specific things that are covered by the term.

Drafting 2. Appeal to authority a. appeals from people that the audience will respect/listen to i. Expert opinions are the judgments formed by authorities on the basis of their own examination of their facts. Choose expert opinions based on audience ii. Opinions of well know and liked people (be careful here—they may not have opinions that work well)

Drafting 3. Appeal to the reader’s beliefs, needs or emotions a. Use a reader’s emotional responses to get him or her to believe the thesis. i. One of the best ways to do this is to give very specific examples. ii. Examples are specific instances of the point being made, including historical precedents (stories often used to elicit emotional responses from the audience—pity, amusement, anger, fear, righteousness)

Drafting b. Three types of emotional appeals that may backfire: i.) Bandwagon—based on the desire to join the crowd ii.) Flattery—based on the desire to think highly of oneself iii.) Testimonial—based on the desire to identify self with the famous, important or knowledgeable--same as b above)

Drafting c. Appeals to beliefs or needs are statements that ask readers to accept an assertion, in part, because it states something they accept as true without evidence (on faith) or because it coincides with their needs.

Drafting B. Opposing viewpoints 1. Explain why people would believe or think the opposite (counterthesis) a. Refute the evidence that you can— prove it wrong b. Deal with evidence you cannot ("Despite piece of evidence X, I believe Y because of all the other evidence in its favor.“)

Drafting C. Arrange these pieces of support by order of importance (or strength of argument).

Drafting III. Conclusion 1. A restatement of my thesis (weakest conclusion—will not score well in your grade) in stronger words 2. A statement about the importance of the argument and my stance on it. (better) 3. A call to action—now that I’ve convinced you, go do something about it (best) 4. Restate the reasons that you hold your opinion (your main points)