1. The use of evidence and reason to defend a stance or point of view
ARGUMENT
The use of evidence and reason to defend a stance or point of view

2. Note: Some claims must be qualified/limited.
The Claim
The debatable and controversial statement or assertion the speaker hopes to prove.
We make claims about matters that are uncertain, that we can’t establish absolutely or definitely.
Note: Some claims must be qualified/limited.

3. Sample Argument Prompt
In his 1998 book Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality, Neal Gabler wrote the following.
One does not necessarily have to cluck in disapproval to admit that
entertainment is all the things its detractors say it is: fun, effortless,
sensational, mindless, formulaic, predictable, and subversive. In fact, one
might argue that those are the very reasons so many people love it.
At the same time, it is not hard to see why cultural aristocrats in the
nineteenth century and intellectuals in the twentieth hated entertainment
and why they predicted, as one typical nineteenth century critic railed,
that its eventual effect would be “to overturn all morality, to poison the
springs of domestic happiness, to dissolve the ties of our social order, and
to involve our country in ruin.
Write a thoughtful and carefully constructed essay in which you use specific evidence to defend, challenge, or qualify the assertion that entertainment has the capacity to “ruin” society.

4. In your CLAIM (i.e. your thesis), you must state your position.
Take a position
Defend (Agree) – Support a claim/position in a prompt
Challenge (Disagree) – Go against a claim/position in a prompt
Qualify – Agree or disagree but with limitations (give exceptions)
In your CLAIM (i.e. your thesis), you must state your position.

5. Writing an Effective Claim
Recommended format:
C – Concession (Although; despite)
A – Argument (Statement of position)
B – Because (Statement of reasons) **
** Does not need to be stated explicitly in the thesis, but it should be part of the thought process and planning.

6. Sample Thesis Statements
(Essay 1) Claim: Although some proclaim that the entertainment industry has poisoned society, entertainment operates on a far more positive position for society. (Essay 2) Claim: …certainly, I agree that some extreme forms of entertainment do have the capacity to “ruin.” However, in most instances of “risky” books, movies, and plays – entertainment (conservatively seen as damnable) has something to offer beyond the cover, that most people are not willing to look for.

7. Sample Introduction
(Essay 1) Introduction: The gates of the transport unhinge and with it comes a shower of bullets, mixed with tracer ammunition, a rainfall of death produced by German machine guns on courageous Americans in the Normandy invasion. As troops progress up the war torn, blood-stained beach, a nearby explosion sends movie-goers to the backs of their seats. Yes, the scene described is from the opening scene of the famed Saving Private Ryan, one of the most visually spectacular war flicks of all time. Only entertainment? No. An insight to the harsh, momentous, and cruel realities of war? Yes. Movies such as this, from their widespread acceptance and promise, demonstrate that, yes, the cinema can be as much a symbol of America as the White House. Although some proclaim that the entertainment industry has poisoned society, entertainment operates on a far more positive position for society.

8. Use appropriate evidence
Provides the data to support the claim (Answers the question, “Why should I believe you?)
Successful evidence is concrete and specific, not vague, generic, or hypothetical
Types of concrete evidence:
Hard Evidence: Facts, statistics, citing authorities, logos appeals, ethos appeals
Soft Evidence: Personal experience, anecdote, pathos appeals

9. Counterargument
Concession – Acknowledgment of the opposition and its argument(s)
Refutation - Counters the opposition’s position with appropriate evidence
Option 1: Concede a point of the opposition, but establish claim with stronger reasons/evidence
Option 2: Counter point by point

10. Evidence Examples (Essay 1) Concession: Refutation/Evidence:
MTV’s “Jackass” – “life-threatening…sickening stunts…near-fatal incidents”
Sexually explicit movies, plays, and novels
Joe Camel & the cigarette industry
Refutation/Evidence:
Saving Private Ryan - Tom Hanks’ semiautomatic stresses “dangers and urgencies of war”
Entertainment used to “convey artistic concepts & ideas” = “Michelangelo’s workshop”
Gabler writing during Industrial Revolution – today entertainment has evolved into art

11. Evidence Examples (Essay 2) Concession/Refutation:
C - The Full Monty considered lewd
R - “not about stripping at all, but rather, a group of men doing what was necessary to keep wives, pay rent, please their children, and provide for their families”
C - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn racist because of use of “n******”
R - “great relationships between blacks & whites, discover the harsh reality of a black man’s life in the 1800’s and also watch a white boy grow from a ‘hater to a lover.’”
C - John Wayne movies; Hitchcock’s Psycho; A Beautiful Life – “others see it as outrageous and inappropriate”
R – Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; “there is beauty in it all, it just needs to be found”

12. Your Conclusion Must… Link to the rest of the essay
Highlight the most significant elements from your essay in a general way
Avoid introducing new material
Leave a final image or thought with the reader
**If the essay is persuasive, your reader must NOT have any questions at the end

13. Strategies to Help You Ask yourself “so what?”
Return to the theme or themes to bring the reader “full-circle”
Include a brief summary of the paper's main points, but don't simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together.

14. Strategies continued…
Include a provocative insight from your research or reading
Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study.
Point to broader implications.

15. Sample Conclusions
(Essay 1) Conclusion: While not only offering an escape from the drudgery of life, entertainment functions to promote artistic creativity and excellence. More than an acidic influence on society, entertainment informs, enlightens, and acts as an intellectual forum. The bullets from Tom Hank’s semi-automatic are not meant to tell someone that killing is ok, but to stress the dangers and urgency of war while simultaneously astound watchers with visual reality.

16. Sample Conclusions
(Essay 2) Conclusion: And so it is with all entertainment, be it film, books, plays, or event true life – there is beauty in all, it just needs to be found and as far as I’m concerned – “The show must go on.”

17. Final Tips
ANSWER THE PROMPT! - read all parts of the prompt carefully and be sure to respond appropriately
CONNECT IT TOGETHER! - Don’t just give the evidence and assume the reader “gets it” – be sure to explain how and why the evidence supports your claim.