Argument Essay

Description

The Task: to pick a well-defined position or course of action related to your research topic on whose behalf you will argue  The Goal: to inform and influence members of our class and other readers.  Write your argument as if it will be published in a journal of articles for university students, staff, faculty.  Sources: Your argument will make use of the research presented in your report, but it may also incorporate material from further reading and researching  The Format: your essay will include (in some coherent order which you’ll decide upon) these features:  — any background information necessary of helpful to your readers;  — a clear thesis (a statement of position on the issue) to focus your efforts as a writer and to create reliable expectations by which your readers can understand your ideas;  — support for this thesis in the form of evidence and discussion (reason, examples, expert testimony, information, analysis, etc.;  — a logical and continuous organization both for the essay as a whole and within each paragraph—a coherent progression of ideas characterized by a clear movement between general assertion and specific support  — use of Refutation, Concession, Rogerian strategy or other rhetorical devices as discussed in part (pgs. 85-88) of the assigned Cooper & Patton reading (see bottom). If you don’t do this reading, you’ll hurt your chances of doing well on this paper.  — in-text citations and Works Cited page, just as with your research paper  Special Considerations: The amount of counterargument you include in your paper is up to you; you are not obligated to include opponents’ entire arguments but in order to be fair you should perhaps include the most significant point or points, perhaps summarizing or generalizing about any which seem to fall together, to depend on a common set of assumptions.  Because you will be considering a number of viewpoints—those of various other voices, your opponents, and your own—you must make sure your readers know whose point of view you are expressing. Very clear and logical transitions between points will help you accomplish this, as will smooth attribution of quotations and ideas of others (please cite sources in-text!)