Argument Analysis

Argument Analysis Prompt: The argument analysis will be written on one of the following essays:

1) The White Album (excerpt). 2) Superman and Me 3) Write Till You Drop 4) Poetry and Consciousness (PDF) 5) Lost in Translation 6) Coming to an Awareness of Language 7) Psychoanalysis and Politics (PDF) 8) Reflections on Racism (PDF) 9) Fictions of the Soul [Only with advance permission] (PDF)

If an essay is used that is not listed above, your essay will automatically receive a 0; so, pay attention to the list above and do not deviate from it. Do not use the same essay you wrote your argument description on. Do not replicate or otherwise reproduce the same idea we talk about in class; your idea may be similar, but your essay should not feel like it was taken from class conversation alone. Form: Introduction— Begin your essay with a thesis statement that identifies a central concern or central concerns you have regarding the essay's argument. (For example: By arguing ____, the author, ___, of ___, creates the illusion that ____ is the case; this illusion, however, is founded on such ambiguous assumptions as ____, ____, ____, and ____.)1 Use stasis theory (page 8 from the UNT section of the textbook) to introduce the author's argument and the ethical problem around which it centers. Following, what should be, an incisive and thorough contemplation on the argument's and ethical problem's foundation, you will introduce a specific solution you are proposing for the ethical problem; this solution may be an extension or counterpoint to the author's original idea. Do not, however, simply borrow their idea and make a slight adjustment—such will be seen as intellectual laziness. The solution must be your own idea. Body paragraphs—

 Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that makes a claim. Spend time ensuring the claim is able to produce a paragraph with the possibility of profound ideas (ones that have depth to explore). This will prevent you from rambling or repeating an ineffective concept in different words throughout the paragraph.

 This claim will be the focus of the entire paragraph—a new claim equals a new paragraph.

 Paragraphs should be progressive, which means they resound with each other to elicit a feeling of moving deeper into an ideologic pool.

 Consider this format:

 Topic sentence

 Evidence (a single quotation) from the essay you are analyzing

1 Note, this is not an official or required formula. I am merely providing it for you to reflect on a possible way to structure you thesis or reflect on the text in relation to your assignment.

 Reflection on that quotation and how it relates to the claim your topics sentence makes. Topic sentence claims should also keep your essay's thesis in mind.

 Anticipate possible countervails to your claim, when appropriate, then interact with them.

 Repeat until your claim is proved. This should occur in the concluding sentence of your paragraph.

Conclusion— The conclusion will be the place where you restate and expand upon your proposed solution for the ethical problem. This paragraph should be a detailed reflection on the solution you propose. I do not want to see offhanded or easily retrieved ideas for your solution. Take time to think critically about what you have learned by writing the rest of the essay and use those discoveries to develop an effective and incisive solution. Do not use the conclusion to restate the ideas you have already presented. Every sentence in an essay should be introducing novel ideas, not regurgitating/recycling what has already been introduced. You may wish to consider applying some of the techniques from stasis theory when developing your solution, namely: definition and quality. Some elements to remember/consider when writing:

• I will be grading this essay more rigorously than I graded the argument description. To help you, I have provided a much more thorough formula for writing successfully. The rest is up to you.

• (If you forget what an ethical problem is, refer to UNT 6-7.) • I urge you to make use of the Writing Center while drafting this. Please begin writing soon—this

assignment is worth a significant portion of your final grade. I do not want any of you to be negatively impacted because you procrastinated. Even writing a few sentences a day is a good idea.

• After revision of global concerns, please proofread. • Do not use the word "you" when writing this essay. I am expecting you will adhere to formal

academic conventions when writing this essay. If you do not know what these are, please see me or the Writing Center. You may sparingly make use of "I," but it should be for a reason.

• Do not use external sources. You should only engage with the text you are analyzing.

For submission, parameters:

o Typed, double-spaced, proper MLA header, 12-point font (Garamond or Times New Roman).

o Staple your printed copy when submitting. o Have an informative title. Do not use "Argument Analysis" or the title of the essay you are

analyzing. o Minimum word count: 1,300; maximum word count: 1,500. Do not write outside of this

range. o Have a thesis. o Focus on the ethical problem at hand in the essay you are analyzing. Do not write

tangentially. o Submit a digital copy before class and a physical copy at the beginning of class. Late

submissions, which include those that only submit one medium, will lose one letter grade

each day the essay is late—this included the day it is due, if I do not receive the essay by the beginning of our class period.