English 11/22

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY “For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate."

-Margaret Heffernan  

"The aim of argument, or discussion, should not be victory, but progress."

-Joseph Joubert

Prompt : Rather than restrict you by offering a single prompt, I've decided to let you...

1. choose one of these  401 prompts for argumentative writing (Links to an external site.) , compiled by The New York Times, or...

2. propose your own prompt/ topic.

Ideally, curiosity about the topic should be the driving force for choosing it. However, if you choose to write about something you already feel strongly about, do not simply argue from your preconceived opinion on the matter; rather, treat this as a learning experience by doing your research, seeing what others more informed than you have said on the issue, and trying to come to a more sophisticated and nuanced stance. To both avoid bias and learn something from this process, your claims should be based on your research--your research should not be based on your claims. In other words, don't search for evidence that confirms your views (your views should not precede the evidence). Instead, base your views on the best evidence (the evidence should precede your views). Purpose : The purpose of an argumentative essay is for you to persuasively argue your own nuanced position on a topic, but it's also to learn more about that topic in the process, to engage in a robust discussion with your sources--as well as your target audience--and perhaps even to contribute to social progress insofar as you are able to further the conversation. The thesis of an argumentative essay is debatable. It makes a proposition about which reasonable people could disagree, and any two writers working with the same source materials could conceive of and support opposite theses. So, you must choose a debatable, reasoned position to argue that is based on logic, uses rhetorical techniques to engage the audience, addresses counterarguments, and synthesizes source information as evidence.  Audience : The intended audience is college-educated adults who may or may not agree with your position. In appealing to them, consider the following advice:

· "Assume your readers are as intelligent and sophisticated as you are, but that they happen not to know something you know"-- Stephen Pinker (Links to an external site.)

· “Assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients… What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality"-- Annie Dillard    (Links to an external site.)    

Source Material : For support, your argument should synthesize the insights and arguments of others and use them as a sounding board for your own. More specifically, incorporate at least 3 different sources via summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation. As concerns quotation, incorporate at least one direct quote from each source. Also, ensure that you not only support your own argument with sources but use them to illustrate the counterargument as well.

In addition, looking ahead to your final draft, consider that you need to list your sources on a separate "Works Cited" page at the end of your essay and format them according to  MLA guidelines. (Links to an external site.)  So, as you do your research, remember to keep track of where your sources come from. Better yet, write down their publication information right when you discover them, so you don't have to do so later.

Organization:  Here is  a helpful outline  to consider using for your argumentative essay.

Length :

· First draft: at least 750 words

· Final draft: at least 1250 words

· Feel free to exceed the final draft word count, but please don't double it. Shoot for somewhere between 4-7 full pages.

Submission: 

1. By Monday, November 22nd, upload 1 copy of your first draft for my review, so I can give you feedback.

2. By Friday, November 26th, complete  Peer Reviews  for the 3 peers assigned to you. In doing so, consider my feedback about your peer reviews from last round, as well as the criteria listed on the  Argumentative Essay Review Sheet  for ideas about what to address. 

Grading: