Written Assignments

Argumentative Essay (Final and Draft)

Overview

Argumentative essays differ from narrative, expository, or analytical essays fundamentally in

that you're writing to take a stand, to persuade your audience to accept a particular position,

to convince your audience of a particular argument. The emphasis in argumentative essays is

to make and prove an argument with convincing evidence and sound, logical reasoning. The

purposes and requirements for this essay, therefore, are quite different from those for the

previous essays.

Objectives

Through this assignment, you will learn to:

· construct an argument using various methods of argumentation,

· gather, summarize, synthesize, and explain information from various sources,

· incorporate sources into your argumentation using MLA style,

· produce coherent, organized, readable prose for different rhetorical situations,

· engage in writing as a process, including invention (such as brainstorming for ideas),

· developing a thesis statement, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading,

· respond to your classmates' writing and provide constructive feedback,

· respond to your classmates' response to your writing and learn how to incorporate

your classmates' suggestions into your revision,

· use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for

different audiences and writing situations, and

· reflect on your own writing and writing process and on your classmates' writing and

writing process.

Topic--Identifying a Controversial Issue

An appropriate topic for the argumentative essay should be one that

· interests you

· is neither too broad nor too narrow,

· is open to controversy, and

· is not already overly argued by other people.

Make sure your topic interests you:

Whatever topic you choose, it should be something that interests you, something that you

feel strongly about, something that's close to your heart. If it's an argument that affects you

and that you have personal experience about, it will be easier for you to build your ethos

with personal experience. However, keep in mind you do not want your personal beliefs to

interfere with building a sound, logical argument—this is not an opinionated paper.

Make sure your topic is neither too broad nor too narrow:

A topic like "presidential campaigns" might be too big for you to handle in a few pages. In

contrast, "the use of scare tactics in presidential campaign ads" might be easier to handle. In

a similar way, "advertising" sounds vague and broad while "truth in advertising" is more

focused. On the other hand, too narrow topics are those that deal with trivial topics that your

readers are not likely to be interested in.

Make sure your topic is controversial:

A controversial topic is one that people have different opinions about. For example, the

"illegitimacy of thefts" is not a controversial topic while "the appropriate punishment for

first-time theft offenders" is a more controversial one. Similarly, "the harmful effects of

smoking" is not really a topic of controversy, but "heavy taxation on cigarettes" might be.

Make sure your topic is not already overly argued by other people:

Topics such as "abortion" or "the death penalty" might yield easy arguments, but they have

been argued so much that it's very hard to come up with anything new to say about them.

Unless you have something really unique and original to contribute to such topics, I'd

strongly recommend that you avoid such topics.

Choosing a good topic is not easy, and it's critical for a good argumentative essay.

Constructing Your Argument/Writing the Essay

This essay should be quite different from your previous essay in several ways:

Content:

An argument essentially contains a central claim (your thesis) backed up by several

supporting claims, which are further supported by concrete evidence--examples, other

people's opinions, etc. This argumentative essay not only will involve sound, logical

reasoning but may also include some of the other techniques you've learned and used in the

previous essays: narration, description, and analysis. One thing to keep in mind is that since

you're making an argument on a controversial issue, there's always the other side. It's vitally

important that you address the other side if you want to present a fair and convincing

argument.

Organization:

While there are always multiple ways to organize any kind of essay, Toulmin’s Argument

(discussed in class) provides an easy option: Claims; Qualifers; Warrants; Reasons; Evidence.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos:

A good argumentative essay requires a somewhat balanced use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Without ethos, your essay will not carry credibility; without pathos, it won't have effective

emotional affect; and without logos, don't expect that your audience will buy into your

argument.

Sources:

Using other people's arguments, especially those from reputable sources, to support your

own argument is often an effective and necessary means of argumentation. Therefore, for

this essay, you're expected to include at least five sources, at least two of which must be

scholarly and two of which must be non-internet based.

Audience:

Your audience for the argumentative essay will be people who are relatively familiar with

the issue in question. They may or may not have a preconceived idea or argument on the

issue, but most likely they do.

Components of the Assignment

Here're the components and their due dates:

1. First Draft and Peer Review - Monday, December 8

2. Final Draft—Monday, December 15

Please follow the following guidelines carefully:

· Length--4 pages double spaced

· Format--12-point Times New Roman)

· Name block--On the first page, in the top left corner, single spaced:

ENG 102

Your Name

Date

Argumentative Essay

Title (centered)

Text of argument . . .