MAKING AN ARGUMENTAdapted from a Duke

University Writing Studio Workshop

What is required of you to write an effective

argument?

1. Understand the nature of the position taken in the prompt

2. Take a specific stand—agree, disagree, or qualify—with the assertion in the prompt

3. Clearly and logically support your claim

What is an effective academic argument?

Effective argument will be well-grounded, persuasive, and significant.

Effective argument requires us not merely to participate in an academic conversation, but also to contribute something of value to the discussion.

The Burkean Parlor Context

for “Good” ArgumentImagine you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar.

Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress.

― Kenneth Burke

Constructing and deconstructing arguments involve the same three

fundamental questions:

1. What is the question at issue?2. What is the author’s point?3. Do the author’s reasons elicit

belief?

From: Rolf Norgaard. Ideas in Action: A guide to Critical Thinking and Writing. (Harper CollinsCollege Publishers); 1994, p 15.

Questions to Consider in Evaluating Arguments

1. What are you claiming?

2. What reasons do you have for believing that claim?

3. On what evidence do you base these reasons?

4. What warrants (principles) make your reasons relevant to your claim?

5. What would you say to someone who said, “But what about…?”

From: “Argument in a Nutshell” in The Craft of Argument, concise ed., by Joseph Williams and Gregory Colomb (New York: Longman, 2003), p. 43.

1. What is the author claiming?

Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, is a popular genre of music that offers a contemporary platform for studying the same themes and ideas of classical literary canon; as such, it should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools.

What qualities should a main claim have?

• Interpretive: does it offer to explain a reality or relationship?

• Specific: can we point to the question at issue and is it too general to be meaningful?

• Contestable: can we disagree?• Significant: why should we care?• Reasonable: can we follow the

logic?

Is the claim interpretive?

Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, is a popular genre of music that offers a contemporary platform for studying the same themes and ideas of classical literary canon; as such, it should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools as way to engage students with culturally relevant material.

Is the claim specific?

Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, is a popular genre of music that offers a contemporary platform for studying the same themes and ideas of classical literary canon; as such, it should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools as way to engage students with culturally relevant material.

Is the claim contestable?

Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, is a popular genre of music that offers a contemporary platform for studying the same themes and ideas of classical literary canon; as such, it should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools as way to engage students with culturally relevant material.

Is the claim significant?

Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, is a popular genre of music that offers a contemporary platform for studying the same themes and ideas of classical literary canon; as such, it should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools as way to engage students with culturally relevant material.

Is the claim reasonable?

Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, is a popular genre of music that offers a contemporary platform for studying the same themes and ideas of classical literary canon; as such, it should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools as way to engage students with culturally relevant material.

2. What reasons do you have for believing that

claim?

Reasons are relationships that we construct in our own minds to explain something.

Reasons are what we give to explain something, to make something make sense.

Reasons interpret (explain) evidence for our readers and demonstrate how that evidence supports the claim.

Stated Reasons

Claim: Rap should be used in urban high school Curriculum.

Reasons: 1. It is popular and therefore

engaging

2. It links cultural context to educational context

3. It provides the same premise for studying literary themes and concepts

3. What evidence do you

base these reasons on?

Evidence (or more accurately, reports of evidence) are things outside of our own mind (facts, figures, reports, books, etc) that support the reasons we present to make our claim.

Distinguishing between Reasons and Evidence

We need to think up reasons to support our claims.We need to find evidence to support our reasons that in turn supports our claim.

Reasons are our own internal constructions explaining reality; evidence is external to us. Both support claims.

From Williams and Colomb, p 122.

What counts as evidence?

Evidence is either:

– extrinsic (data, facts, testimony, authority)

– intrinsic (invented)

Strong evidence is:

– sufficient– precise– accurate– representativ

e– authoritative

Examples of Extrinsic Evidence:

In this case, the author offers several pieces of data to demonstrate the popularity of rap music.

In a recent media survey of students attending two midtown high schools, rap was rated as the favorite musical choice. Education researcher, Dierdre Paul, promotes rap as a valid literary genre alongside traditional poetry as a means of cultural synchronization, or establishing harmony between the cultural systems of schools, diverse groups of learners, and the communities from which those learners come.

Examples of Intrinsic Evidence:

For example, students living in Compton, California may connect more to the Compton raised rapper Kendrick Lamar than say the old Bard, Shakespeare. Furthermore, his music provides strong lyrical content worthy of literary analysis.

Illustrative ExamplesDon’t just give an example—tell a story. Your illustrations should run 4-6 sentences. Help your audience see your point—don’t just tell them what to think. Here are possible places to consider: a) Current Events: Events today that connect to

your topic?b) Personal Experience: Something you

experienced or witnessed that is relevant to the topic.

c) History: Do you see an analogy to the past?d) Film , Television, or Literature: Stories don’t

have to be real to be plausible! And, of course, some shows are based on real stories.

e) Hypothetical: Imagination to create a reasonable possibility.

4. What warrants make your

reasons relevant to your claim?

Warrant (also known as a bridge): Explanation of why or how the data supports the claim, the underlying assumption that connects your data to your claim.

CLAIM EVIDENCE

WARRANT

Example of a Warrant :

Here, the warrant is based on a generally held belief:It is universally accepted that a critical factor in student learning is engagement. Therefore, if students in urban high schools love rap so much, then those who typically would not engage in studying canon texts, such as Shakespeare, might find rap lyrics a powerful source of statements about life.

5. Counterarguments

Counterarguments ask you to consider how you would answer someone who asked, “But what about…?”

It is important to acknowledge and respond to questions and objections to your argument. Consider using phrases such as “to be sure,” “admittedly,” and “some have claimed,” etc., followed with “although,” “but,” “however,” “on the other hand,” etc.

5. Counterarguments

Structurally addressing the opposing side, includes first acknowledging the counterclaim and then providing a rebuttal.

Counterclaim: A claim that negates or disagrees with the thesis/claim.

Rebuttal: Evidence that negates or disagrees with the counterclaim.

The Writing Lab. The Owl Purdue.

Example of counterargument:

Many contest the idea of using rap music in the classroom because of its negative content. Admittedly, rap does frequently use profanity and includes mature content while also promoting sexual promiscuity, drug use, and the glorification of partying. However, there are many rap songs that present social tensions, raise issues about the role of women, love, money, and life and death in positive and school appropriate ways. Consequently, we would avoid rap lyrics that are unsuitable for school.

Qualifying the Argument: Boys Suck

“Qualify” means that you will modify, limit, or restrict your agreement or disagreement by presenting exceptions.

Qualifying an author’s argument (to agree only when…): to validate the merit of the author’s message (or the opposing viewpoints side), but only to a certain degree. Boys suck, but only when…

Qualifying the Argument

Amend the author’s argument : to modify/change the argument (not completely) by stating “I agree with you, but only when A, B, or C happens.”

Terms of Agreement: Boys suck when they dump you over text.

Qualifying the Argument

Another possibility is to complicate the opposing argument by add specific conditions before you would agree with the author’s argument.

Conditions: Not all boys suck. The kind of boy that sucks is one that…