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Page 1: Everything ’ s an Argument

Everything’s an Argument

It’s time to argue for what you believe in. It’s time to make your voice heard.

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ARGUMENT ESSAY ESSENTIALS

1. Claim (Policy)1. Reasons to support claim

1. Evidence to support reasons

2. Purposeful Patterns of Development3. Counterargument (acknowledgement,

accommodation, refutation)4. Detail/Imagery/Syntax/Diction choices to

support writer’s argument

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Claim of Policy WITHOUT DOING ANY RESEARCH

you will come up with a claim of policy you think you can defend with evidence from your experiences, your observations, human nature, history, pop culture, etc.

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A claim of policy is an essay consisting of an argument that certain conditions should exist.

Claims of policy advocate adoption of policies or courses of action because problems have arisen that call for solutions.

What problems have arisen that you feel need a solution?

Almost always "should" or "ought to" or "must" are included in the claim.

Think in terms of YOUR WORLD: LMSA Neighborhood Home Sports

team/club/extracurricular

New procedures/system for something

New interpretation for…

New way of doing… New idea for…

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Claims of Policy Essay Development

When you are defending a claim of policy, if necessary, establish that there is a need for change. When thinking about how to establish a

need for change think about how to present this using your patterns of development!

When you are defending a claim of policy, you must make your proposal clear. Claims of policy are often procedural, organized plans. How would you lay out your change for your readers?

Don't neglect moral and/or common sense reasons to support your argument!

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Don’t forget!

When you are defending a claim of policy, consider the opposing arguments. You will need to include at least one counterargument paragraph that includes the following components: Acknowledgement Accommodation Refutation

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Revision Day One Goals

How can we express our opinion as clearly as credibly as possible?

By revising the “WHAT” and the “HOW”.

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The WHAT.

Make argument content as solid as possible. Claim Reasons Evidence

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THE CLAIM

Is your claim arguable?

Is your claim a complete sentence?

Is your claim specific? Does your claim

argue (for or against) a certain solution or a policy approach to a problem?

Practice: Good or bad claims?

Women should have equal rights.

The colloquium schedule is bad.

Teachers give too much homework.

Teachers should have Fridays off.

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Examples

“People should tip” (2.1). “It’s time we end tipping” (2.2). “We should stop spending so much on prisons

and start spending more on education.” “Children in low-income families should

receive medical insurance from the government.”

“Social security should be distributed on the basis of need rather than as an entitlement.”

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Reasons and Evidence(“Because and Prove it” Technique)It’s time we end tipping because…. Tipping encourages bad behaviors on

behalf of servers and employers PROVE IT.

Bad behavior like obsequiousness Bad behavior like using looks to win over

customers

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Evidence can come from…

Your experiences observations pop culture history human nature music, etc.

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Fold a piece of paper in half and write your claim at the top.

Write at least two reason/evidence combinations on the left hand side. (Teachers should

have Fridays off) Because they are

tired Mrs. Mueller has no

style

Patterns of Development Revision

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The HOW.

Structure the argument carefully. Every choice results in a different effect. Patterns of development Sequence

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How. Part I. Patterns of Development NOW, pull out your notes from the

patterns of development lecture. Make sure to note the effects of each

pattern (If you are in B period, Mykale can help you with this.)

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Remind me of the effects, please.

Narrative: tells a story or recounts a series of events. Exemplification: provides a specific instance or series of examples

of something Compare/contrast: juxtaposes two things to highlight their

similarities and differences. Description: emphasizes the senses by describing how something

looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels. Definition: defining a term Division and classification:

Division: breaking of a larger whole into smaller parts Classification: categorization of objects into a larger whole

Process: involves giving directions or telling the reader how to do something.

Cause and Effect: analyzing the causes that lead to a certain effect or, conversely, the effects that result from a cause.

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This is the most difficult part of today’s lesson.

Writers make choices. On the right-hand side of your piece of paper

(across from your reason/evidence pair)…. REWRITE YOUR REASONS AND/OR

EVIDENCE USING THE PATTERN THAT WILL MOST LIKELY CONVINCE YOUR AUDIENCE.

You must try out one (at least) besides the one that is represented on your draft.

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Example: Teachers should have Fridays off. …because they are

tired. PROVE IT.

Mrs. Mueller’s outfits are bad and she doesn’t comb her hair.

Mrs. Mueller can’t form a complete sentence during her 5th period class.

On Monday, Mrs. Muellerwears heels, dresses, andaccessories, but by Friday,

shewears the same jeans shewore for colloquium and Ithink she might have evenworn a pajama top.(Compare/Contrast)

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Example: People should tip.

…because salaries are not good.

Prove it: Salaries don’t include

health insurance. Hourly rate is much

lower. $30/week.

Care to look at my $30 weekly paycheck?

(Description) Care to subsidize my

health insurance?(Exemplification) McDonald’s workers

have bigger paychecks.(Compare/Contrast)

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How. Part II. Sequence.

WHERE is your claim? Where is the best place to put your

claim? First line? Effect? Middle? Effect? End? Effect? Implied? Effect? Discuss the effects with your peers before

you make a decision.

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How did you sequence your reasons and evidence?Reason #1Evidence #1Reason #2Evidence #2Reason #3Evidence #3

Reason #1 Reason #2 Reason #3 Evidence #1 Evidence #2 Evidence #3

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Effects of each of those?

Other ways? Think about past articles. Look at them

now. What do they do?

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Homework: Establishing a Need for Change

Here is a perfect place for you to also think about sequence (where does it show up in your essay) and patterns of development (which pattern of development could you use to be the most convincing?)

Example from 2.1: “I had to defend tipping more than a handful of times. I actually had to deal with an anti-tipping, heckler while on book tour for my bartending memoir. I’ve had born again Christians…”

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Counterargument

Before we can construct our counterarguments, we need to identify existing opposition.

Please get into the following groups:

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B Period

KhalidahSergioKamilleRyan

Ashley C.Alyna KennedyZarah

TamarahAmberDemiYadira

KelvinKotyJorianAleah

MichelleTiaraJaylahAshley W.

JaimariRonellNancy

MykaleSuliyatAngel

DejahMayraJason

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5th Period

Cyan B.Demitri G.Cameri S.

Brianna B.Tristan H.Cecilia S.

Rebecca B.Saffron H.Victoria S.

Octavia C.Joshua J. Daja WP

Tiniya D.Kiela M.Tristen W.

Max D.Erin N.Abraham D.

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DEVIL’S ADVOCATES Goal: Generate as many opposing arguments

to your claim as possible. (A minimum of five, please)

This will look something like this:

Teachers should have Fridays off because…

They shouldn’t have Fridays off because…What would parents do with their kids?They don’t work long enough the way it is.They don’t deserve it.

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Choices Choices Choices

Choose two opposing arguments that you feel will best contribute to YOUR overall purpose. The ones that will help make your claim look better.

Draft an acknowledgment/accommodation/refutation for each of the opposing arguments.

Choose the best counterargument for your essay.

See my example on the next slide.

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Counterargument Example

Acknowledgement(A paraphrase, with useful examples, of an argument posed by your potential opponents)

Accommodation(A statement conceding to the merit ofsome part of the opposing argument--either in the argument, itself, or in the character and values of the arguer.)

A number of people, namely parents, are going to find the logistics of my proposal problematic.

I understand parents will have difficulty finding a place for their children to go on Fridays. If a parent works full time, what is he/she supposed to do?

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Counterargument

Refutation

(Argues against the opponent on the terms introduced by the writer in the acknowledgment)

OR

(Challenges the choice of criteria used by the opponent, by introducing what the writer believes to be a more valid set of criteria to frame the argument.)

First this argument implies that teachers and schools are indeed babysitting services which perpetuates the lack of importance and lack of value placed on education today. Secondly, before kids are of school age, parents work to find care for their children. In our capitalist society, there will be a number of opportunities available to both caretakers and students themselves.

The ideal model to implement would be to have students use this day to participate in our communities. Working and volunteering in our communities would provide valuable lessons that the schools can’t provide.

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STYLE: Choices

Just as writers choose to include an emotional or logical appeal, they choose how to present information and how to develop that information.

Everything in writing is a CHOICE: details, imagery, diction, syntax--even punctuation!

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Attitude/Tone

Anyway, some of your essays are fine, but there is no “kick” to them. There is no feeling. They read like they are part of a textbook. Blah.

How do you feel about the subject you are writing about?

Answer this question on the back of your rough draft.

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Tone/Attitude

Now, how will your DICTION support this tone/attitude?

Consider the examples below: “Tip or die.” “Your making money hand-over-fist!” some

would declare… “…written in black permanent marker on a

can that lived next to the cash register…” “…where I mixed drinks for a living…”

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Let’s look at your diction…

Look back at your rough draft for 5 minutes. Think about your diction. Have the words you’ve chosen convey the right attitude? Should they be harsher? Should they be more blunt? Should they be softer or more politically correct (to appear more fair-minded?)

Verb choice is a great place to start here…

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Tone/Attitude

Another way to convey tone is through your syntax. Consider the examples below: “Care to look at my $30 weekly paycheck?” “Care to subsidize my health insurance?” “Care to work over 10 hours a night on your

feet…?” “I’ve had born-again Christians leave me

pamphlets on finding God—in lieu of a tip—after drinking themselves into heaven.”

“Think it’s hard to find your waitress now?”

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Let’s look at your syntax….

Look back at your rough draft for 5 minutes. Think about your syntactic choices. Are all of your sentences simple? Compound? Complex? Think about the effects of using the following: All simple sentences All complex sentences

So when do we use each of them? Discuss as a class.

Think about different punctuation choices you can make (hyphens, parentheses, semi-colons, colons….)and the effects those choices have.