Argumentative Essay

1000-1500 Words

a. To advance a thesis
i. Example - Computer education will determine how fast the US economy grows
in the next 10 years.
b. Refutation (Refute)
i. Example - Child labor is not such a bad things.

Forms of argument
1. Argument based on facts. - Factual, Logical.
2. Philosophical Argument -Uses reasons, emotion.

Healthcare Example
1. a. Healthcare should by adapted to X Country because X Based Facts, Income,
Outcomes, Taxes, Results.
b. Single Payer - If you look at other countries, these are the numbers, these are the
facts.
2. Asking fundamental questions, Is healthcare a right or a privilege.
b. Goes to the core, the questions or thoughts.

Finding Sources

Dont write a Milk Toast Essay, Bias needs to be present in an essay.

Do not equivocate. Be Original.

POST-TOPIC CHOICE
1. List and analyze your reasons for your position
a. Capitalism has failed US workers in the last 50 years. Explain the reasons for
failure.
i. Income Inequlaity
ii. Consumerism
iii. Bubbles
2. Assemble Your Hard Evidence
a. Primary Research - Research everyone else cites, research youve conducted
yourself.
b. Secondary Research - Something someone else has done that you cite.
3. Cull the best quotes (Secondary Research)
a. Put your topic in focus (or context)
b. Support a claim or evidence
c. Summarize an opposing point of view better than you can.

Rhetorical Appeals, Ethos, Logos Pathos

Creditability, Logic of message, Emotional impact.

Logical Fallacies
1. False Dichotomy - Taking a complex issue and splitting the issue into one side or the
other. Forcing the reader to only view angle 1 or 2.
2. Begging the question - Making a circular argument., Reenforcing a statement without
advancing the argument, restating your claim. (Corruption is bad because its good to
be honest, making a statement without defending it)
3. Straw man - Taking a claim and misrepresenting it. Then attacking your
misrepresentation.
4. Ad hominem - Attack person instead of message. Attacking faults or failures instead
of persons argument.
5. Ad populum - Making an argument based on the popular opinions.
6. Slippery Slope - First we marry the same gender, then the animals, then the air.
7. Post hoc, ergo procter hoc - If B happened after A, then A caused B. Coorleation
without causation
8. Texas Sharpshooter - Cherrypicking data, taking information from one study that
shows a correlation when other studies may show that it does not correlate.
9. Red herring - Changing an argument, going off on a tangent in an argument.