Although argument is an essential part of all papers, the literary paper has aspects of rhetoric that are all its own. Other OWL Resources: Creating a Thesis Statement; Establishing an Argument; Logic in Argumentative Writing; Organizing Your Argument Presentation; A good argument in an essay on literature has: A tight, specific focus Although these genres, also known as the modes of discourse, have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these genres and students’ need to understand and produce these types of essays. We hope these resources will help The following sections outline the generally accepted structure for an academic argument paper. Keep in mind that these are guidelines and that your structure needs to be flexible enough to meet the requirements of your purpose and audience. You may also use the following Purdue OWL resources to help you with your argument paper
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Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing must begin with a debatable thesis or claim, owl purdue argumentative essay. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on.
If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people. This thesis statement is not debatable. First, the word pollution implies that something is bad or negative in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it will have or the scope of the problem, owl purdue argumentative essay. No one could reasonably argue that pollution is unambiguously good.
This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money, owl purdue argumentative essay. Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education. Still others could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to limit pollution. In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals.
Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private automobiles is the most effective strategy. Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming at the start, generally the narrower the thesis the more effective your argument will be. Your thesis or claim must be supported by evidence.
The broader your claim is, the more evidence you will need to convince readers that your position is right. There are several reasons this statement is too broad to argue, owl purdue argumentative essay. First, what is included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about illegal drug use, recreational drug use which might include alcohol and cigarettesor all uses of medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental?
Is drug use causing deaths and is the author equating deaths from overdoses and deaths from drug related violence? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the author referring only to America or to the global population?
Does the author make any distinction between the effects on children and adults? There are just too many questions that the claim leaves open. The author could not cover all of the topics listed above, owl purdue argumentative essay, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to debate. In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence.
This is a much more manageable topic. This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution. This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate focus.
Qualifiers such as " typically ," " generally ," " usually ," or " on average owl purdue argumentative essay also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the owl purdue argumentative essay inevitable exception to the rule.
Owl purdue argumentative essay typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, or, in other words, what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your owl purdue argumentative essay topic.
Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur, owl purdue argumentative essay.
Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, owl purdue argumentative essay, how we would rate or categorize something. Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic, owl purdue argumentative essay, your audience, and the context of your paper.
You might want to think about where you imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the biggest difference in viewpoints might be. Even if you start with one type of claim you probably will be using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim you choose to utilize it is key to identify the controversy or debate you are addressing and to define your position early on in the paper.
Find Info For Find Info For Academics Admissions Current Students Athletics About Careers Prospective Students Research and Partnerships Quick Links Apply News President Shop Visit Give Emergency. Purdue Online Writing Lab College of Liberal Arts, owl purdue argumentative essay. Writing Lab Purdue OWL Research Contact Site Map. General Writing Academic Writing Establishing Arguments.
Welcome to the Purdue OWL This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. Developing Strong Thesis Statements Summary: These OWL resources will help you develop and refine the arguments in your writing. At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on limiting pollution.
At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on helping upgrade business to clean technologies, researching renewable energy sources, and planting more trees in order to control owl purdue argumentative essay eliminate pollution. America's owl purdue argumentative essay efforts should focus on privately owned cars because it would allow most citizens to contribute to national efforts and care about the outcome.
While some pundits have framed a four-year college education as something necessary for adult success, this notion should not be treated as a given.
Federal student loan policies have contributed to widespread growth in college tuition. The student debt crisis is one of the most serious problems facing the country today. Rather than encouraging all students to attend four-year colleges, we should instead emphasize the validity of two-year colleges, technical schools, and trade schools as well.
Argumentative Essay Example
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Although argument is an essential part of all papers, the literary paper has aspects of rhetoric that are all its own. Other OWL Resources: Creating a Thesis Statement; Establishing an Argument; Logic in Argumentative Writing; Organizing Your Argument Presentation; A good argument in an essay on literature has: A tight, specific focus Although these genres, also known as the modes of discourse, have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these genres and students’ need to understand and produce these types of essays. We hope these resources will help The following sections outline the generally accepted structure for an academic argument paper. Keep in mind that these are guidelines and that your structure needs to be flexible enough to meet the requirements of your purpose and audience. You may also use the following Purdue OWL resources to help you with your argument paper
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