Fluent Essays

Week 9 - Assignment C - Reading - An Insiders Guide to Academic Writing: Ch. 4 “Developing Arguments” Read An Insiders Guide to Academic Writing Ch. 4 “Developing Arguments” pgs 59-70. Write a 250 word summary of the main points you learned that you will use in your research argument essay. Many writing situations, both academic and non-academic, require us as writers to persuade audiences on a particular topic — that is, to develop an argument. When we refer to arguments, we don’t mean heated, emotional sparring matches. Rather, we use argument to refer to the process of making a logical case for a particular position, interpretation, or conclusion. Of course we all experience and participate in these kinds of arguments around us every day as we decide where to eat dinner with friends, what classes to take, or which movie to download or concert to see. We are immersed in these kinds of popular arguments constantly through advertisements, marketing campaigns, social media posts, and texting with friends, and so we are adept at critically thinking about arguments and persuasion in those contexts. In academic settings, arguments are frequently more developed and nuanced because the authors are arguing for a particular interpretation or conclusion or action based on the results of research. To make such an argument effectively, academics must develop clear, persuasive texts through which to present their research. These arguments are built on claims — arguable assertions — that are supported with evidence from research. The unifying element of any academic argument is its primary or central claim, and although most sustained arguments make a series of claims, there is usually one central claim that makes an argument a coherent whole. Our goal in this chapter is to introduce you to some of the basic principles of argumentation and to help you write clear central claims and develop successful arguments, especially in your academic writing. C H A P T E R 4 Developing Arguments Understanding Proofs and Appeals Aristotle, a rhetorician in ancient Greece, developed a method of analyzing arguments that can be useful to us in our own reading and writing today. He explained that arguments are based on a set of proofs that are used as evidence to support a claim. He identified two kinds of proofs: inartistic and artistic. Inartistic proofs are based on factual evidence, such as statistics, raw data, or contracts. Artistic proofs, by contrast, are created by the writer or speaker to support an argument. Many arguments contain a combination of inartistic and artistic proofs, depending on what facts are available for support. Aristotle divided the complex category of artistic proofs into three kinds of rhetorical appeals that speakers and writers can rely on to develop artistic proofs in support of an argument: Appeals to ethos are based on credibility or character. An example might be a brand of motor oil that is endorsed by a celebrity NASCAR driver. Another example could be a proposal for grant money to conduct a research study that discusses the grant writer’s experience in successfully completing similar research studies in the past. In both examples, the speaker’s or writer’s experiences (as a NASCAR driver or as an established researcher) are persuasive elements in the argument. Appeals to logos are based on elements of logic and reason. An example might be an argument for change in an attendance policy that reveals a correlation between attendance and grades. The argument relies on logic and reason because it presents a relationship between attendance and grades and draws a connection to the policy, emphasizing how a change in the policy might affect grades. Appeals to pathos are based on emotions. Emotion can be a powerful motivator to convince an audience to hear an argument. An example might include telling the story of a program that helps homeless teenagers complete high school by finding shelter, food, and social support that enables them to improve their living conditions. Perhaps the program is in need of financial assistance in order to continue helping homeless teens. A story that features one or two specific teens who have come through the program and successfully completed high school would be an example of an appeal to emotion. These types of appeals are present in arguments in both academic and non-academic settings. Many arguments, and o�en the most effective ones, include elements of more than one kind of appeal, using several strategies to persuade an audience. Based on the example above about a program that helps homeless teens, imagine that there is a campaign to solicit financial donations from the public to support the program. Now consider how much more persuasive that campaign would be if other appeals were used in addition to an emotional appeal. The campaign might develop an argument that includes raw data and statistics (an inartistic proof ), the advice of civic leaders or sociological experts (ethos), the demonstration of a positive cause-and-effect relationship of the program’s benefits in teens’ lives (logos), along with a story of one teen, describing how she became homeless and how the program helped to get her back on her feet (pathos). Understanding the structure of arguments, and knowing the potential ways you can develop your own arguments to persuade an audience, will help you to write more effectively and persuasively. INSIDE WORK Writing about Arguments Choose a text to read that makes a claim. Consider something that interests you — perhaps an advertisement, or even your college’s or university’s website. Write about the kinds of rhetorical appeals you notice. Do you see evidence of ethos? Logos? Pathos? Is the argument drawing on statistics or raw data, an inartistic proof? Why do you think the author(s) or designer(s) structured the argument in this way? To answer this question, you’ll also need to consider the rhetorical context. Who is the author, and who is the intended audience? What is the topic, and what is the purpose of the argument? In other words, what is the ultimate goal of the argument? Making Claims As we mentioned earlier, the unifying element of any academic argument is its primary or central claim. In American academic settings, the central claim is o�en (but not always) presented near the beginning of a piece so that it can tie the elements of the argument together. A form of the central claim that you’re likely familiar with is the thesis statement. Thesis statements, whether revealed in an argument’s introduction or delayed and presented later in an argument (perhaps even in the conclusion), are central claims of arguments that are typical of writing that is primarily focused on civic concerns, as well as writing in some academic fields such as those in the humanities (see Chapter 7). Imagine for a moment that you’ve been asked to write an argument taking a position on a current topic like cell phone usage, and you must decide whether or not to support legislation to limit cell phone use while driving. In this instance, the statement of your position is your claim. It might read something like this: “We should support legislation to limit the use of cell phones while driving,” or “We should not support legislation to limit the use of cell phones while driving.” Although there are many types of claims, the statement “We should pass legislation to limit the use of cell phones” is a claim of proposal or policy, indicating that the writer will propose some action or solution to a problem. We could also explore claims of definition (“Cheerleading is a sport”) or claims of value (“Supporting a charity is a good thing to do”), just to name a few. Literary analysis, a genre commonly taught in high school English classes, usually presents a thesis statement as part of the introduction. You may be familiar with a thesis statement that reads something like this: “Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games is a dystopian novel that critiques totalitarian regimes and empowers young women who are far too o�en marginalized and oppressed.” This thesis statement makes a claim in support of a specific interpretation of the story. Regardless of the specific type of claim offered, the argument that follows it provides evidence to demonstrate why an audience should find the claim persuasive. THESIS VERSUS HYPOTHESIS In an academic setting, thesis statements like those typical of arguments in the humanities are not the only kind of unifying claim you might encounter. In fact, arguments in the natural and social sciences are o�en organized around a statement of hypothesis, which is different from a thesis statement. Unlike a thesis statement, which serves to convey a final position or conclusion on a topic or issue that a researcher has arrived at based on study, a hypothesis is a proposed explanation or conclusion that is usually either confirmed or denied on the basis of rigorous examination or experimentation later in a paper. This means that hypothesis statements are, in a sense, still under consideration by a writer or researcher. A hypothesis https://platform.virdocs.com/rscontent/epub/485550/OEBPS/xhtml/mil_9781319103996_ch04_02.xhtml?#sp44135861:ch07_sec-0001 is a proposed answer to a research question. Thesis statements, in contrast, represent a writer or researcher’s conclusion(s) a�er much consideration of the issue or topic. Consider the following examples of a hypothesis and a thesis about the same topic: Hypothesis Thesis Decreased levels of sleep will lead to decreased levels of academic performance for college freshmen. College freshmen should get at least seven hours of sleep per night because insufficient sleep has been linked to emotional instability and poor academic performance. The hypothesis example above includes several elements that distinguish it from the thesis statement. First, the hypothesis is written as a prediction, which indicates that the researcher will conduct a study to test the claim. Additionally, it is written in the future tense, indicating that an experiment or study will take place to prove or disprove the hypothesis. The thesis statement, however, makes a claim that indicates it is already supported by evidence gathered by the researcher. A reader would expect to find persuasive evidence from sources later in that essay. We highlight this distinction in types of claims to underscore that there is no single formula for constructing a good argument in all academic contexts. Instead, expectations for strong arguments are bound up with the expectations of particular writing communities. If you write a lab report with the kind of thesis statement that usually appears in a literary analysis, your work would likely convey the sense that you’re a novice to the community of writers and researchers who expect a hypothesis statement instead of a thesis statement. One of the goals of this text is to help you develop awareness of how the expectations for good argumentation change from one academic context to the next. Developing Reasons When writing an academic argument that requires a thesis statement, you can choose how detailed to make that thesis statement. When we introduced thesis statements as a type of claim, we asked you to consider two possible statements on the topic of cell phone use while driving: “We should/should not support legislation to limit the use of cell phones while driving.” You can also refer to these two possible forms as simple thesis statements because they reveal a writer’s central position on a topic but do not include any reasoning as support for that position. When reasons are included as logical support, then you can think about the thesis statement as a complex thesis statement: Simple Thesis: We should support legislation to limit the use of cell phones while driving. Reasons: They are an unnecessary distraction. They increase the incidence of accidents and deaths. When you combine the simple statement of position or belief with the reasons that support it, then you have a more complex, and fuller, thesis statement: Complex Thesis: We should support legislation to limit the use of cell phones because they are an unnecessary distraction for drivers and because they increase needless accidents and deaths on our roadways. Although constructing complex thesis statements allows you to combine your statement of position, or your central claim, with the reasons you’ll use to defend that position, you may frequently encounter arguments that do not provide the reasons as part of the thesis. That is, some writers, depending on their rhetorical context, prefer to present a simple thesis and then reveal the reasons for their position throughout their argument. Others choose to write a thesis that both establishes their position and provides the reasoning for it early on. An advantage of providing a complex thesis statement is that it offers a road map to the reader for the argument that you will develop. INSIDE WORK Constructing Thesis Statements Generate a list of six to eight current social issues that require you to take a position. Consider especially issues that are important to your local community. Choose one or two to focus on for the other parts of this activity. Next, explore multiple positions. Consider competing positions you can take for each of the issues you identified. Write out a simple thesis statement for those positions. Be careful not to limit your positions to pros and cons, especially if you can think of alternative positions that might be reasonable for someone to argue. O�en, there are multiple sides to an issue, and we miss the complexity of the issue if we only acknowledge two sides. Then, list as many reasons as you can think of to support each of those positions. It might be helpful to connect your simple statement of thesis to your reasons using the word because. This activity can help you to strengthen your argument by anticipating rebuttals or counterarguments. We’ll take these issues up later in the chapter. For example: Claim: The U.S. Congress should enact legislation to prohibit animal testing for cosmetics manufactured or sold in the United States. Reasons: because . because . because . Alternate Claim: The U.S. Congress should not enact legislation to prohibit animal testing for cosmetics manufactured or sold in the United States. Reasons: because . because . because . Alternate Claim: The decision to prohibit animal testing for cosmetics manufactured or sold in the United States should be made at the state level and not by the federal government. Reasons: because . because . because . Finally, combine your simple thesis with your reasoning to construct a complex thesis for each potential position. Write out your thesis statements. Supporting Reasons with Evidence Reasons that support a claim are not particularly powerful unless there is evidence to back them up. Evidence that supports an argument can take the form of any of the rhetorical appeals. Let’s look again at the complex thesis from the previous section: “We should support legislation to limit the use of cell phones because they are an unnecessary distraction for drivers and because they increase needless accidents and deaths on our roadways.” In order to generate the reasons, the writer relied on what he already knew about the dangers of cell phone use. Perhaps the writer had recently read a newspaper article that cited statistics concerning the number of people injured or killed in accidents as a direct result of drivers using their phones instead of paying attention to the roadways. Or perhaps the writer had read an academic study that examined attention rates and variables affecting them in people using cell phones. Maybe the writer even had some personal knowledge or experience to draw upon as evidence for her or his position. Strong, persuasive arguments typically spend a great deal of time unpacking the logic that enables a writer to generate reasons in support of a particular claim, and that evidence can take many forms. Personal Experience You may have direct experience with a particular issue or topic that allows you to speak in support of a position on that topic. Your personal experience can be a rich resource for evidence. Additionally, you may know others who can provide evidence based on their experiences with an issue. Stories of personal experience o�en appeal to either ethos (drawing on the credibility of the writer’s personal experience) or pathos (drawing on readers’ emotions for impact). Sometimes these stories appeal to both ethos and pathos at the same time. Imagine the power of telling the story of someone you know who has been needlessly injured in an accident because another driver was distracted by talking on the phone. Expert Testimony Establishing an individual as an expert on a topic and using that person’s words or ideas in support of your own position can be an effective way of bolstering your own ethos while supporting your central claim. However, the use of expert testimony can be tricky, as you need to carefully establish what makes the person you’re relying on for evidence an actual expert on the topic or issue at hand. You must also consider your audience — whom would your audience consider to be an expert? How would you determine the expert’s reputation within that community? The use of expert testimony is quite common in academic argumentation. Researchers o�en summarize, paraphrase, or cite experts in their own discipline, as well as from others, to support their reasoning. If you’ve ever taken a class in which your instructor asked you to use reputable sources to support your argument, then you’ve probably relied on expert testimony to support a claim or reason already. As evidence for our complex thesis, imagine the effectiveness of citing experts who work for the National Transportation and Safety Board about their experiences investigating accidents that resulted from inattentive driving due to cell phone use. INSIDER’S VIEW Figuring out who the experts are MORIAH McCRACKEN, WRITING STUDIES “When you jump into a scholarly text, the conversation is so implicit. . . . For me, the biggest thing that can be kind of disconcerting is that you have to figure out, what are people even talking about? And then you have to figure out, who are the voices that are most popular? Who are the voices that people turn to when they’re trying to resolve this issue?” Learn more about entering academic conversations. Statistical Data and Research Findings Statistics frequently serve as support in both popular and academic argumentation. Readers tend to like numbers, partly because they seem so absolute and scientific. However, it is important, as with all evidence, to evaluate statistical data for bias. Consider where statistics come from and how they are produced, if you plan to use them in support of an argument. Additionally, and perhaps most important, consider how those statistics were interpreted in the context of the original research reported. What were the study’s conclusions? Imagine the effectiveness of citing recently produced statistics (rates of accidents) on the highways in your state from materials provided by your state’s Department of Transportation. Writers also o�en present the findings, or conclusions, of a research study as support for their reasons and claims. These findings may sometimes appear as qualitative, rather than just statistical, results or outcomes. When selecting the types and amounts of evidence to use in support of your reasons, be sure to study your rhetorical context and pay particular attention to the expectations of your intended audience. Some audiences, especially academic ones, are less likely to be convinced if you only provide evidence that draws on their emotions. Other audiences may be completely turned off by an argument that relies only on statistical data for support. Hear criminologist Michelle Richter comment on types of research in her field. So far, we’ve discussed several types of evidence that are typically used in the construction of arguments — personal experience, expert testimony, statistical data and research findings. Collecting the data you need to make a strong argument can seem like a daunting task at times. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that the amount of evidence you provide and the types of data your argument requires will depend entirely on the kind of argument you are constructing, as well as on the potential audience you want to persuade. Therefore, it’s essential that you analyze and understand your audience’s expectations when selecting support for your argument. Above all, select support that your audience will find credible, reliable, and relevant to your argument. INSIDE WORK Analyzing Audience Expectations Choose any one of the complex thesis statements you constructed in the “Inside Work” activity Constructing Thesis Statements. Then identify two potential target audiences for your arguments. Freewrite for five to ten minutes in response to the following questions about these audiences’ likely expectations for evidence. What does each audience already know about your topic? That is, what aspects of it can you assume they already have knowledge about? What does each audience need to know? What information do you need to make sure to include? What does each audience value in relation to your topic? What kinds of information will motivate them, interest them, or persuade them? How do you know? What sources of information about your topic might your audiences find reliable, and what sources would they question? Why? https://platform.virdocs.com/rscontent/epub/485550/OEBPS/xhtml/mil_9781319103996_ch04_04.xhtml?#sp44135847:ch04_aside-0002 Understanding Assumptions Any time you stake a claim and provide a reason, or provide evidence to support a reason, you are assuming something about your audience’s beliefs and values, and it is important to examine your own assumptions very carefully as you construct arguments. Though assumptions are o�en unstated, they function to link together the ideas of two claims. Let’s consider a version of the claim and reason we’ve been looking at throughout this section to examine the role of assumptions: “We should support legislation to limit the use of cell phones while driving because they increase needless accidents and deaths on our roadways.” In this instance, the claim and the reason appear logically connected, but let’s identify the implied assumptions that the reader must accept in order to be persuaded by the argument: Claim: We should support legislation to limit the use of cell phones while driving. Reason: They increase needless accidents and deaths on our highways. Implied Assumptions: We should do whatever we can to limit accidents and deaths. Legislation can reduce accidents and deaths. Many audiences would agree with these implied assumptions. As a result, it would likely be unnecessary to make the assumptions explicit or provide support for them. However, you can probably imagine an instance when a given audience would argue that legislating people’s behavior does not affect how people actually behave. To such an audience, passing laws to regulate the use of cell phones while driving might seem ineffective. As a result, the audience might actually challenge the assumption(s) upon which your argument rests, and you may need to provide evidence to support the implied assumption that “legislation can reduce accidents and deaths.” A writer who is concerned that an audience may attack his argument by pointing to problematic assumptions might choose to explicitly state the assumption and provide support for it. In this instance, he might consider whether precedents exist (e.g., the effect of implementing seat belt laws, or statistical data from other states that have passed cell phone use laws) that could support his assumption that “legislation can reduce accidents and deaths.” INSIDE WORK Considering Assumptions and Audience In the previous activity, you considered the most appropriate kinds of evidence for supporting thesis statements for differing audiences. This time, we ask you to identify the assumptions in your arguments and to consider whether or not those assumptions would require backing or additional support for varying audiences. Begin by identifying the assumption(s) for each of your thesis statements. Then consider whether or not those assumptions need backing as the intended audience for your argument changes to the following: a friend or relative a state legislator an opinion column editor a professional academic in a field related to your topic Anticipating Counterarguments Initially, it may strike you as odd to think of counterarguments as a strategy to consider when constructing an argument. However, anticipating counterarguments — the objections of those who might disagree with you — may actually strengthen your argument by forcing you to consider competing chains of reasoning and evidence. In fact, many writers actually choose to present counterarguments, or rebuttals of their own arguments, as part of the design of their arguments. Why would anyone do this? Consider for a moment that your argument is like a debate. If you are able to adopt your opponent’s position and then explain why that position is wrong, or why her reasoning is flawed, or in what ways her evidence is insufficient to support her own claim, then you support your own position. This is what it means to offer a rebuttal to potential counterarguments. Of course, when you provide rebuttals, you must have appropriate evidence to justify dismissing part or all of the counterargument. By anticipating and responding to counterarguments, you also strengthen your own ethos as a writer on the topic. Engaging counterarguments demonstrates that you have considered multiple positions and are knowledgeable about your subject. INSIDER’S VIEW Figuring out the “right” side MIKE BROTHERTON, ASTRONOMY “In science, we’re really worried about which side is right, and you discuss both sides only to the extent of figuring out which one’s right. It’s not one opinion versus another. It’s one set of ideas supported by a certain set of observations against another set of ideas supported, or not supported, by the same set of observations, and trying to figure out which one is a better explanation for how things work.” Hear more about writing to solve problems. You can also address possible counterarguments by actually conceding to an opposing position on a particular point or in a limited instance. Now, you’re probably wondering: Why would anyone do this? Doesn’t this mean losing your argument? Not necessarily. O�en, such a concession reveals that you’re developing a more complex argument and moving past the pro/con positions that can limit productive debate. Imagine that you’re debating an opponent on a highly controversial issue like free college tuition. You’re arguing that tuition should be free, and your opponent makes the point that free tuition could have the effect of lowering the quality of education an institution is able to offer. You might choose to concede this possibility, but counter it by explaining how varying tuition costs among different kinds of universities contribute to socioeconomic stratification. Though you acknowledge the validity of your opponent’s concerns, you are able to make a case that the social damage caused by the current system makes that risk acceptable. That is, you could qualify your position by acknowledging your opponent’s concerns and explaining why you feel that your argument is still valid. In this case, your opponents’ points are used to adjust or to qualify your own position, but this doesn’t negate your argument. Your position may appear even stronger precisely because you’ve acknowledged the opponent’s points and refined the scope of your argument as a result. INSIDE WORK Dealing with Counterarguments Throughout this section, you’ve been working with a series of claims that you constructed. You’ve linked those claims to reasons as support, and you’ve considered the kinds of evidence most appropriate for your theses in light of particular audiences. You’ve also considered the likely acceptability of your assumptions, according to various potential audiences. This time, consider possible counterarguments for your thesis statements. Who might argue against you? What might their arguments be? What will their arguments be based on? How might you use a counterargument to actually support your own claim? Brainstorm a list of instances in which you might want to concede a point or two as a means of strengthening your own position. Analyzing Arguments One way to understand the process of developing a persuasive argument is to study how others structure theirs. If you’ll recall, in Chapter 3 we discussed how visual texts, like verbal ones, construct rhetorical situations. In the same way, visual texts may also seek to persuade an audience, and they may use many of