On Arguing Successfully

Hi all,
Some of this we've gone over (yawn, but necessary), some perhaps not. In any case, I though this might be a useful once or tenth-over regarding the paper and how you can most successfully approach it.

1. Avoid moral arguments (and moralizing in general). You need to find factual, or at least viable evidence to support your claim. When you are trying to support a moral belief, the support you'll find is likely going to be made up of . . .others' moral beliefs. In this way, you wind up with a circular argument that can't get off the hamster wheel of judgment. Choose your topic with care.

You can find yourself going down this path with all kinds of claims, not just the ones prohibited on the prompt. I see someone is thinking of writing about home-schooling. Great and of-the-moment topic. But imagine someone chooses this topic and bases his/her claim around the fact belief that public schools ensure students will be exposed to all sorts of horrible, secular behaviors, viewpoints, and the like. This paper could easily turn into a rant that indicts anyone and everyone affiliated with public schools. However, the next writer centers his/her claim around numbers that show home-school graduates apply to and gain admittance to universities at a higher rate than students public (or privately) schooled. This kind of claim is likely going to be based on factual evidence (in addition to opinion, theorizing, logic, etc.) As such, this paper is likely going to be more logical, more rational . . . and thus more successful.

2. Your thesis statement is really a two-parter. Remember, it's not enough to make the claim and leave it at that. Consider the argument at work here: "Military recruiters should not be allowed to recruit on public high-school campuses." Is the writer's claim clear? Absolutely. However, this thesis lacks the imperative "so what" clause. This phrase is shorthand for questioning why the claim matters in the first place, for establishing significance (the "why should I, as the reader, care about this or buy this person's argument?")for the audience. Your claim has no validity or importance if it doesn't have context and significance. Recall the thesis we came up with in class, which had three reasons attached to the claim. Having read that thesis, any reader would know exactly why the writer is offering the claim and will be more likely to be invested in the topic and argument (whether the reasons offered make the reader feel connected and familiar or combative and ready to debate or dismiss the claim). You will not be able to do this in one sentence -- it's absolutely fine that your thesis is not one sentence (though it's possible it could be if you write very concisely) -- we're not writing a five-paragraph essay here.

3. Consider laying out objections, concessions, and rebuttals throughout the paper rather than in one big chunk. If you offer three reasons in your thesis, it's likely you'll address, or need to address, three objections. You might consider bringing in objections as you move from point to point; the paper will be much more fluid and take on the natural movement of a "real" argument. Remember that anticipating and dealing with objections is an absolute for the argument paper.

4. This is the time to choose sources very carefully. If you have not already read the chapter on evaluating sources in FG, you should. Ultimately, it's not enough to have "good quotes" -- a skilled writer is going to consider (as will a discerning audience) from whence the information comes and the credibility of the source. A source who comments on what it means to be black and middle-class (as does Shelby Steele in an essay in your text) lacks experiential evidence if he/she is not black or middle-class. Does this mean such a source has nothing of value to say about these identity categories? No. However, it's important to establish the context in which the writer is coming from, and sometimes you need to do this explicitly for the audience. If your source is neither black nor middle class but is a professor specializing in ethnic studies/sociology, he/she has authoritative information that a black, middle-class "average Joe" may not have despite having experiential evidence to offer. Always ask yourself WHY the person's claims and viewpoints are viable and persuasive . . . the above two examples showcase viable perspectives, but the context in which these opinions are viable is different. Using scholarly sources will really help you in this arena -- it's usually pretty easy to establish why the author has credibility. On the other hand, if you did a general web search and found a fantastic quote that illustrates exactly what you were looking for but you cannot find any reason why that quote should be taken seriously (other than that it "sounds good"), you don't have a compelling piece of evidence. You have an opinion. Does everyone's opinion matter? In some respects, yes. The weight of that opinion, however, is what you need to consider.

5. As always, you need to focus on grammar, syntax, punctuation. Taking care to write correctly and fluidly tells your readers that you care about your writing, that you have the ability and authority to write about your topic, and that you care about their reading experience. Similarly, sloppy work that's marked with errors and clarity issues can, especially in this genre, tell your readers that you don't have the ability or authority to take a position on the issue (after all, if you can't present it successfully, there's a big, open door for critics), that you don't care about the topic or the reading experience, etc. It's difficult to take someone seriously who doesn't edit their work, and thus the entire argument is undermined. These elements do play a bigger role in this paper, as they will continue to do. While I believe content is more important, big-picture, than mechanics, and was trained in this method, mechanics still count. And, of course, you need to show that you can meet the learning outcomes for the course in order to pass it.

I hope this overview helps you put the project in perspective. If you haven't gotten started yet, there's no time like now!