(1) The document discusses the difference between arguments and opinions, noting that arguments require supporting evidence and reasoning while opinions do not. (2) It also provides guidelines for writing arguments, including stating a claim, providing evidence for the claim, addressing objections, and concluding by re-evaluating the original position. (3) An example is given of an argument responding to a claim that the English language is inherently racist based on meanings associated with words like "black" and "white." The example uses evidence to argue this is due to human metaphorical thinking rather than racism itself.

1. Testing to Improve Educational Achievement
Writing Guidelines
Argument vs. Opinion
Example

2. Testing to Improve Educational Achievement
Thesis Statements:
• To strengthen educational standards and improve academic achievement, high
school students should be required to pass a standardized test to receive a high
school diploma.
• Requiring students to pass a standardized test to receive a high school diploma will
not improve the educational standards or academic achievement in our schools.
Some of the issues in this argument:
What are standards and how should they be applied?
How do standardized tests effect curriculum?
Do standardized tests discriminate against some groups of students? How?
What is assessment and what forms of assessment are valuable?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Quite unlike the ordinary meaning of the word, argument as a term in rhetoric refers to the
process of reasoning by advancing proof. Indeed, academic argument can seem
dispassionate if one expects that all argument is done with raised voices and heated tempers.
Though academic argument often does grow very acrimonious, it is more often the product of
careful research and thoughtful consideration of all the facts that one can acquire about the
issue. For centuries therefore rhetoricians advocated the writing of an argumentative essay as
a means of learning how to think. Argument demands that the writer examine a belief by
testing the strength of the reasons for holding such a belief. Argument of this kind forms a
"dialectical structure," a dialog, within the essay itself. In this dialog, the writer explores
several sides of the issue under consideration with the readers in an attempt to demonstrate
why one perspective is the most enlightened. The writer's analysis of the issues (his/her
evaluations of the claims, evidence, assumptions, hidden arguments, and inherent
contradictions) leads the writer to champion one perspective of the subject at hand, even
though reasonable, thoughtful, intelligent people advocate different perspectives.
In short, the writer of an argument essay has several goals: the primary goals is to persuade
and move the audience to accept his/her position on an issue, but that is often a very difficult
challenge. A secondary, and more modest goal, is for the writer to articulate why s/he
chooses the stance that s/he does on an issue. The secondary goal recognizes the fact that
to persuade is a difficult objective but that at least the writer can explain his/her reasoning
behind his/her position.

3. Writing Guidelines
For those reasons, many rhetoricians describe the argument as a dialog, set in writing,
between the writer and the readers. In this dialog, the writer introduces his/her subject, makes
his/her claim, discusses any necessary background information, and then presents the
evidence for the position and in rebuttal to other positions.
Writers use different patterns to organize their thoughts as they compose the argument.
Essentially, the two most common patters of development are the "clustering" and the
"alternating" patterns of presenting evidence. In the clustering pattern, the writer collects the
evidence in one place, the objections in another section, and the rebuttal in a third section. In
the alternating pattern, the writer shifts between evidence, objection, and rebuttal for each
separate piece of evidence before moving to the next piece of evidence.
Clustering Pattern
of Development
Alternating Pattern
of Development
1. Statement and brief explanation
of the question or problem,
justifying its importance if
necessary.
2. Statement of the position you are
advocating — the claim.
3. The evidence (reasons) for the
position are presented next.
 The writer adds as much
evidence as s/he can
muster to support the
validity of his/her point of
view.
 The writer often
organizes the evidence to
provide for the greatest
impact on the reader.
2 Objection to this evidence follow.
 The writer presents the
1. Statement and brief explanation
of the question or problem,
justifying its importance if
necessary.
2. Statement of the position you are
advocating — the claim.
3. First evidence (reason) for the
position.
 Objection to this
evidence.
 Reply to this objection.
 Continued objections and
replies until all material
related to this evidence is
exhausted.
2 Second evidence for the position.
 Objection to this second
piece of evidence.

4. opposing points of view
and the
evidence/reasoning
behind the other
perspectives.
 The writer often
acknowledges the validity
of other viewpoints and
weaknesses in his/her
own perspective. This
can actually help the
writer gain ethical appeal
from the readers.
3 Replies to these objections begin.
 The writer uses evidence
and reasoning to explain
why the opposition's
perspective is not valid.
 The writer may even
acknowledge that the
opposition's perspective
is valid but is somehow
unacceptable and
therefore less attractive
than his/her position on
the issue.
4 Conclusion: assess the original
position in light of presented evidence and
rebuttals.
 Reply to this objection.
 Continued objection and
replying until all material
related to this evidence is
exhausted.
3 Continuing evidence for the
position, until all the evidence has been
presented and tested,
 followed by objections
and
 replies until all material is
exhausted.
4 Conclusion: assess the original
position in light of presented evidence and
rebuttals.

5. Reading through the lists above, you can see the give-and-take, the back-and-forth nature of
the argument's dialectic.
Argument vs. Opinion
The single most common misunderstanding in composing an argument is to assume that
there is no difference between an argument and an opinion. "But it's all opinion!" we might
rightly point out, and, yes, it is true that all claims start out as opinions. (Columbus was
thought mad for suggesting that the world was round, remember. The ancients argued that
the earth was the center of the universe.) At first glance, it may seem that argumentative
essays are "merely" asking you to write your opinion, since there may be no single "correct"
way to answer the crucial questions raised by controversial subjects. The crucial difference is
that an argument should present a claim (an opinion) supported by reasoning and evidence,
which persuades your reader that the thesis your paper advances is a valid one. An opinion is
an assertion that is not supported by logic or evidence.
An Example
Below is an essay that I wrote in response to Ossie Davis's interesting and well-written piece
entitled "The English Language is My Enemy." (I wish the piece were available to us on the
web; it's a good read. You can find it widely anthologized in many different collections of
essays in the library.) Davis argues on the basis of an analysis of the meanings associated
with the words black and white that the English language is his enemy. My essay argues that
Davis's evidence is valid but that his interpretation of the evidence is not.
Introduction:
identification of the
Metaphorical Thinking
Daniel Kies
In "The English Language is My Enemy," Ossie

6. problem.
Thesis (claim): the last
sentence in the
opening paragraph.
Davis argues that English is inherently racist by
presenting the reader with two lists of synonyms
for the words white and black. The lists present
clearly divergent sets of meanings associated
with the two words. White is associated with
purity, cleanliness, and goodness. Black is
associated with evil, dirt, and death. The
differences in meaning suggest to Davis that the
language is inherently biased against blacks.
While the differences in meaning are
undeniable, I suggest that the differences are
due to ability of humans to think metaphorically,
not racism necessarily.
Evidence: facts about
human reactions to
the dark.
The suicide rate in the Scandinavian countries
is comparatively higher than the rate in the rest
of the world and highest in winter. Horror films
are typically set at night; think of Halloween and
Night of the Living Dead to name just two
examples. In fact, Freddie, a popular horror
villain of late, most often appears to people at
night, while they dream.
These two different facts share one thing in
common — darkness. Being as far north as they
are (right on the Arctic Circle), the countries of
Sweden, Norway, and Finland can experience
up to twenty hours of darkness each day in
midwinter. Seasonal depression is a common
illness there, and its effects on the individual's
will to survive can be catastrophic. However, the
Scandinavian nations are not unusual in this
regard: seasonal depression is common in all
latitudes that experience long winter nights, and
the fear of the dark is a common human trait, as
parents of toddlers all around the world will
readily attest.
These two facts support a single generalization
about us humans generally and Western
(European-oriented) culture particularly:

7. darkness represents the UNKNOWN while light
(and vision) represents KNOWLEDGE. In other
words, the psychology and thought of most
Westerners portray darkness as a metaphor for
the unknown (therefore the dangerous) and light
as a metaphor for the known. A metaphor,
remember, is the process of employing one
concept to represent another concept.
Second set of
evidence: the
metaphoric meanings
associated with light
and dark.
In fact, those two metaphors of light and dark
organize (and possibly control) the way we
Westerners think about knowledge or the lack of
it. Our language (and other European
languages as well) is filled with expressions that
show how our thinking about knowledge is
organized by those two metaphors of light (and
vision) versus darkness. Consider the following
examples of the LIGHT (AND VISION) IS
KNOWING metaphor:
 I see what you're saying.
 It looks different from my point of view.
 What is your outlook on that?
 I view it differently.
 I've got the whole picture.
 That's an insightful idea.
 She is a brilliant woman.
 The argument was clear.
 Could you elucidate on that?
 It's a transparent argument.
Similarly, consider these few examples of the
DARKNESS IS IGNORANCE (literally a 'lack of
knowledge') metaphor:
 It was a murky discussion.

8.  The discussion was opaque.
 I didn't follow his thinking; I'm still in the
dark.
 Let's see if we can't throw a little light on
the subject.
What those expressions teach us is that we
Westerners metaphorically link thought with
light, ignorance (and fear) with dark.
Objection: note the
acknowledgment of
validity of the
opposition's
perspective.
Granted, Davis might feel that I am evading his
point by shifting the attention from the reality of
racist language to some esoteric discussion of
the psychology underlying some metaphors in
the English language. Davis could even point
out that many racist words are related to color
and vision. The notorious n word has its origins
in the Spanish word for black.
I will grant too that the language may indeed be
inherently racist (and sexist). It does seem that
the language has far more derogatory terms for
minority groups and women than for the majority
group and men. Modesty forbids me from
writing examples here, but a simple "thought
experiment" will illustrate my point: make a
mental list of all the words that are deliberately
insulting to blacks, or women, or any other
minority group. Make a similar list of derogatory
words aimed at whites or men. I find that the
lists are unequally long: there are far more
derogatory words against any minority group.
To my mind, that is stronger evidence to
suggest that the language may have an inherent
bias.
Rebuttal:
Yet the fact of the matter is that racist and
sexist language has more to do with unequal
power than it has to do with the meanings
associated with words like white and black. For

9. example, if you want to find out whose manner
of speech is the most admired and is the
prestige dialect within a country, simply find out
which social group has the highest prestige in
that country. There is a direct correlation
between social prestige and linguistic prestige.
So when Ossie Davis looks at the enormous
number of unfavorable synonyms associated
with the word darkness and concludes that "The
English Language is My Enemy!" I do not
explain that fact on the inherent racism that
Davis believes pervades our thoughts. To me,
that explanation of racism is both too simple and
unjustified when one looks at the language in a
larger perspective. Instead, I see the enormous
number of unfavorable synonyms as a result of
the way our minds organize our feelings about
issues like KNOWLEDGE & IGNORANCE and
KNOWN & UNKNOWN (the unknown is also
dangerous).
Conclusion: re-
interpreting the
original position in
light of the new
evidence.
However, do not misread me. Racism is a real
issue in both society and language. One need
only read the newspapers to learn of the
growing numbers of hate crimes. One need only
listen to the media to hear racial and ethnic
slurs used thoughtlessly. Although Davis and I
disagree about the origins of the unfavorable
meanings associated with the synonyms for
words referring to darkness, we do agree on an
even more important issue: we must learn to
control our minds and our tongues if we ever
wish to control our destiny.
The example above uses the clustering method of development. I often find the clustering
method works better for a short essay while a longer, more complicated argument (with many
different pieces of evidence to present) works better with the alternating method of
development.

10. example, if you want to find out whose manner
of speech is the most admired and is the
prestige dialect within a country, simply find out
which social group has the highest prestige in
that country. There is a direct correlation
between social prestige and linguistic prestige.
So when Ossie Davis looks at the enormous
number of unfavorable synonyms associated
with the word darkness and concludes that "The
English Language is My Enemy!" I do not
explain that fact on the inherent racism that
Davis believes pervades our thoughts. To me,
that explanation of racism is both too simple and
unjustified when one looks at the language in a
larger perspective. Instead, I see the enormous
number of unfavorable synonyms as a result of
the way our minds organize our feelings about
issues like KNOWLEDGE & IGNORANCE and
KNOWN & UNKNOWN (the unknown is also
dangerous).
Conclusion: re-
interpreting the
original position in
light of the new
evidence.
However, do not misread me. Racism is a real
issue in both society and language. One need
only read the newspapers to learn of the
growing numbers of hate crimes. One need only
listen to the media to hear racial and ethnic
slurs used thoughtlessly. Although Davis and I
disagree about the origins of the unfavorable
meanings associated with the synonyms for
words referring to darkness, we do agree on an
even more important issue: we must learn to
control our minds and our tongues if we ever
wish to control our destiny.
The example above uses the clustering method of development. I often find the clustering
method works better for a short essay while a longer, more complicated argument (with many
different pieces of evidence to present) works better with the alternating method of
development.