Writing Strong Argument Papers Helpful Hints An argument or a persuasive paper has the power to make people change their minds about a topic, or allows them to really understand and accept your position as a valid one. You know how strongly people feel about their beliefs, so you can guess that writing a paper that will command the readers’ respect is challenging. So, in order to make strong arguments and to have the power to persuade people, follow some simple suggestions: Get oriented: 1. Pick a topic you feel strongly about. It doesn’t matter whether you agree with it, or disagree with it. Think of points on both sides of the issue - the pros and the cons of each topic. 2. List some arguments from both sides and then think about how your audience feels about each of these. 3. Pick whichever side has the most convincing information - you might have to change your mind and change your main idea as you discover facts that you were not aware of as you started thinking about the topic. 4. Pay close attention to your audience. Think of what it believes in, and be prepared to discuss some of the points that would be most interesting to this group. 5. Once you considered both sides, and considered the audience, then you are ready to to take one side. Believe that you are right, and prepare yourself well to defend your thoughts. You will need good research to do this! 6. Make sure that there is reliable information available to support your position. 7. You will need facts, statistics, and reports from sources you and your audience can trust. 8. Make sure that you study the other side as well as you study your side. You don't want any surprise facts that you can't defend to show up after you finish your paper! 9. Be very well informed about the issue you want to discuss. Issues have different dimensions – there is always a social, a technical or scientific, an economic, or another type of intellectual aspect you will need to be aware of. 10. Be clear about which part, or point of the issue you are focusing on. 11. Anticipate objections and be prepared to address them. 12. Think of the points about this issue where there is common ground - where you can agree with the other side Now You Can Start Writing 1. Assume that you will have many different opinions among your audience. Your readers will judge the strength of your arguments. Write your paper to convince them that your side makes the most sense. 2. Right in your introduction, establish credibility. Your readers need to know that you have studied the topic, that you are being open and fair-minded about it, and that you can understand their points of view. Here is a good place to address some of the points you have in common with the other side. 3. Include your thesis at the end of the introduction. 4. Support your thesis with the 3 strongest arguments you can find. These will be the outline of your paper. 5. Back your arguments up with very strong, specific evidence: · Use .

1. Writing Strong Argument Papers Helpful Hints
An argument or a persuasive paper has the power to make
people change their minds about a topic, or allows them to
really understand and accept your position as a valid one. You
know how strongly people feel about their beliefs, so you can
guess that writing a paper that will command the readers’
respect is challenging. So, in order to make strong arguments
and to have the power to persuade people, follow some simple
suggestions:
Get oriented:
1. Pick a topic you feel strongly about. It doesn’t matter
whether you agree with it, or disagree with it. Think of points
on both sides of the issue - the pros and the cons of each topic.
2. List some arguments from both sides and then think about
how your audience feels about each of these.
3. Pick whichever side has the most convincing information -
you might have to change your mind and change your main idea
as you discover facts that you were not aware of as you started
thinking about the topic.
4. Pay close attention to your audience. Think of what it
believes in, and be prepared to discuss some of the points that
would be most interesting to this group.
5. Once you considered both sides, and considered the audience,
then you are ready to to take one side. Believe that you are
right, and prepare yourself well to defend your thoughts. You
will need good research to do this!
6. Make sure that there is reliable information available to
support your position.

2. 7. You will need facts, statistics, and reports from sources you
and your audience can trust.
8. Make sure that you study the other side as well as you study
your side. You don't want any surprise facts that you can't
defend to show up after you finish your paper!
9. Be very well informed about the issue you want to discuss.
Issues have different dimensions – there is always a social, a
technical or scientific, an economic, or another type of
intellectual aspect you will need to be aware of.
10. Be clear about which part, or point of the issue you are
focusing on.
11. Anticipate objections and be prepared to address them.
12. Think of the points about this issue where there is common
ground - where you can agree with the other side
Now You Can Start Writing
1. Assume that you will have many different opinions among
your audience. Your readers will judge the strength of your
arguments. Write your paper to convince them that your side
makes the most sense.
2. Right in your introduction, establish credibility. Your readers
need to know that you have studied the topic, that you are being
open and fair-minded about it, and that you can understand their
points of view. Here is a good place to address some of the
points you have in common with the other side.
3. Include your thesis at the end of the introduction.
4. Support your thesis with the 3 strongest arguments you can

3. find. These will be the outline of your paper.
5. Back your arguments up with very strong, specific evidence:
· Use facts and statistics
· Use examples
· Borrow power from experts – give their credentials, then cite
their work
· Look for areas you and your opponents have in common. Your
opponents need to feel that their ideas are important, that they
are intelligent people.
· Think of the other side, explain their belief, and then find
arguments that oppose this view.
Organize your paper
Choose an academic model you feel comfortable with:
Model 1:
· Introduction
· The other side, plus a transition back to your side
· Your second strongest argument
· Your weakest argument, in the middle
· Your strongest argument at the end
· Conclusion
Model 2:
· Introduction
· Strongest argument
· Weakest argument
· Second strongest argument at the end, and a transition to the
other side
· The other side
· Conclusion
Model 3:
· Introduction
· The other side, then your side, then transition back to

4. · The other side, then your weakest point, and a transition back
to
· The other side, then your strongest point at the end
· Conclusion
Check your arguments for strength and logic:
1. Are your arguments reasonable?
2. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/04/ ( a good
source of information about this topic)
3. Are you generalizing without sufficient data?
4. Are you stereotyping? Are your analogies, (similarities
between 2 things), based on things that are truly similar?
5. Are you sure that your causes and effects are really causes
and effects, and are not related to something else instead?
6. Do you have enough options? Not much is really either one
thing or another. There are usually other choices.
7. Do your conclusions follow your arguments logically?
8. Are you overusing emotions?
Make corrections, and you are done!
Some helpful links:
· Need ideas on a topic? Click here:
https://archive.org/details/500-best-topics-for-argumentative-
and-persuasive-essay
· MLA Formatting tips here:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
· Examples of student essays?
http://www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/ArgumentSampleEssays.ht
ml
Rubric for the Assessment of the Argumentative Essay 150
points

5. 3
2
1
0
Score
A.
Introduction Background/history Define the problem Thesis
Statement
Conclusion
Well-developed introductory paragraph contains detailed
background , a clear explanation or definition of the problem,
and a thesis statement
Conclusion summarizes the main topics without repeating
previous sentences; writer’s opinions and suggestions for
change are logical and well thought out.
Introductory paragraph contains some background information
and states the problem, but does not explain using details.
States the thesis of the paper.
Conclusion summarizes main topics. Some suggestions for
change are evident.
Introduction states the thesis but does not adequately explain
the background of the problem. The problem is stated, but lacks
detail.
Conclusion summarizes main topics, but is repetitive. No
suggestions for change and/or opinions are
included.
Thesis and/or problem is vague or unclear. Background details
are a seemingly random collection of information, unclear, or
not related to the topic.

6. Conclusion does not adequately summarize the main points. No
suggestions for change or opinions are included.
/30
B.
MAIN POINTS Body Paragraphs Refutation
Three or more main points are well developed with supporting
details. Refutation paragraph(s) acknowledges the opposing
view and summarizes their main points.
Three or more main points are present but may lack detail and
development in one or two. Refutation paragraph(s)
acknowledges the opposing view but doesn’t summarize points.
Three or more main points, but all lack development. Refutation
paragraph(s) missing and/or vague
Less than three main points, with poor development of ideas.
Refutation missing or vague.
/50
C. ORGANIZATION
Logical, compelling progression of ideas in essay, clear
structure which enhances and showcases the central idea or
theme and moves the reader through the text. Organization
flows so smoothly the reader hardly thinks about it.
Effective, mature, graceful transitions exist throughout the
essay.
Overall, the paper is logically developed. Progression of ideas
in essay makes sense and moves the reader easily through the
text.

7. Strong transitions exist throughout and add to the essay’s
coherence
Progression of ideas in essay
is awkward, yet moves the reader through the text without too
much confusion. The writer sometimes lunges ahead too quickly
or spends too much time on details that do not matter.
Transitions appear sporadically, but not equally throughout the
essay.
Arrangement of essay is unclear and illogical. The writing lacks
a clear sense of direction. Ideas, details or events seem strung
together in a loose or random fashion; there is no identifiable
internal structure and readers have trouble following the
writer’s line of thought. Few, forced transitions in the essay or
no transitions are present.
/30
D.
WORKS CITED
Source material is smoothly integrated into the text. All sources
are accurately documented in the
desired format both in the text and on the Works Cited page.
Source material is used.
All sources are accurately documented, but a few are not in the
desired format. Some sources lack credibility.
Source material is used, but integration may be awkward. All
sources are accurately
documented, but many are not in

8. the desired format or lack credibility.
Lacks sources and/or sources are not accurately documented.
Format is incorrect for all sources.
/20
E. MECHANICS and MLA FORMATTING
Sentence Structure Punctuation & Capitalization
Sentence structure is correct. Punctuation and capitalization are
correct.
Sentence structure is generally correct. Some awkward
sentences do appear. There are one or two errors in punctuation
and/or capitalization.
Work contains structural weaknesses and grammatical errors.
There are three or four errors in punctuation and/or
capitalization.
Work contains multiple incorrect sentence structures. There are
four or more errors in punctuation and/or capitalization.
/20
TOTAL
RESEARCHED ARGUMENT ESSAY ASSIGNMENT (150
Points)

9. For this essay, you will write a well-researched argument that
takes a position on a controversial topic that you have chosen to
write about. Academic arguments are found in every
discipline and in the workplace, if you are an engineer, a
business person, a scientist or another professional, you will be
called upon to write proposals, bids, ads, grants and other
documents that make an argument in order to raise funds, win a
contract, get equipment for your laboratory, etc.
Thesis Statement:
Your thesis statement should be centered on an argument and
should be clear, specific and focused. You will want to argue a
point that is supportable but also is not something that everyone
already agrees with (example: everyone should have access to
clean drinking water).
You will want to be aware of the stakeholders in the argument.
What is a stakeholder in any controversy? A stakeholder can be
identified as a group of people who stands to gain or profit from
support of their perspective, even if it is only in terms of status
or achieving success in the debate. In your research, you would
need to find articles (both scholarly and mainstream press) that
support or
argue for or against your viewpoint and build a framework in
your essay that not only supports your view but also examines
the counter arguments brought by other stakeholders. Ideally,
your argument
will be sophisticated in that it does not just see two sides in
black and white, but sees multiple opinions (or counter
arguments), while firmly supporting your own viewpoint.
Support or Evidence:
You will need to back up each claim you make within the
argument. You will use your sources to build credibility (ethos)
and gain authority to speak as a writer on a particular topic.
Your aim is to persuade your audience, thus you must use

10. credible sources to back up everything you say. You can use
ethical, emotional or logical appeals. You’ll want to avoid
logical fallacies within the argument. You may use both direct
quotes, paraphrases and will cite all your sources correctly in
the text as well as prepare a Works Cited (bibliography) page to
accompany the essay. This page will not count towards your
total required amount of pages.
Sources:
Your sources should be credible. You must cite at least 4
sources, 2-3 of which should come from scholarly/peer-
reviewed journals. In addition you may also use respected news
sources such as the New York Times. You should show that you
are able to evaluate credibility in the selection of your sources.
Selected information should always be relevant to the central
argument as well as quoted or paraphrased correctly to support
each claim. They should also be well integrated into developed
paragraphs and not just be “dropped in.”
What Are the Formatting Requirements of the Paper?
You will write 3-4 pages and include your Works Cited page as
page 5, written in MLA format
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/). The
paper should be in Times New
Roman, 12-point font with 1” margins and include an interesting
and descriptive title. Because this is a presentation of an
argument and not a research paper, you may not include
illustrations unless they ae absolutely imperative to the
understanding of the content. Do not forget to appropriately
label your paper with your name, my name, the assignment and
date. Paper must be saved as a .doc or .docx file and uploaded
to blackboard no later than 5pm on 14 April, 2012.