Presentation delivered to the English 104 class at Victor Valley College.

1. Argumentative Writing

2. What is Argumentative Writing?
 Written to persuade the reader to adopt
your position, beliefs, or behavior
 Purpose is to convince the reader that
your opinion is correct
 Author assumes the reader already has
prior knowledge of the topic
 Therefore, do not devote large sections of
the essay to simply summarizing the topic,
texts, or material.

3. Writing an Argumentative Essay
 Choose a topic that is:
1. Narrow and focused
2. Contains an argument
3. Can be adequately supported with
evidence (outside sources, statistics,
studies, news articles, etc.)

4. Narrow and Focused
 Make sure your thesis statement isn’t too
broad and unfocused.
 Zero in on a particular aspect of the media or text to
discuss in-depth
 Better to focus on one aspect in-depth than to try to
cover a wide range of issues superficially
 Example:
“Language is important to humanity.”
○ Too general.
“Written communication was essential in allowing humans
to evolve into a technologically advanced species.”
○ Focused on a particular aspect of language and how it
has impacted human life.

5. Contains an Argument
 Make sure your thesis statement takes a
clear stand
 Avoid indecisiveness
 Example:
“We should learn Chinese or English.”
○ Vague and indecisive. What is the position?
Which side is supported?
“Although English is currently the international
language, Chinese is actually a more useful
language to learn.”
○ A clear position is stated (in favor of learning
Chinese).

6. Contains an Argument
 Make sure your thesis statement takes a
clear stand
 Avoid expository writing
 Example:
“Steven Pinker says that language is a way of
understanding human nature.”
 Merely expository/factual writing that gives the reader
information about Pinker’s speech
 Facts cannot be arguments
“Contrary to Pinker’s assertions, language is less a
way of understanding human nature, and more a
way of shaping human nature.”
 Takes a clear position of disagreement with Pinker’s
claim

7. Evidence
 Make sure your thesis statement can be
adequately supported with evidence (outside
sources, statistics, studies, news articles, etc.)
 Avoid stating personal feelings
 Example:
“I feel that Chinese is easier for me to learn than English.”
○ Personal feelings cannot be supported with empirical
evidence
“Although English is currently the international language,
Chinese is actually a more useful language to learn.”
○ Can be substantiated using news and data, such as the
high population of Chinese speakers and the rise of
China as a superpower

8. Court Room
 Argue like a lawyer presenting a case in a
court room
 A lawyer would:
○ Take a clear position
 Ex. Either guilty or not guilty
○ Present concrete evidence
 Ex. DNA samples, studies, witnesses, interviews, etc.
 A lawyer would NOT:
○ Make an indecisive claim
 “Maybe he’s guilty, maybe he’s not… I’m not sure… There’s
no point in arguing…”
○ Build a case entirely on hypothetical scenarios or use
examples from his/her personal life as evidence
 “The dog must not have bitten the plaintiff, because when I
was a child, I had a dog who was so friendly…”

9. Writing an Argumentative Essay
 Overall steps
1. Choose a topic
2. Consider both sides of the topic and take a
position
3. Find evidence to support your position
4. Plan your essay
○ Consider making an outline to gain a clear
picture of how you will structure your essay
and how you will incorporate the evidence
5. Write your essay

10. Template
 Introduction
 Thesis statement (clearly stated in 1-3 sentences at the end of the
introductory paragraph)
 Body
 My thesis statement is correct because of [cited quotation/paraphrase
from Example #1]. Example #1 supports my thesis statement in the
following ways: x, y, z…
 My thesis statement is correct because of [cited quotation/paraphrase
from Example #2]. Example #2 supports my thesis statement in the
following ways: x, y, z…
 Counterarguments: Some people do not agree with my thesis
statement. For example, [opponent] claims that [cited
quotation/paraphrase from opponent]. However, [cited
quotation/paraphrase from opponent] is incorrect in the following ways:
x, y, z…
 Conclusion
 Re-establishes the main points of your argument
 Brings essay to a feeling of closure