The Argument

Essay: Be an

Attorney

ENGL 111

Module11

Take a stand on the issue

If you’ve watched an episode of Law & Order, you’ll be familiar with

its famous introduction:

"In the Criminal Justice System the people are represented by two separate, yet

equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the District

Attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."

For the Annotated Bibliography, you were asked

you to think of yourself as a detective, an

investigator finding the sources of facts on the

crime.

For the Argument Essay, you should now think of

yourself as an attorney, taking a stand on the

facts and arguing your case.

Be an Advocate

An Advocate…

Takes an informed stance on the issue

Supports a specific viewpoint or course of action

Attempts to convince others to accept this view (or least that the

view is reasonable) or take this action (or at least endorse the

course of action).

Attorneys are also called

advocates, someone who acts on

behalf of others, fighting for them

in the legal system…

Write an Argument-Based Thesis

StatementTo be an advocate, your thesis statement for the Argument Essay needs to be…

Focused

Makes a claim about some specific aspect of the issue rather than on the issue as a whole

Debatable

Takes a stand on the issue that others may reasonably disagreewith

Supportable

Offers a claim that can be provenusing sound reasoning and valid evidence from research

Examples of Weak Thesis Statements

1. From Roen, Glau, and Maid 423

2. From Roen, Glau, and Maid 423

3. Based on Maimon, Peritz, and Yancey 129

Thesis Statement Its Weakness

I can’t stand war movies.1not supportable: a personal preference

cannot be supported with evidence from

research

The National Football League is in

trouble.2not focused: lacks any specificity about

how it is in trouble and why

Many developing nations suffer

from food shortages.3

not debatable: this is an easily

established fact rather than a claim with

which many people may reasonably

disagree

From Questioning to Arguing

Below are examples of research questions

from the Module 9 presentation Be a

Detective! Next to each are new argument-

based thesis statements derived from those

questions.

One approach to generating a thesis

statement for your Argument Essay is

to re-envision your research

question(s) for the Annotated

Bibliography as an argument-based

thesis statement.

Examples of Argument-Based

Thesis StatementsControversy & Research Question Argument-Based Thesis Statements

Throughout the United States, more and more cities have been enacting public smoking bans. Smokers and business people resist such bans while others find them helpful and cite positive health outcomes. What kind of ban, if any, should be enacted against smoking?

Cigarette smoking should be banned in

enclosed, public spaces, where smoking

poses a significant risk to non-smokers’

health.

With the increase and strengthening of public smoking bans, the practice of "vaping," consuming nicotine through a vaporizer rather than a combustible cigarette, has increased. While marketed as safe, many warn of potential dangers vaping may have. How risky is vaping and what, if anything, should be done?

Vaping, like smoking, poses serious

health risks to young people. Thus, the

FDA should impose the same restrictions

on vapor cigarettes as it does on

traditional cigarettes.

Examples of Argument-Based

Thesis StatementsControversy & Research Question Argument-Based Thesis Statements

Enacting gun regulations is challenging because of the different and competing ways in which the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution is interpreted by special interest groups, congressional legislators, and the US Supreme Court. How should we understand the 2nd amendment going forward so that public safety can be adequately addressed?

We ought to enact common-sense

measures, such as universal background

checks and mandatory reporting of

suspected straw purchases, to help keep

guns out of the hands of criminals and

the dangerously mentally ill.

There are two major forms of sex education: Abstinence Only and Comprehensive. Opponents of each of these forms who argue they are ineffective or counterproductive, but research suggests that both varieties show a certain amount of effectiveness. Which kind of sex education will most effectively educate and protect teenagers?

A combination of sex education methods,

including abstinence-only for younger

teenagers and comprehensive sex-ed for

older teenagers, is the most effective way

to raise up young adults who will make

wise decisions regarding their sexuality.

Argument-Based Thesis

Statements

Most argument-based thesis statement will make one or more of the following types of claims:

Claims of Definition or Classification

Claims about Cause and Effect

Claims about Value

Claims about Solutions or Policies

Claims of Definition or Classification(Reid 442-443, “Purdue”)

These types of claims focus on debatable understandings of facts, ideas, or principles (definition) as well as how those facts or ideas fit specific criteria (classification).

These types of claims can be tricky because one must avoid focusing on facts or definitions that are not up for debate.

A thesis based on this kind of claim is strongest when arguing about facts, ideas, or principles many people misunderstand.

Weak claim: “Socialism emerged from the writings of Karl Marx.”

This is simply an easily established fact

Strong claim: “Socialism, properly defined, is not a scourge to our free society but is something we actually already do.”

This claim stakes an argument for how a concept is misunderstood or misapplied.

Claims about Cause and Effect(Reid 443-444, “Purdue”)

These types of claims focus on the possible causes of a particular problem or situation and/or the possible effects of a particular problem or phenomenon.

The causes and/or effects addressed must be debatable or in question.

You might also argue against causes and/or effects that others claim.

Also see CHAPTER 6, “Examining Causes and Effects”

Weak claim: “Your high school grades will affect the kind of college you get into.”

This is a claim about a cause that most wouldn’t doubt.

Strong claim: “School suspensions do not improve student behavior; rather, they negatively affect the educational success of students.”

This claim stakes an argument about the negative effects of a measure or action many people support.

Claims about Value (Reid 444-445, “Purdue”)

These types of claims focus on making a judgment about

something’s worth, importance, or ethicality.

Such a judgment must be based on reasons that your audience will concur

with; it can’t be based on personal preferences or your own personal sense of

morals or religious values.

Such a claim should avoid the appearance that it is attacking others’ personal

morality or values

Also see CHAPTER 10, “Evaluating and Reviewing”

Weak claim: “The banning of prayer in schools is reprehensible.”

This claim dismisses many people’s strongly held views about

religious freedoms for the sake of one’s own religious views.

Strong claim: “Prayer in schools, if conducted in a way that respects

everyone’s individual freedoms, is not only constitutional but laudable.”

This claim can be judged based on highly regarded constitutional

principles as well as on behavior and policy many people may

consider to be admirable.

Claims about Solutions or Policies(Reid 443-444, “Purdue”)

These types of claims focus on proposed or existing policies/laws or

solutions to a problem.

A thesis based on such a claim may either endorse or support a policy or

solution or argue against it.

Must appeal to those who may benefit from the change in policy or solution as

well as those who must enact the policy or solution

Also see CHAPTER 14, “Presenting a Proposal”

Weak claim: “Standardized tests in schools should be abolished.”

This claim doesn’t lay out the benefits of such an action and may be

unfeasible.

Strong claim: “The high-stakes approach to standardizing testing is

leaving out some of our brightest students. Instead, the importance

placed on standardized tests should be reduced, making way for a

more comprehensive approach to measuring student performance.”

This claim offers a solution that may be more feasible to implement

and suggests the benefits of enacting a new policy.

Combining Claims

Often claims of the kind above can be combined to make more complex, interesting, and persuasive thesis statements:

Thesis Statement Combination of Claims

A combination of sex education methods, including abstinence-only for younger teenagers and comprehensive sex-ed for older teenagers, is the most effective way to raise up young adults who will make wise decisions regarding their sexuality.

This thesis involves both a claim of

definition or classification (explaining

and grouping different kinds of sex-ed)

and a claim about a solution (proposing

a new approach to sex-ed).

Vaping, like smoking, poses serious health risks to young people. Thus, the FDA should impose the same restrictions on vapor cigarettes as it does on traditional cigarettes.

This thesis involves both a claim of

cause and effect (establishing the

health risks of vaping) and a claim

about a policy (expanding FDA

regulations).

Works Cited“Developing Strong Thesis Statements.” Purdue Online Writing Lab, 23

Nov. 2013, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/. Accessed 3

Apr. 2017.

Maimon, Elaine, Janice Peritz, and Kathleen Blake Yancy. The Brief

McGraw-Hill Handbook. 2nd Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Reid, Stephen. The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers. 9th Ed. Prentice

Hall, 2011.

Roen, Duane, Gregory Glau, and Barry Maid. The McGraw-Hill Guide:

Writing for College, Writing for Life. 3rd Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2013.