Argumentative Essays
Argumentative essays consider, by nature, controversial issues such as "the
right to life" or abortion, the death penalty and its application to
minority populations, freedom of speech versus political correctness, the
desire for public safety in regard to individual freedom. An issue that 90%
or even 80% of the audience agrees on is not controversial.
Controversy deals with PRIORITY not with right and wrong. Arguments can be formed as follows:
Category Possible arguments on the death penalty
Historical Capital punishment has historical precedent.
Sociological More African-Americans and Hispanics are on death row than are
whites or Asians.
Economic It is less expensive to imprison one for life than to execute him.
Psychological The death penalty does not deter a person from killing.
Moral/ Religious It is wrong to kill another human.
Ethical The death penalty denigrates the society as a whole and is not life
affirming.
Political The death penalty in the United States is harsher than in all "advanced"
societies.
Practical The wrong person may die; it is then too late to "undo"
the wrong.
Note that a practical argument could be just as strong as a moral argument,
and as long as both are legitimate, the overall argument is about priority,
not correctness or legitimacy.
In argument, the writer wins by BEING LEGITIMATE and by using legitimate arguments, not by persuading the opposition or the undecided.
Since argument is about legitimacy, OPINION has no place in argument. DO NOT
denigrate the argument by writing, "I think." DO NOT use the 2nd
person, "you," to refer either to the audience - unless there is
a specific and special reason - or to an undefined, general person.
Argument versus Persuasion
Argument Persuasion
Does not require persuading the opposition Must move the opposition or the
audience
Is an intellectual, formal exercise May be formal or informal
Must define the issue, state a thesis, assertion or claim. Depends on style
(formal, informal or non-standard)
Formal language usage Formal, informal, non-standard language use.
Quest for legitimacy - might concede something to the opposition. Uses imagery,
verbal irony, over and understatemet.
Should have a structural plan. Rhetorical questions are used.
Is inductive Uses parallelism and repetition.
Needs a clear ending signal. Depends of emotion and crowd movement.
A formal argument uses academic language. An informal argument uses the rhythms of speech. Non-standard arguments often use vulgar, emotional or dialectal language.
Check The Norton Reader, pp. xvi - xvii, for a list of Persuasion/ Argument models.
