Pro/Con Paper
Pro/con papers are often called argument papers. However, this
doesn't mean that you have to get into a shouting match. In academic
writing, "making an argument" simply means
- taking a stand
- presenting evidence in support of that stand
Before you can do that,
you need to be aware of what other people
have said about your topic. For example, someone who favors same-sex
marriage might ask, "Whom does gay marriage hurt?" Someone
who opposes such unions might argue that it hurts children, based
on statistics from Spedale's Scandinavian
study.
You can't agree—or disagree—unless you
know about the study.
That's what makes the difference between an informed
opinion, which is based
on research, and an opinion off the top of your head. Anyone can
have an opinion, but does that opinion really fit the facts? For
example, many parents assume that they can't do much to keep
their teens from drinking. However, Stephanie Madon and other
researchers found that teens whose mothers assumed they were
drinking a lot tended to drink more. Their mothers' expectations
became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
To write your argument paper:
- take a stand on the topic you wrote your issue
paper about. You might
- agree or disagree with one of the experts you cited
- explore a question in more depth (e.g., if your topic is procrastination,
why are college students particularly
likely to procrastinate? or what
is the relationship between smoking
and procrastination?)
- choose one point of view about the issue and refute the
other(s)
- identify arguments in support of your position, or your thesis
- explore the topic further. For your final paper, you should have
at least one source for each page--e.g., if the body of your
paper has three pages, you should have a minimum of three
sources. If your body has five pages, you should have at
least five sources.
- write a paper in which you take a position, provide three arguments
supporting your position, and counter one argument against
your position.
Class Materials
 Sample
Paper: Suicide
Bombers (.doc)
Proofreading
Practice : Suicide
Bombers with errors (.doc)
Organizing
notes: directions (.doc); notes (.doc)
Writing
Argumentative Essays (PPT)
Recognizing
Deceptive Arguments (.doc)
Research Paper
Rubric (.doc)
Internet
Resources
Academic
Writing
Overview
of the Research Paper (Bailey,
Ch. 19)
Introductions to Research
Papers (CEU)
Overcoming
Arguer's Block (SUNY)
Developing a Thesis
Developing
a Thesis (tutorial takes you step-by-step from topic to thesis;
U Wisc—Madison)
Developing
a Thesis (tests for a good thesis from St. Cloud)
How
to Write a Thesis Statement (Indiana U—Bloomington)
Developing
Your Thesis (Dartmouth)
Defining
a Position (thinking through your position; resolving contradictions)
Comparison/Contrast
Comparison/Contrast
Papers (Bailey, Ch. 15)
Using
Borrowed Material in Your Papers (Bailey, Ch. 23)
Comparison/Contrast
Papers (LEO's basic step-by-step guide)
Comparison/Contrast (Thomson
Learning; good advice on getting started and how to improve comparisons)
How
to Write a Comparative Analysis (Harvard; goes beyond the basics)
Comparison/Contrast
Papers (UNC; includes several examples, including a Venn diagram)
Organizing an Argument
Elements
of Argument (thesis, organization, supporting evidence)
Planning
Your Argument (OhioLINK)
Paradigm
Online Writing Assistant
Description
of a Persuasive Essay (step-by-step guide)
Essentials
of Effective Persuasive Essays
(by two
Hamilton College, NY, students)
Developing a Logical Argument
What
Is an Argument? (appeals to logic, emotion, ethics; counterargument)
Recognizing
Deceptive Arguments (InfoWrite)
Identifying
the Argument of an Essay: A Tutorial in Critical Reasoning
Being
Logical (Darling)
Model Papers
Model
Paper: Lund (snowmobiles should be banned in Yellowstone)
Model
Paper: Sangvhi (snowmobiles should not be
banned)
Sample
Issue Paper: Foster
Care vs. Family Preservation: The Track Record on Safety Advanced Resources
Temple
University resources on argument, including "So
What Is an Academic Argument, Anyway?"
Strengthening
an Argument (tipsheet from University of Houston, Clear Lake)
Organizing
Your Argument (PPT from Purdue's OWL)
Terms
in a Toulmin Argument (claim-support-warrant)
Copyright
in these materials belongs to C.
Munzenmaier © 2007.
Teachers and students are free to reproduce them for
nonprofit educational use. |
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