Description
This is the 401 prompts for argumentative writing link: https://static01.nyt.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2017/401PromptsArgumentativeWriting.pdf
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
“For good ideas and true innovation,
you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate."
-Margaret Heffernan
"The aim of argument, or discussion,
should not be victory, but progress."
-Joseph Joubert
Prompt: Rather than restrict you by offering a single prompt, I've decided to let you…
choose one of these 401 prompts for argumentative writing , compiled by The New York Times, or…
propose your own prompt/ topic.
Ideally, this should enable you to write about something you feel strongly about or something you are exceptionally curious about. In the case of the former, do not simply argue from your preconceived opinion on the matter; rather, treat this as a learning experience by doing your research, seeing what others more informed than you have said on the issue, and trying to come to a more sophisticated and nuanced stance than you had originally.
Purpose: The purpose of an argumentative essay is for you to persuasively argue your own nuanced position on a topic, but it's also to learn more about that topic in the process, to engage in a robust discussion with your sources--as well as your target audience--and perhaps even to contribute to social progress insofar as you are able to further the conversation. The thesis of an argumentative essay is debatable. It makes a proposition about which reasonable people could disagree, and any two writers working with the same source materials could conceive of and support opposite theses. So, you must choose a debatable, reasoned position to argue that is based on logic, uses rhetorical techniques to engage the audience, addresses counterarguments, and synthesizes source information as evidence.
Audience: The intended audience is college-educated adults who may or may not agree with your position. In appealing to them, consider the following advice:
"Assume your readers are as intelligent and sophisticated as you are, but that they happen not to know something you know"--Stephen Pinker
“Assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients… What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality"--Annie Dillard
Source Material: For support, your argument should synthesize the insights and arguments of others and use them as a sounding board for your own. More specifically, incorporate at least 3 direct quotes (from different sources) that support your argument.
In addition, as concerns your final draft, your sources must be listed on a separate "Works Cited" page at the end of your essay and formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Organization: Here is a helpful outline to consider using for your argumentative essay.
Length: 1250+ words (5+ pages)