What is an argument?

What is an argument? Nancy Harris, Department of Computer Science

What is an argument and what is not? The Argument Clinic - Monty Python

In your groups • Round-robin style, have each member of the group skim one another’s articles. Pass the articles around the group until the person bringing the article has it back. • Then Round-robin style, have each member of the group state which article makes an argument and which one does not and why. Challenge one another. It does not matter if someone brought in two arguments or two non-arguments…this is a learning process. • Group question after you have heard all of the members… What is an argument? • What is not an argument? • What are the characteristics of an argument that you saw in your articles? • Elect one person to report out when all groups are ready

Issue • Issue: “an important question that is in dispute and must be settled”, web definition • Notice the word “question”

Issue in your article • In your groups, have each person state the issue from one of their articles in the form of a question.

We will want to explore issues this semester • In your groups, brainstorm on fresh notebook paper as many issues as you can that you are interested in. Use the articles you brought in as a jumping off point. • Take no more than 5 minutes. • Do not offer conclusions or state an opinion on the issue. Simply write down the issues that people have. • These can be local (JMU or community), state-wide, national, international, personal, …. • Turn this list into the instructor.

Clarifying the issue • Example: • Is the death penalty allowed? • This is clearly a question • But is this an issue? • How would you turn this question (with a simple yes or no answer) into the underlying issue regarding the death penalty?

Hints • Take a broad topic and focus it down to its essence. • For example, “Should guns be banned?” • Surely you don’t mean that military or police should not have guns. • And as broad as this topic is, do you mean banned everywhere? Should hunters be allowed to have hunting guns…? • By refining your issue and coalescing it into the central question, you can make your arguments more clear.

In your group • Take the issues that you brainstormed yesterday and refine them into the central issue. In some cases, you may break a bigger question into several smaller issues. • Elect one person to report out from your group. We will take turns reporting the original issue that you refined and then the refinement that you are proposing.

Finally • Looking at each of your issues • Is the issue prescriptive or descriptive? • Why? What makes you say that it is one or the other? • Again, elect someone (different) to report out when your group is called.

Conclusion (thesis) • A conclusion is the solution offered by the writer. It is the answer to the question raised by the issue. • For example, if the issue were “Should faculty park on campus for free?”, the obvious conclusion would be “Yes, faculty should park for free on campus.”  • Another conclusion when looking at this issue might be, “No, faculty should pay for parking just like students do.”  • And there may be a third conclusion. “Faculty should park for free at Convo, but pay a premium to park closer to their offices.” 

Conclusion • The conclusion is simply the point that the author is trying to make. • There may be more than one conclusion. If so, you should determine which is the major and which is the minor conclusion.

Practice with argument and conclusion • On the practice passages, answer the questions about issue and conclusion. • Use Powers of 2 (in other words, have some quiet read time and answer individually, then get with one other person (2 for the larger group), then discuss as a group.

Assignment for Friday • We will be looking at web sites for issues and conclusions on Friday in the lab. • Find one advocacy web site (a web site supporting some group or perspective) and find at least one issue that they are trying to address and at least one conclusion that they make related to that issue. • When you find a good site, post the URL on the related Blackboard assignment. • Example: http://ga3.org/campaign/end_drilling

Questions to ask • What is the issue that this web site (or web article) is addressing? • What is the conclusion of the authors? How do you know? • Who is the group? Do you know anything else about this group?

An argument consists of a thesis • and supporting reasons. • What reasons does your web site use to convince you of their position? • See Graphical Organizer as a way of helping to break down an argument.

What is an argument?