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Writing an Argumentative Essay

Writing an Argumentative Essay. Joanne Gittens, Ph.D. Science Education Lecturer Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre. CSC300 October 5, 2007. Writing Goals for an Argumentative Essay. Grab your readers attention State a clear thesis Identify your reasons for asserting your thesis

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Writing an Argumentative Essay

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  1. Writing an Argumentative Essay Joanne Gittens, Ph.D. Science Education Lecturer Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre CSC300 October 5, 2007

  2. Writing Goals for an Argumentative Essay • Grab your readers attention • State a clear thesis • Identify your reasons for asserting your thesis • Provide strong evidence for your main points • Address your oppositions argument • Convince the reader that your position is valid • Make it easy for your reader to read • Cite your sources using APA • Prevent plagiarism

  3. The introduction Grab your readers attention General Topic Narrow Topic Controlling Idea Thesis

  4. Ex. General Topic: Social Networking Websites Narrowed Topic: Facebook Controlling Idea: Security on Facebook Thesis: We must put an end to Facebook because it compromises personal, emotional, and financial security.

  5. State a Clear Thesis • State your opinion to a controversial issue • Use words such as must, ought, or should • Include the main points you will discuss • Use a consistent style to present your main points DON’T “Announce” your subject Ex. In this essay, I will discuss ….. I am going to prove ….. By the end of this essay you will agree …..

  6. Identify your reasons for asserting your thesis • Each reason becomes a main point for a paragraph • Research the literature and brainstorm to gather information to support your main points • Order your main points and organize your supporting material.

  7. Provide strong evidence for your main points • Scholarly journals • Authorities or experts in the field • Well chosen examples DON’T Appeal to fear or make sweeping generalizations

  8. Address your oppositions argument • Point out the counter argument and answer the objections in advance • Expose flaws in your opposition’s reasoning of their own evidence. • Present the counter argument tactfully and fairly and then present your argument.

  9. Convince the reader that your position is valid!

  10. Make it easy for your reader to read • Communicate your message as concisely as possible. • Contents of a paragraph must relate to a single main idea and support the thesis. • Provide logical transitions between sentences within a paragraph. • The last sentence of the paragraph brings the discussion to a close and provides a logical transition to the next paragraph. • The concluding paragraph summarizes or reinforces the main points of the thesis and ends with an appropriate memorable statement or a prediction.

  11. Quiz • If I summarize an article and write the information in my own words, I don’t need to cite the information. (True/False) • It’s ok to copy and paste text from another source as long as I cite where I got it from. (True/False) • If I thought something before I read it in another source, I don’t need to reference the thought. (True/False) • I must insert a citation after every controversial point I make that is not my own. (True/False) • Copying an author’s method of presenting facts is not plagiarism. (True/False) • Every word I write is presumed to be my own unless I indicate otherwise. (True/False) • The reference list should include all the articles, books, etc., that I have read. (True/False) • I don’t need to reference tables, figures, pictures, audio, or videos taken from another source. (True/False) • I must ensure that the information I presented came from the source I chose to cite. • If I append a reference list, I still need to cite sources throughout my essay. True/False

  12. Cite your sources using APA(Author, Date) • Whenever you incorporate any type of information that is not your own. • Cite the Author and Date of your sources in-text, and append a complete list of your cited sources to your document. http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html#8

  13. Prevent plagiarism • Split-page note-taking • Key points relevant to your topic • Questions or comments to those points • Make a complete record of the citation • File your notes for easy retrieval

  14. Academic Skills Centre October Workshops Essay Writing Workshops Held Every Monday Afternoon Check the Academics Skills Centre Calendar for Details!

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