7 Making Your Best Argument

Synthesize

Be willing to compromise when making your argument, based on your analysis of any counterarguments presented. This includes synthesizing your thesis with an antithesis in order to justify your final conclusion.

Example

Position:
Wool sweaters are the best clothing for cold weather
.
Position with argumentation:

Wool sweaters are the best clothing for cold weather because they are fashionable and comfortable.  Some people might think that wool sweaters are itchy, but those claims are ill-informed.  Wool sweaters can be silky smooth if properly handled in the laundry.

In some instances, you may be unable to come to a finite conclusion.  When this occurs, consider highlighting the value of contradicting arguments in order to provide your reader sufficient context for controversial topics or those that require additional research and discourse.

Example

“My daughter, who went to Stuyvesant High School only blocks from the World Trade Center, thinks we should fly the American flag out the window. Definitely not, I say: the flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war. She tells me I’m wrong—the flag means standing together and honoring the dead and saying no to terrorism. In a way, we’re both right…”
— Katha Pollitt, “Put Out No Flags”

Choose the Right Verbs

While making an argument or objective statement, consider your given context.  Are you:

• Making a new claim or recommendation
• Questioning or disagreeing with an existing claim
• Expressing agreement with an existing claim
• Explaining or drawing a conclusion

If responding to an existing text, what is the author’s tone and purpose for writing?  If making a new claim, what is your intended purpose?  You verb choice should clarify your intentions regarding what you expect your reader to do with the information being presented.

For example, what words might best describe the situation below?

Example

Extensive research has been done ___ the relationship and benefits of children using avatars, both to teach them a task and to build a relationship.

Consider the degree in which an argument is being made.  There is a stark difference between “exploring” causal factors and “solving” a given problem, much like how an author can “state” a claim objectively or “acknowledge” the claims of others rather than “conclude” or “question” while providing new insight.

After establishing your appropriate writing tone as either subjective or objective, choose a verb that best represents the intentions of the author you are citing as well as your own.

 

Implicit vs. Explicit Arguments

An explicit argument clearly states the author’s views.

Example

“Our race is something imposed on us by society.”

Based on context, word choice, and tone, an implicit argument can accomplish the same goal.  Here, the author suggests that race is derived from something other than biology and is transmutable without clearly stating so.

Examples

“I remember the day I became colored.”

Consider the viable counterargument:

Example

“Racial identity is an innate quality we are simply born with.”

 

Avoid Personification

Make sure it is clear WHO is doing the action when making an argument, even as you provide key supporting details in the subject of your sentence.

 

 

This work features material from They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

 

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Writing That Works Copyright © 2021 by The Writing Center at The University of Baltimore is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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