Writing

This section of the web site is intended to provide guidance on how to write effectively

The type of writing you will do (for projects where a position is taken) is typically referred to as argumentative or persuasive. A distinction is sometimes made between argument and persuasion. Argument employs primarily logical appeals and persuasion employs ethical and emotional appeals. Your papers may utilize either or both provided that you obtain credible and substantive support (NO WEB SITES) for your argument and all claims.

ELEMENTS OF ARGUMENT: Claim, support, warrant

Claims

The claim answers the question: What's your point? There are three types of claims. They are, claims of fact, value, and policy.

Claims of fact attempt to prove that a condition exists or will exist, or that something is or will be true.  For Example:

• Capital punishment is not a deterrent to crime.
• Football is the most dangerous sport.
• Holistic health centers provide the best medical care.

Claims of value attempt to prove that some things are more or less desirable than others. They express approval or disapproval of standards of taste and morality. Advertisements and reviews of cultural events are a common source of value claims. For Example:

• Tahoe can provide a splendid viewing as well as listening experience.
• Dance is a powerful medium for communication of emotions.

Claims of policy assert that specific policies should be instituted as solutions to problems. The terms should, must, etc. usually appear in the statement. For Example:

• Mandatory aids testing should be implemented to restrict further spread of the disease.
• Grading on the curve should be abolished where class size is less than 200.

This categorization by type is meant to facilitate understanding and not to suggest that strictly speaking they do not overlap. The football example for instance could just as easily be classified a claim of value as fact.

The overriding theme of your paper should be a "primary claim". More than likely there will be others as well throughout the paper and your conclusions may also contain some claims.

Support

Support consists of the materials used by the writer to convince readers that his/her claim is sound. These materials include evidence and motivational appeals. Evidence consists of data, facts, statistics, and testimony from experts. Motivational appeals are ones the writer makes to the values and attitudes of the audience to win support. For Example, suppose the audience was the school's administration and the claim was about grading on the curve.

Evidence: Grades from two students who mastered the same amount of material but got different grades. Motivational appeal: The public is clearly concerned with upgrading and maintaining standards. Grading on the curve for small groups practically insures inconsistency in grading. Consistency across semesters, years, sections, etc. will enhance our credibility with the public.

Warrant

The warrant is an inference or assumption, a belief or principle that is taken for granted. Warrants underlie all claims made. If the writer feels the readers share his/her assumptions they may not need to be stated; however, stating them often strengthens the writing and definitely enhances clarity.  When in doubt, explicitly state assumptions associated with claims/support.  For example, with respect to the grading example - one assumption might be that consistency in grading is desirable.

OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS TO CONSIDER

Audience

You should assume there is a reader who may or may not agree with you. The writer might ask some of the following questions before, during and after the paper is written: - What do the readers want to get out of it? - What do you want the readers to get out of it? - How much do the readers already know about the subject? - Are the readers divided or in agreement on the subject? - Will the readers have some emotional involvement with the issues?

Writer's Credibility

Successful argumentative writing is often inseparable from the writer's credibility. Your writing must convey several things for it to be credible. - Knowledge of subject matter - Truthful and dependable evidence - respect for the interests and needs of others.

To establish some credibility you should 1) show evidence of careful research, demonstrating you have been conscientious in finding the best sources, 2) adopt a thoughtful and judicious tone that reflects a desire to be fair in your conclusions, 3) produce a clean, literate, well organized paper with evidence of care in writing and proof reading.

Definitions

Definitions are essential in order to clarify your subject and put all readers in the same frame of reference. A definition could change the nature of an event or fact. For Example:

How many farms are there in N.Y. state? The answer depends on the definition of farm.

Another Example:

The definition of poverty could yield considerably different estimates of numbers depending on whether it is defined by money income alone, or a combination of money and non-money income in the form of benefits such as food stamps.

While clear definitions do not insure that readers will agree with you, they do insure that all parties are reading the paper from the same perspective.