Embedded Files
How Do I Decide What I Should Argue
Entertainment: To amuse and to delight, To arouse emotions and sympathies, To appeal to fantasy and imagination
Typical Purposes for making an argument
Instigation of Public Thought and Action
To raise questions
To criticize the actions of others; to reprimand
To weaken the support of opponents
To persuade to act, vote, donate, etc.
To inform of issues of concern
The Support of a Community of Common Beliefs
To state one's beliefs; to take a stand
To repeat the accepted beliefs of a group; to encourage and reinforce these beliefs
To share recent developments and events that are of mutual concern
To gain tolerance for one's beliefs in the wider community
To persuade others of the correctness of certain views; to gain approval
To recruit active support; to proselytize
The Conduct of Business and Government
To promulgate laws, regulations, guidelines
To report information needed for making new decisions, laws, policies
To argue for certain lines of action
To request funds or propose an activity to be funded
To keep track of funds, projects, activities; to report on accomplishments and failures; to evaluate activities
To sell, advertise
Transmission of Knowledge to a Wider Audience
To satisfy curiosity
To provide practical information for everyday use
To provide an introduction to an area of knowledge
To instruct rigorously, passing on the most recent knowledge, skill, or technique
Scholarly Inquiry
To present new findings, recent information, the results of experiments
To present new interpretations, speculations, thoughts
To gather together all that is currently known on a subject to see how it fits together and to reach some conclusions
To show the relationship of two areas of study and to show the light one sheds on the other
To determine the truth of a matter and to prove that truth to other researchers
Six Types of Claim
• A claim of fact takes a position on questions like: What happened? Is it true? Does it exist? Example: “Though student demonstrations may be less evident than they were in the 1960s, students are more politically active than ever.”
• A claim of definition takes a position on questions like What is it? How should it be classified or interpreted? How does its usual meaning change in a particular context? Example: “By examining what it means to ‘network,’ it’s clear that social networking sites encourage not networking but something else entirely.”
• A claim of value takes a position on questions like Is it good or bad? Of what worth is it? Is it moral or immoral? Who thinks so? What do those people value? What values or criteria should I use to determine how good or bad? Example: “Video games are a valuable addition to modern education.”
• A claim of cause takes a position on questions like What caused it? Why did it happen? Where did it come from? What are the effects? What probably will be the results on a short-term and long-term basis? Example: “By seeking to replicate the experience of reading physical books, new hardware and software actually will lead to an appreciation of printed and bound texts for years to come.”
• A claim of comparison takes a position on questions like What can be learned by comparing one subject to another? What is the worth of one thing compared to another? How can we better understand one thing by looking at another? Example: “The varied policies of the US and British education systems reveal a difference in values.”
• A claim of policy takes a position on questions like: What should we do? How should we act? What should be future policy? How can we solve this problem? What course of action should we pursue? Example: “Sex education should be part of the public school curriculum.”
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