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Acey_Nz: How to write a good argument.
Firstly I would like to make it clear that a good argument doesn’t have to be right. You can argue wrongly very well; and that is a key skill for anyone who likes to argue, or debate, because sometimes situations mean that you have to argue for something that is ‘wrong’. Similarly one of the most difficult skills to develop is being able to argue against what you believe, another important skill (but only in debating for entertainment). Now I am not suggesting that there is a right or a wrong way to argue, but there are good and bad ways to argue. Hopefully by the end of this article you will be able to construct a simple but strong, effective and clear argument. Also I will talk a little about how to respond to other peoples arguments. There are two types of arguing situation that these skills will be necessary for, but how you use them will be completely different. The two situations are these;
-rapid fire, often face to face, arguing: in this situation there is little time to plan what you will say and no time for research;
-planned, often written or presentational, arguing: also known as persuasive writing this is when you have plenty of time to research the topic and plan carefully what you want to say. What I am going to talk about in this article is relevant to both these situations, but would be used in very different ways.
Writing an argument
These ‘3 Steps’ do not have to be done in any order, but I have laid them out in the most common/simple manner.
Step 1. State your conclusion! The first step is to be clear about the conclusion you are heading for – wherever you put it in the argument, you need to know from the start. This may seem obvious but it’s no good having an argument if nobody knows what you are arguing for or against. You don’t have to state this at the beginning or at the end, just so long as it is stated clearly somewhere. You can choose to have a strong or a weak conclusion – this isn’t a better or worse situation – a weak conclusion is less specific, and will help if you know less about the topic, a strong conclusion is specific and helps if you have in-depth knowledge on one area. Choose the one you think you can argue best.
Step 2. Keep a close link between your reasons and conclusions – don’t wander into talking about another argument just because that is what you know lots about. This step often cuts out a lot of the flaws. And remember, the more reasons the better, as long as they are strong reasons. Use intermediate conclusions to build the argument in layers, this means give two reasons that lead to a conclusion, and then that conclusion and another separate reason can add up to the conclusion.
E.g. R: Smoking causes lung cancer
R: Smoking causes heart disease
IC: Therefore smoking is likely to lead to premature death
R: Everybody wants to live longer
C: Therefore, you should give up smoking
This is not perfect, but we now have structure: R;R;IC;R;C
Step 3. Include examples and evidence. Another advantage of fitting your argument into a structure is that it is then much easier to include evidence or examples that start to make the argument ‘real’. Every reason can have a piece of evidence or an example to go with it. The result is a more realistic argument which contains the necessary elements of a strong argument in an organised and structured form. The structure I have shown is just an example, the important point is to have a structure rather than just writing down reasons as they come to you. The argument structure that I have used so far is an easy one and gives you a good basis to work from. Although a strong argument will be structured, structures vary from argument to argument. Whilst it is important to ensure that your arguments are structured and clear there is no need to fit them into any particular structure.
Responding to other arguments (Using Counter Arguments)
Arguments, of course, arise because of a difference of opinion on a particular topic. This means we may want to argue against a particular point of view by showing how it is in some way incorrect or flawed. To do this, you should describe the counter argument and then try to show that it is wrong, and ultimately help prove your own point of view.
Responding to other arguments (Using Counter Assertions) A more straightforward variation of this type of approach is to start your argument with a counter assertion (or counter reason). These are usually introduced with ‘although’ because this is the idea that you are about to argue against. E.g. “Although GM crops are thought to give greater yields, the greater yield has yet to be proven in the weather conditions of Africa.” There a counter assertion on the GM crops argument has been made into a reason against the welcoming of GM crops.
Hopefully this has given you an easy to follow guide through how to quickly write an effective argument. Just remember when you are writing an argument try and cover your back. Consider how you would argue against what you are writing and then try and protect against that. It is possible to make an argument that can ‘win’ the argument – but it’s rare and unlikely to happen if you don’t stick to the three steps.
Acey_Nz