Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Identify your purpose and context
Writing arguments
Academic Reading and Writing

✵ Using ethical, logical, and emotional appeals as a writer

✵ How to draft a thesis statement for an argument

✵ Writing guide: How to write an argument essay

Writing an argument gives you the opportunity to take a position on a debatable issue and contribute to the ongoing conversation around the issue. You say to your readers, “Here is my position in the debate, here is the evidence that supports that position, and here is my response to opposing positions on the issue.”

Remember that writing is a process. Your position may change from draft to draft as you learn more about your topic. Throughout this chapter, you will see the work of one student writer, Julia Riew. When Riew was given the assignment to write a researched argument, she quickly focused on a topic that mattered to her — zoos. As a supporter of animal rights, she felt passionately that it is unethical to cage animals. Her original position treated the debate as either right or wrong. However, as you’ll see in this chapter and in Riew’s final paper, her argument became more complex and her writing became more open minded as she developed her essay.

You’ll find Julia Riew’s argument paper in 7h.

VIDEO

For details about how to construct an argument, watch "What is a researched argument?"

7a Identify your purpose and context.

Your purpose in constructing an argument is to support your position and persuade your readers. As you consider possible topics, start by informing yourself about the debate or conversation around a subject, sometimes called its context. Read sources that will help you understand the issues, approaches, and research methods — the ongoing conversation — about a topic.

As you do research, you may find that assumptions you’d held about your topic are untrue, or that the conversation around your topic is more complicated than you’d thought. For example, when student writer Julia Riew chose to write about zoos, she began with the position that zoos are unethical because they cage and exploit animals. However, as she researched the fierce debates around zoos, she learned from experts with differing points of view. Many of her sources emphasized the dramatic rate at which animals are becoming extinct and the success some zoos have had in creating safe habitats for endangered animals. These sources presented evidence and counterarguments that influenced her thinking about the role of zoos in protecting and saving vulnerable species. As she increased her understanding of the topic, she quickly learned how — and why — the debates around zoos were much more complex and interesting than she first imagined. She moved from her original position — zoos are unethical — to a new position: It would be unethical for zoos not to save endangered animals.