WRIT1005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Thesis Statement, General Idea
Lecture 8 – 20/09/17 – The Structure of an Argumentative Essay
Outlining
- Distinguish btw general and specific ideas
- General ideas are the ones that offer the main support for your thesis statement – they will
be more general than the evidence that supports them
- Make connections between each general idea and the more specific ones that support it
- Think through the implications of ideas
- Reoe iforatio that does’t fit
- Fill holes where support seems skimpy (go back to sources)
Five Part Structure
- Everything is governed by the research questions and thesis statement
o Essay
o Introduction
o Paragraphs with embedded claims
o Conclusion
Main Argument
- Consider objections
- And give a convincing reply
- Give literature review?
- Find a critique who is important to argument and have plenty of space to talk about what
they say
Types of essay approaches
- Emphasis
o Imposing an order on ideas and information to aid emphasis
- General to specific
o Begin with a general discussion of the main points and then proceed to specific
examples, facts and other evidence
- Specific to general
o Arouse readers’ iterest i speifi eaples or other eidee, let the eidee
build to statements of more general ideas
- Problem-solution
o Many arguments use a problem-solution scheme – first outline a problem that
needs solving, then propose a solution
- Climax
o A common scheme for both explanation and argument. Ideas unfold in order of
increasing drama or importance to a climax. This works to leaves readers with the
most important information last
- Familiarity or complexity
o Epositor essas a e arraged to take aout of readers’ koledge of the
subject (most familiar to least familiar)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 8 20/09/17 the structure of an argumentative essay. General ideas are the ones that offer the main support for your thesis statement they will be more general than the evidence that supports them. Make connections between each general idea and the more specific ones that support it. Fill holes where support seems skimpy (go back to sources) Everything is governed by the research questions and thesis statement: essay. Find a critique who is important to argument and have plenty of space to talk about what they say. Imposing an order on ideas and information to aid emphasis. General to specific: begin with a general discussion of the main points and then proceed to specific examples, facts and other evidence. Specific to general: arouse readers" i(cid:374)terest i(cid:374) spe(cid:272)ifi(cid:272) e(cid:454)a(cid:373)ples or other e(cid:448)ide(cid:374)(cid:272)e, let the e(cid:448)ide(cid:374)(cid:272)e build to statements of more general ideas. Problem-solution: many arguments use a problem-solution scheme first outline a problem that needs solving, then propose a solution.
