WRIT 1702 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Science Fiction Film, Thesis Statement, Academic Writing
WRIT 1702
October 18, 2017
Crafting an Argument
How to put essays together~~
Rule One
● Do what your grader tells you to do
○ Different subjects/discourse communities (history, humanities, etc.) are going
to give you different pieces of advice
○ Academic articles are “this is the model you should be emulating” - in actuality
academic writing is some of the worst writing on the planet
○ After you leave university you will probably never write an academic paper
again
○ This is a writing/humanities course, so the essays written here will be written
different from social sciences essays
The Argument
● An Argument is: connected series of statements intended to form a proposition; not
just contradiction.
● How you combine something so that is greater than the sum of its parts.
● Some kind of actual case that you are making, specific argument that you are trying
to make by connecting those points together
● They draw us in, on an emotional and intellectual level
Thesis Statements
● Communicates both your idea and preferred reading;
● What you are arguing and why
(how) do you think so
○ Compare and contrast The Matrix
to other science fiction movies
● There is a difference between an argument (thesis) and a statement of purpose
○ A statement of purpose tells you the general subject of the paper but not the
position you will take
● There is also a difference between an argument and a summary.
○ A summary covers all the major points in your paper, an argument explains
why you are making those points
Arguments and purpose
● “This paper will discuss how The Matrix compares to other SF movies” a statement of
purpose
○ “This paper will” “the purpose of this essay is to” there is no ‘what’ that you're
arguing and no ‘why’ that this depiction is significant. Do NOT do this.
Meaningless verbiage/signposting
○ It is a sign of amateur writing to so bluntly state the purpose of the paper, it
also tends to repeat the question
○ Why do academics have this style? Academic writing is so difficult that they
must explicitly state the purpose of the writing
Document Summary
Do what your grader tells you to do. Different subjects/discourse communities (history, humanities, etc. ) are going to give you different pieces of advice. Academic articles are this is the model you should be emulating - in actuality academic writing is some of the worst writing on the planet. After you leave university you will probably never write an academic paper again. This is a writing/humanities course, so the essays written here will be written different from social sciences essays. An argument is: connected series of statements intended to form a proposition; not just contradiction. How you combine something so that is greater than the sum of its parts. Some kind of actual case that you are making, specific argument that you are trying to make by connecting those points together. They draw us in, on an emotional and intellectual level. Communicates both your idea and preferred reading; What you are arguing and why (how) do you think so.