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Arguments in general aren’t uncommon at all. We use our language to conflict with those around us all the time; we argue about food, sports, in-laws, entertainment options, scheduling, money issues, and just about every other element of our lives, and we do so constantly, largely because our perspectives on life don’t line up. These everyday arguments don’t usually lead to agreement, for most people insist on the correctness of their point-of-view, and many of these small-scale conflicts end with neither party being satisfied and the louder or more insistent arguer being the “winner” by default.
Academic arguments are similar to these commonplace “real world” scuffles in that they are also emotional affairs. However, unlike everyday arguments, academic argumentation requires that such emotional investment be counterbalanced by clear-headed explanations of an arguer’s logic, the reasons for the arguer’s position, and the presentation of the evidence that supports those reasons. When we bicker with each other outside the classroom or boardroom, we often raise our voices and express our passion without caring much to truly explain ourselves, sometimes because we secretly realize that our reasoning is faulty or that we don’t really know why we feel so strongly about an issue. Because academic and professional argumentation is civil and attempts either to build consensus or to elicit understanding (or perhaps both), this kind of illogical, unfounded aggression is out-of-bounds.
Though the “rules” of academic argumentation are meant to promote civility, argument itself assumes controversy and opposing points of view about matters of political and social importance, so emotions are still very much a part of the picture. The amount of emotion you pour into a written argument, however, largely depends upon the audience you are trying to reach. Keep in mind, though, that every academic argument must to some extent include sound reasoning and appropriate evidence, regardless of its receiver. The right balance of that emotion, logic, and evidence, however, will vary according to your anticipated reader(s). Let’s consider the three types of audiences you can expect to approach in your academic and professional careers, as well as the balance of emotion, reasoning, and evidence required for each.
In many ways, argumentation is another kind of example essay; you will have a main point (a topic sentence) that makes a claim about an issue (your subject matter), and you will support that claim with examples and specific details. You also likely will use emphatic order (building to your most important point, like arguing to a jury) to best convince your reader of your position.
However, unlike basic example writing, academic argumentation requires that you provide more than just personal experiences as evidence for your claim. This is because you are writing about a controversial topic that evokes strong feelings, and educated audiences will want to see factual evidence for your position before they are willing to believe you; readers, especially contentious or undecided ones, won’t be satisfied with just personal stories about the topic, even if they are relevant ones.
In addition, academic argumentation necessitates a discussion of the opposing point-of-view so that your writing doesn’t seem overly biased. Remember, since you are likely writing to an undecided audience that is smart enough to question everything and to consider both sides, you want to make sure to get ahead of the game and appear both knowledgeable and studious.
In fact, because you need to understand both sides of an issue before you start writing, it’s a good practice not to throw in too quickly with one side or another. Unlike, say, developing your thesis statement for a piece of critique writing or for an in-class essay, coming up with a main idea for an argument paper should not stem just from a gut reaction you have about the topic. That can provide a starting place, of course, but before you truly commit to your main point, you should read up on the issue and seek out plenty of information from sources that are as unbiased as possible and then decide on your thesis statement.
Now we come back to the tricky logic of perspective that we’ve been discussing since module two: every written or otherwise reported account about the world always represents a particular point-of-view. Even the most careful reporter or scientist is still approaching the world under a particular set of circumstances and with a particular agenda; such is the fate of humanity. In a sense we live in a hall of mirrors in which we ourselves are mirrors, too, all of our reports reflecting the light of the world back and forth, with the origin of that light source lost to us. Some of those mirrors are more distorted than others; in current media, for example, most of us know that Fox News refracts a conservative political perspective, while MSNBC refracts liberal America’s point-of-view. Though both sources claim to tell the truth, if you watch the one you don’t agree with, you will be quick to see bias in everything that’s presented. Just remember that someone who has a different political perspective will see the same bias in your favorite news channel!
That’s not to say that nothing on Fox or MSNBC is worth watching or even worth mentioning in your paper, but keep in mind that as soon as you cite from one such source, a well-informed reader will immediately have misgivings about that information if you don’t balance it with, say, a mention of the other organization’s take on your topic.
As a general rule, academic audiences are likely to be less troubled by information provided by the Associated Press (a news organization that provides stories to other news outlets all over the world and that prides itself on being as objective and unbiased as possible) and by .org and .edu websites (which are run by non-profit and/or educational institutions) than by information from .com sites that seek to generate “clicks” and receive advertising dollars in return for traffic. In addition, information gleaned from peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals is considered highly believable because it is vetted by experts in the disciplines for which those articles are written. Many of these excellent sources can be found in your college library’s database system, which you can think of as a curated collection of sources that work well as evidence for argumentative assignments.
Some of the more biased sources of information you may encounter might rely upon fallacies to convince you of their positions. Fallacies are illogical arguments disguised to look like sound reasoning. Salacious arguers have a vast number of such fallacies at their disposal to trick readers into believing their claims. In order to help you avoid falling for these kinds of tricks, a list of some common fallacies, along with explanations and examples, is provided below.
These are just some of the fallacies you may encounter as you read up on the topic for an argument paper and attempt to construct your thesis. Be careful to question everything, and make sure not to use fallacies in your own arguments; if you do, savvy readers will stop trusting you, and your character will be compromised.
Florida State College at Jacksonville. (2022). ENC1101-OER: English Composition I.
