All of us like a good argument.  We enjoy the confrontation of
an intellectual exchange that allows us to test our ideas and see
how they stand up.  However, there is a difference between an
argument and an exchange of opinions, or for that matter a bout of
name-calling.  Arguments follow rules designed to ensure that ideas
are presented fairly and logically.  Consequently, argumentation is
one of the most common and most important organizational patterns
utilized in college writing.
     
     An argument is a reasoned, logical way of demonstrating that
your position, belief, or conclusion is valid.  One purpose of
argument is to persuade reasonable people to agree with your
position. Another is simply to defend your position, to establish
its soundness even if others cannot be persuaded to agree.  A third
purpose of argumentation is to attack some position you believe to
be misguided, untrue, or evil, without necessarily offering an
alternative of your own.  (You could, for example, attack the
president's budget without presenting your own version).

     Although argument and persuasion are related, they are not the
same.  Persuasion--getting other people to change their minds--is
one purpose of argument but not the only one.  And although
argument, the appeal to reason, is one means of persuasion, there
are others: appeals to the audience's self-interest, to their moral
sense, or to their emotions. You could, for instance, use all three
of these appeals to argue against lowering the drinking age in your
state from eighteen to sixteen years of age.  Appealing to your
audience's self-interest, you could point out how an increased
number of accidents involving drunk drivers would cost taxpayers
more money and could cost some of them their lives.  You could
state, if you believed it to be true, that teenage drinking is
morally wrong and should be condoned by the state.  And finally,
you could appeal to your audience's emotions by telling a
particularly sad story about a sixteen-year-old alcoholic.  All of
these appeals are relevant and fair, and any of them might succeed.

     What appeal you choose depends partly on the results you want
to achieve as well as your perception of your audience.  However,
there is also an ethical question involved: whether and when the
end justifies the means.  Most people would agree that lies and
threats are unacceptable means of persuasion among rational people,
yet they are commonly used in politics and nearly everyone resorts
to them from time to time.  But it is unquestionably true that in
college, and outside of it as well, the most acceptable form of
persuasion--arguably the only acceptable form--is argument, the
appeal to reason.

Choosing a Topic

     In argument, as in all writing, choosing the right topic is
important. It should be one that you care about, one in which you
have an intellectual or emotional interest.  But you should not be
pig-headed.  If the evidence goes against your position you should
be able to change your thesis or even the subject.  And you should
be able, in advance, to consider your topic from other people's
view-points so that you understand what they believe and can build
a logical case that appeals to their sense of reason.  If you think
you cannot do this, then you should abandon your topic and pick
another one that you can deal with more objectively.

     Besides caring about your topic, you should be well informed
about it.  Opinion unsupported by evidence is not persuasive.
Furthermore, you should select a limited issue, one narrow enough
that it can be treated properly in the space available to you, or
confine your discussion to a particular aspect of a broad issue.
You should also consider your purpose--what you expect your
argument to accomplish and how you wish your audience to respond.
If your topic is so far-reaching that you cannot specify what you
want to persuade a reader to think and to do, or so idealistic that
your expectations are impossible or unreasonable, your essay will
not be effective.

Taking a Stand

     After you have chosen your topic and informed yourself of it,
you are ready to take your stand--to state the position you will
argue in the form of a thesis:

Example:
     Solar power is the best available solution to the coming
energy crisis.

   This thesis says that you believe there will be an energy crisis
in the future, that there is more than one possible solution to the
crisis, and that solar energy is a better solution than any other.
In your argument you will have to support each of these assertions
logically and persuasively.  Here is an opposing thesis on the same
topic:

     If there is to be an energy crisis, solar power is not the
solution to it.

   This thesis questions, by its use of the word if, whether there
will be an energy crisis, and it states that solar power, even if
it is a promising alternate source of energy, could not solve such
a crisis, at least not by itself. This is a simpler position to
argue, with only one assertion that requires support. That is not
to say, of course, that it is more true.

     Before going any further, you should examine your thesis to
make sure that it is debatable.  There is no point in arguing a
position that everyone already agrees with or that cannot be
settled through logic. It is also wise to test your own attitude
toward your thesis.  If you are so convinced you are right that you
cannot understand or respect opposing views and the people who hold
them, then you probably do not have the objectivity you will need
to develop a sound and persuasive argument.  Argument is demanding,
and it particularly demands clear thought and a reasonably cool
head.  The strength of your conviction does not guarantee that your
argument will be strong.



Gathering Evidence

     Evidence is information that supports or opposes your thesis.
While opinion is evidence, it is a personal judgment that may or
may not be verifiable.  Similarly, experience is evidence, but it
is limited since it is personal.  On the other hand, fact is hard
evidence, independent of who says it.  Therefore, using a fact to
advance your opinion strengthens your argument.  For example, your
opinion might be that the installation of automatic seatbelts on
all cars could dramatically reduce the number of deaths due to car
accidents.  The fact that ever since 1965 over 45,000 people a year
have been killed on the nation's highways is a very convincing
piece of information for your audience to know.  Remember, if you
use a fact to support your opinion, to make it into evidence, you
would have to show your readers why that fact makes your opinion
more likely to be true.

     After deciding on a topic, you should gather as much evidence
as you can.  Brainstorm to think of experiences and examples that
would support your thesis. If your topic is technical or demands
specific knowledge, go to the library and use CUNY Plus or other
data bases, periodical indexes, and reference books to locate the
information you need.  In addition, you can use the Internet to
learn more about your subject.

     When selecting and reviewing material, remember three things.
First, read selections or consider positions that represent the
full range of opinions on your subject, not just one side or
another.  Look especially hard at those that disagree with the
position you plan to take.  Then you will understand your position
and be able to refute it effectively when you write your paper.
Second, keep in mind the limits of your paper. You will need fewer
facts and examples for a brief essay than you will for a term
paper.  Finally, review all your material to see whether it
connects with your thesis in such a way that you may be able to use
it as evidence.


Analyzing Your Audience

     Before writing any essay, you should analyze the
characteristics, values, and interests of your audience.  When
writing an argument, however, certain questions require special
attention.  Once you know who your audience will be, you need to
assess what beliefs or opinions they are likely to hold and whether
they are friendly, neutral, or hostile to your thesis.  It's
probably best to assume that some of your readers, if not the
majority, are at least skeptically neutral and possibly hostile.
That assumption will keep you from making claims you can't support.
If your position is really controversial, you should assume that
many people will disagree with you and will look for holes in your
argument.

     Often you begin with a purpose in mind but must decide on an
audience.  If you want to make something happen, who has the power
to do it?  Whom do you have to persuade, and how would those
readers respond to your efforts?  Sometimes you will need to appeal
to several different audiences, tailoring your persuasive method
and approach to each.

     Each of these considerations influences your approach to your
subject.  It would be relatively easy to convince college students
that tuition should be lowered or instructors that salaries should
be raised.  You could be reasonably sure, in advance, that each
group would be friendly and would agree with your position.  But
argument requires more than telling people what they already
believe.  It would be much harder to convince college students that
tuition should be raised to pay for an increase in instructors'
salaries or to persuade instructors to forgo raises so that tuition
can remain the same.  Yet these are the kinds of challenges that a
successful persuasive argument should meet. 

     What kind of evidence might change a reader's mind?  That
depends on the reader, on the issue, and on the fact at hand.  For
example, why would a student agree to pay higher tuition?  You
might concede that tuition is high but point out that it has not
been raised for three years, while the college's costs have kept
going up.  Heating and maintaining the buildings cost more and
professors' salaries have failed to keep pace with the cost of
living, with the result that several excellent teachers have
recently left the college for higher-paid jobs.  Furthermore, cuts
in government funding have already caused a reduction in the number
of courses offered.  As you can see, the evidence and reasoning you
use in an argument depend to a great extent on whom you want to
persuade and what you know about them.