Response Arguement
1,250 words
Drawing for the rhetorical strategies of the text, you will produce an argumentative essay in
which you take on a contemporary issue and respond to it. This should be an essay in which you
attempt to convince a reader to come over to your point of view, appealing to the audience’s beliefs
and employing sophisticated rhetorical tools.
Begin by considering your fundamental values and beliefs. What causes do you care about?
What fundamental values do you hold? You might use online resources such as newspapers and
opinion articles to help you consider this. Spend some time reflecting and writing about these.
Once you’ve identified one particular belief to focus on, spend some time thinking about why you
believe this. Was there anything you can remember that caused you to believe what you believe?
How would you convince a friend who disagreed with you to adopt the same belief? Also, spend
some time considering why someone might argue against you and what kinds of arguments they
would bring to the table. Consider your main argument about this belief is i.e. whether it is wrong,
whether it is a human right, whether it should be illegal, and why.
Your paper should take adopt the structure from page 228 in the textbook: main
claim/thesis, support, counterargument, concession.
In your introduction, you should introduce your position on the belief and state an
argumentative thesis (pgs. 226-227) regarding your topic.
In one or several body paragraphs, you should support this thesis (arguing why this is the
case) using at least six of the twelve rhetorical strategies listed on page 229: examples, allusion,
personal testimonies/anecdotes, scenarios, statistics, authorities, facts, appeals to logic,
appeal to emotion, appeal to character, appeal to need, and appeal to value.
Following your support, you should identify a counterargument and martial your logical
skills to refute this argument. In many ways, this is the most challenging part of the assignment
because it requires you to logically think through a position you disagree with. Be careful here to
not reduce the counterargument to a simplistic or easily answered criticism (what is known as a
straw man fallacy). Try to consider the most difficult or challenging argument to your position and
then use your rhetorical tools to respond to this critique.
Finally, you should end your argument with a concession, what we might call throwing
your opponent a bone. Consider some point, it need not be a major one, that your hypothetical
opponent is right about or something that you both can agree upon. This is generally done as a
gesture of decorum, a means of mitigating the aggressiveness of your argument and finding
common ground with your interlocutor. When you locate some common ground, even if it is a
minor point, it shows that you are a logical and fair thinker and it allows you to focus on why the
debate is an important one.
This assignment will be graded on the quality of your thesis, your use of the required six
forms of support, the quality of these supporting arguments, the quality of your
counterargument, and the quality of your concession. As always, you will be graded on spelling,
grammar, and the clarity of your language.
1,250 words
Drawing for the rhetorical strategies of the text, you will produce an argumentative essay in
which you take on a contemporary issue and respond to it. This should be an essay in which you
attempt to convince a reader to come over to your point of view, appealing to the audience’s beliefs
and employing sophisticated rhetorical tools.
Begin by considering your fundamental values and beliefs. What causes do you care about?
What fundamental values do you hold? You might use online resources such as newspapers and
opinion articles to help you consider this. Spend some time reflecting and writing about these.
Once you’ve identified one particular belief to focus on, spend some time thinking about why you
believe this. Was there anything you can remember that caused you to believe what you believe?
How would you convince a friend who disagreed with you to adopt the same belief? Also, spend
some time considering why someone might argue against you and what kinds of arguments they
would bring to the table. Consider your main argument about this belief is i.e. whether it is wrong,
whether it is a human right, whether it should be illegal, and why.
Your paper should take adopt the structure from page 228 in the textbook: main
claim/thesis, support, counterargument, concession.
In your introduction, you should introduce your position on the belief and state an
argumentative thesis (pgs. 226-227) regarding your topic.
In one or several body paragraphs, you should support this thesis (arguing why this is the
case) using at least six of the twelve rhetorical strategies listed on page 229: examples, allusion,
personal testimonies/anecdotes, scenarios, statistics, authorities, facts, appeals to logic,
appeal to emotion, appeal to character, appeal to need, and appeal to value.
Following your support, you should identify a counterargument and martial your logical
skills to refute this argument. In many ways, this is the most challenging part of the assignment
because it requires you to logically think through a position you disagree with. Be careful here to
not reduce the counterargument to a simplistic or easily answered criticism (what is known as a
straw man fallacy). Try to consider the most difficult or challenging argument to your position and
then use your rhetorical tools to respond to this critique.
Finally, you should end your argument with a concession, what we might call throwing
your opponent a bone. Consider some point, it need not be a major one, that your hypothetical
opponent is right about or something that you both can agree upon. This is generally done as a
gesture of decorum, a means of mitigating the aggressiveness of your argument and finding
common ground with your interlocutor. When you locate some common ground, even if it is a
minor point, it shows that you are a logical and fair thinker and it allows you to focus on why the
debate is an important one.
This assignment will be graded on the quality of your thesis, your use of the required six
forms of support, the quality of these supporting arguments, the quality of your
counterargument, and the quality of your concession. As always, you will be graded on spelling,
grammar, and the clarity of your language.
*Assignment based on the book: THE COMPOSITION OF EVERYDAY LIFE. a GUIDE TO WRITING BY: JOHN MAUK . JOHN METZ.
ISBN: 1133311195.
ISBN: 1133311195.
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