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3
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___Cites ___Freewriting - Process 4
- Process 5
Process 3:
The Argument or
Persuasion Paper 
Take a view from all
sides
When we are most persuasive,
we accept that the other side has its merits, too. So
begin to think about an issue
with a couple sides to it. You will probably find more
time and interest in
this topic if you use something that "boxes you in." Recall the
"Wells box" that
H.G. Wells imaginatively wrote himself out of? Another mode that
Wells could have taken would
have been to write persuasively of the need to bridge
the yawning gulf of social
class distinctions in Victorian England. Many of the topics in
fields of education,
medicine, law enforcement, housing and development, gender
rights, all have a potential
for your persuasive paper.
Why do they call it an
argument paper, then?
Well, the male citizens of
Greece who began the field of public rhetoric used
definition, division, and
synecdoche (binary logic,subordination) to make their
points and win.
Newer rhetoric tries to use
other means as well as these, including techniques
of writing that explore,
connect, and understand all points-of-view. We still have
our own thesis and explain
why we find this the more convincing to us, but we
can also grant points to the
other side. To an unconvinced third party, this is
far more convincing than to
hammer the opposing position or make it into a
demonized "straw
man."
The Process 3 Paper:
Argument & Persuasion
MODEL "0" DRAFT
E3
Is that all we do when
we persuade?
Not quite. We often
need to introduce or give and overview and background,
classify, define, make
comparisons, show causes and effects, and processes
to make our persuasive
points. The newer thinking is that papers usually use
more than a single mode of
thought. And sometimes, the more modes that
you can employ in a paper,
the more convincing the case sounds to
your reader. Telling
short anecdotes or narratives as illustrations to your
points is also a very
effective mode.
Conclusion should sum up why you have supported your argument. Why
is
what you have uncovered important to our understanding of this sensitive issue?
Have you shown how civil you can be to the other position? Credit the points on which
you think your opponent has merit but restate why you still were not convinced.
Works Cited
should always follow the MLA guidelines for print or online texts
as it is given in your SMG text.
Format: Just
send all drafts as an email message or .doc file.
Be sure to make final draft
at least 3-4 pp., double-spaced in TEXT w/ LINE BREAKS
(using 12 pt. new Times Roman
or similar font.) If there is porblem with .doc files,
you should "save as" a text file. Paste your drafts into email
messages.