Mahoney

ENG 111
Spring 2015

Making Arguments: Argument Plan and Student Example

(Invention Exercise #4)
20 Points
Students often tell me that they dont know how to organize an essay, or how the parts go
together. Many approaches are possible, but for this project lets use the plan presented here.
Plan on developing four basic elements. Give headings, as on this prompt, to separate and
explain each element. The plan may be single spaced and should use some formatting (such as
bullets or tabbed lines) as illustrated in the sample outline. However, be careful not to think in
bullet points or vague nouns. Give fully developed ideas and sentences wherever possible,
rather than single words or vague phrases.
Thesis: For this brief section, give your most narrowed and revelatory thesis statement. You
can, if you wish, give different versions of the statement.
I believe people should have a better appreciation for pop artist and understanding how difficult
writing pop music is in todays culture is.
Support: This will take some time -- and invention! We will dedicate class sessions to
developing ideas. Here, consider all the support strategies that you will use including examples,
allusions, personal testimonies/anecdotes, scenarios, statistics, experts, known facts, appeals
to logic and appeals to ethos, also known as credibility.. (See 229-31.) Most importantly, develop
a line of reasoning (appeal to logic) See questions on page 231. Look for the triangles.
Elements of support that you must include in your essay are:

Allusion
Celebrities that have talked about writing music and how long it takes them and the
difficulties when writing this music
Personal testimony or anecdote (personal connection)
It has taken me over 3 years to write a song. Thats just one song. Not to mention all the
time I put in to recording and producing it.
Appeals to value and/or need
Value: This means the writer aims to discover what its readers value and uses
that information to help build the argument. Heres an example of how marketers
try to best understand the values of a group. Take a quick moment and look at it.
I think youll find it helpful.
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/10/24/engage-millennials-and-gen-z-appealingvalues-and-traits

Need: This means the writer aims to discover what his/her readers needs are.
And depending on the topic at hand, the writer might use the information to

Mahoney
ENG 111
Spring 2015

appeal to the readers spiritual needs, economic, physical, familial needs, etc.

Appeal to logic (also called a line of reasoning)

Counterargument: Explain the most significant opposing points and explain your
counterargument.How will you address/diffuse/defend against opposition? (See 231-33.)
People who write music say its actually easy and not hard at all and in fact can be writing in
three (or less) easy steps.
Concession: Finally, what points must you concede or qualify? Explain the boundaries and
potential shortcomings of your position! (See 232.)
Although some people say that writing pop music is an easy task, most writer and artist when
asked will say that in fact writing music is quite possibly the hardest part of the job.
Further Questions and Possible Research: Heres where you can list some important
questions and ideas for further research. What would you like to assert? How far can you go?
What should you try to find out?

Example, next pages

Student Example: Argument Plan for Making Arguments

THESIS
Because college culture demands intense intellectual and social change from high school culture,
traditional college students need the support structure of home.
SUPPORT
Allusions to movies, such as Animal House and American Pie: These illustrate popular assumptions
about collegethe place to escape orderly life, the place to explore hypersexuality,and caveman instinct.
These movies also reinforce the notion that college is a get-away, a weird type of psycho-vacation from
basic life skills like planning, persistence, temperance.
Appeal to Need: College is necessary for economic and social well being in mainstream American
culture. And because of increasing cost, the old college attempt (trying it, dropping out, trying again,
maybe trying a third time) is increasingly perilous. The financial burden is too great for the middle class
family to endure multiple swoops at college. Students have to get it right the first time.
Appeal to Need: In the big shift from K-12 to college life, home is often the necessary solid groundthe
intellectual familiarity that students need. As the ground shifts beneath them, they need some kind of
permanence.

Mahoney
ENG 111
Spring 2015

Appeal to Logic (the main line of reasoning):

Premise: The shift from high school to college culture is significant.
Personal testimony about my own experience coming to first-year classes
Examples of different assignments and specific classroom expectations
1. English projects in college composition vs. assignments in high school
2. The open schedule of college vs the ordered regime of high school
3. The different outcomes and objectives: college vs. high school
Premise: Many students experience a kind of culture shock in the transition.
Personal testimony from my friend in Norfolk, VA
Dropout ratesobserved over a semester
Premise: This culture shock negatively impacts their academic performance.
Dropout ratesperhaps some statistics here.
Dormitory story about the woman who stopped leaving her room
Premise: Home life, when possible, provides intellectual and psychological security.

COUNTERARGUMENT/CONCESSION
Opposition: College is about leaving behind the assumptions, practices, and biases of adolescence. Its
about growing outward, experiencing a new realm of relationships, a new culture, a new vision of the
world.
Concession: College should, indeed, help students toward new intellectual, cultural, even psychological
horizons.
Counter: But living on campus does not necessarily promote these new intellectual behaviors. In fact, too
often living on campus promotes a kind of persistent adolescencebeing steeped in high school-like
transgression. Residential advisors function like assistant principals, keeping students in a high school
developmental stage.

Qualifier: Not all students can live at home. Many students must go awaymust leave behind a small
town and seek out higher education far from home. They must, therefore, live in dormitories and
apartments.
Counter: Still, the prevailing assumption in high school is that its simply better to go awayto enter
college life by also entering dormitory life. At the least, that prevailing assumption should be corrected.
FURTHER QUESTIONS AND POSSIBLE RESEARCH:
Could I argue that the shrinking middle class (or at least the pain put on middle class families) calls for a
change in attitude about college?
What is the dropout rate across the country? Is it higher for students who live in dorms?
Whats the success rate for students who start college while living at home?
How many students in the country attend college while living at home?
Whats the average cost of living in the dorms? Is it fair to say that dorm cost creates a big chunk of
college debt? Could I link the psychological/financial weight of college to dorm life?
What do professors think about this? Do they?
What do psychologists or sociologists say about homeabout the act of being situated in one familiar
domestic space? Is that important?

Mahoney
ENG 111
Spring 2015