Before we begin our work of entering the conversation about First Year Composition and Academic Writing, we need some basic concepts about how to listen to that conversation. As we already discussed, one of the primary features of academic writing is that it is argumentative. Rather than being a list of already established facts, academic writing will make logic and evidence-based claims and then support those claims with facts.

However, academic writing isn’t just something that scholars and students produce. Scholars and students also use academic articles, books, and other texts to support the arguments they make. By referring to other texts, academic writers directly address specific conversations and build their authority to speak. Experienced writers know that not all sources and texts are equal, and they take the time to evaluate the sources they use.

Imagine that you walk into a party and discover a group of people talking about music. The group is trying to decide who the greatest musical artist of all time is. You could jump in and voice your opinion, but without any evidence, whatever you say will only be an opinion–not a true argument. You take a few minutes and listen to the conversation. Some people in the group believe greatness should be determined by album sales. Others think greatness should be based on overall popularity. Still others think that greatness is defined by innovation and uniqueness. As you listen, you can get a better sense of what the entire group agrees about–the facts they’re basing their arguments upon. You can also begin to see where the group disagrees. It is only when you understand the places where they disagree that you can formulate your own claim.

But there’s more to making a claim than simply disagreeing with someone. Strong arguments will have clear reasons for why the argument is valid. They will also have solid evidence that proves the reasons are correct.

Like the conversation about music, academic writers must first understand what the conversation entails before joining in. They might begin their work by using  dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other fact-oriented reference resources to gain a clear understanding of the facts about the topic, but they would need to go beyond reference resources to begin understanding the complete topic. They would need to find sources where other scholars and writers make arguments about how to interpret those facts or about the importance of the facts.

We already learned that academic writing is well sourced. Academic writers must use a variety of resources to make sure they understand the conversation they are entering as completely as possible. Often, the resources writers use are essays, academic journal articles, or books. These resources present logical and evidence-based arguments that writers can use to support their own arguments. But to use these resources, writers need to read carefully and analytically. Most of all, they need to understand how arguments are built in order to evaluate the claims, reasons and evidence the various sources make.

Defining Argument

At school, at work, and in everyday life, argument is one of main ways we exchange ideas with one another. Salespeople make persuasive arguments to convince customers to purchase their goods or services. Children make arguments to negotiate privileges with their parents and guardians. Friends make arguments as they decide which movie to see or which restaurant to eat at.

Scholars, business people, scientists, and other professionals all make arguments to determine what to do or think, or to solve a problem by enlisting others to do or believe something they otherwise would not.  Not surprisingly, then, argument dominates writing, and training in argument writing is essential for all college students.

Before moving to the specific parts and vocabulary of argument, it will be helpful to consider some further ideas about what argument actually is.

Argument is not Fighting or Controversy

Students are often tempted to divide writing into two categories: argumentative and non-argumentative. According to this view, argumentative writing must defend a position in a debate between two or more opposing sides, be on a controversial topic, and must prove the correctness of one point of view over another. These pro/con arguments are common in high school assignments.

A related definition of argument entails a confrontation, a clash of opinions and personalities, or just a plain verbal fight. It implies a winner and a loser, a right side and a wrong one. Because of this understanding of the word “argument,” many students think the only type of argument writing is the debate-like position paper, in which the author defends his or her point of view against other, usually opposing, points of view. The goal in these types of arguments is to “win.”

These two characteristics of argument—as controversial and as a fight—are limiting, though. While pro/con arguments do exist, arguments can come in many forms, from informational to persuasive.

One community that values argument as a type of communication and exchange is the community of scholars.  They advance their arguments to share research and new ways of thinking about topics, but the arguments they make are not the win/lose or pro/con arguments many students are familiar with.

Biologists, for example, do not gather data and write up analyses of the results because they wish to fight with other biologists, even if they disagree with the ideas of other biologists. Biologists write articles, books, and reports because they want to share their discoveries and get feedback on their ideas.  When historians put forth an argument, they don’t want to win against other historians. Instead, they usually build on the arguments of other historians who came before them. Literary scholars publish their interpretations of different works of literature to enhance understanding and share new views, not necessarily to have one interpretation replace all others.

There are debates within any field of study, but those debates are usually healthy and constructive because their goal is to bring more scholars together to explore the ideas and to further the creation of new knowledge.

Argument Is Not Simple Opinion

Argument is often confused with opinion. As we saw in the example above, if you walked up to a group of people and made a claim about the greatest musical artist of all time with nothing to back you up, you would be voicing an opinion, not an argument.

Although both arguments and opinions are debatable, they have two important differences:

1. Arguments have rules; opinions do not.  In other words, to form an argument, you must consider whether the argument is reasonable.  Is it worth making?  Is it valid?  Is it sound?  Do all of its parts fit together logically?  Opinions, on the other hand, have no rules, and anyone asserting an opinion need not think it through for it to count as one; however, it will not count as an argument.
2. Arguments have support; opinions do not.  If you make a claim and then stop, as if the claim itself were enough to demonstrate its truthfulness, you have asserted an opinion only.  An argument must be supported, and the support of an argument has its own rules.  The support must also be reasonable, relevant, and sufficient.

Figure 3.1 “Opinion vs Argument”

Arguments Are Not Statements of Fact

Arguments in student writing are also commonly mistaken for statements of fact. This comes about because often people privilege facts over opinions, even as they defend the right to have opinions. Students can make this mistake because it’s often easier to restate facts when they are just beginning to learn about an issue or topic. First Year Composition students might also make this mistake because fact-based reports are the type of writing they are most familiar with.

Remember: An argument must be arguable.  Arguable means that the statement is worth arguing, that it has a range of possible answers, angles, or perspectives: It is an answer, angle, or perspective with which a reasonable person might disagree.  Facts, by virtue of being facts, are not arguable.  Facts are statements that can be definitely proven using objective data. When a fact is established, there is no other side, and there should be no disagreement.

Parts of an Argument

Now that we’ve discussed what arguments are not, let’s turn to what an argument is.

An argument is a debatable statement, limited by specific premises, that can be supported and proved by evidence.

Every argument has three required parts: Claim, Reasons, and Evidence. As the illustration shows, the claim is the most succinct and focused aspect of any argument. It rests upon the reasons that make it true and the evidence that supports its validity. In this section, we will look at each part of argument individually.

Almost anything claimed in a paper can be refuted or challenged. Opposing points of view and arguments exist in every debate. Anticipating and addressing possible objections to a claim always makes the overall argument stronger.

Includes CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously

English 112: College Composition II,  Lumen Learning, CC-BY-SA.

English Composition 1,  Lumen Learning,  CC-BY-SA.

Frameworks for Academic Writing,  Stephen Poulter, CC-BY-NC-SA.

Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking,  Matthew J. Van Cleave, CC-BY.

Methods of Discovery, Pavel Zemilanski,  CC-BY-NC-SA.

Writing for Success, CC-BY-NC-SA.

Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence,  Amy Guptill, CC-BY-NC-SA.

Image Credits:

“Opinion vs Argument,” by Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College,  derivative image from original by ijmaki, pixabay, CC-0.