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What is an argument?

A strong argument tries to persuade the reader to accept a point of view using:

1. A declarative statement of an idea or opinion.

2. Support for the statement: including relevant facts, opinions based on facts and/or careful reasoning.

What is the Analysis of Argument?

Analysis of Argument questions present a short argument on an issue where you discuss how well it is reasoned.

	Here is an example of an Analysis of Argument question: Toads cause warts. I touched a toad last week and now I have a wart; therefore the toad was responsible. How would you rate the accuracy of the above statement? Support your position with reasons and examples.

How does the Analysis of Argument differ from the Analysis of Issue?

On Analysis of Issue questions, you are arguing grand issues such as, "Should China be in the World Trade Organization given their record of flagrant piracy?," or "Should parents have vouchers to send children to the school of their choice." Reasonable people could differ in their opinions with Analysis of Issue, but no reasonable person would absolutely support a flawed argument in an Analysis of Argument. When you are working on an Analysis of Argument, look for the fallacies that exist in the reasoning as opposed to inserting your personal opinions on the topic.

Graders expect the following:

• An essay that analyzes several aspects of the argument with critical insight.
  
• A clearly developed and logical essay.
  
• A coherent essay with well-chosen transitions.
  
• An essay that uses varied sentence structure and vocabulary.
  
• An essay free of grammatical errors.

As with Analysis of Issue, the topic sentence of each paragraph must contain the germ of the idea that permeates the entire paragraph. Each example or illustration must connect to that idea using transitional markers such as for example, furthermore, therefore, thus or moreover.

Chapter 3a: Dissecting Arguments