Critical Thinking and Argument Analysis Masters Course

Critical Thinking and Argument Analysis Masters Course

How to write an argumentative essay paper?

How to proceed --

1. Select and formulate your topic and then determine what your initial response (claim) to it is.
2. As Section 2 of the paper, take the one strongest argument you can give for the opposite response and then critique it, showing why it is not correct.
3. In Section 3 lay out the solution you propose and provide the strongest arguments you can for it.
4. In Section 4 consider and answer the objections someone might reasonably raise to your proposal. What, for instance, would the person, who holds the position you articulated in Section 2, have to say about your view?
5. In Section 5 draw your conclusion, restating the position and briefly repeating your view and the reasons for it. Now go back to the beginning, revise the initial position if needed, and write an Introduction to your essay. That is your Section 1.

Two advantages of this way of proceeding are that you do not waste time trying to figure out how to start the paper and that the parts can be done relatively independently and not all at one sitting. The reasons for not adopting the alternative you think wrong should lead naturally, for instance, to the alternative you think right.

When selecting the topic, please make sure you have enough of strong evidence to support your claims. Otherwise you will have to change your claim later, and lose valuable time and energy.

Topic – Select a topic that you are interested in: a work problem, a part of your future Master thesis, another business-related problem. When selecting it, please make sure that you will have credible evidence to support your point of view.

Length -- The paper should be approximately 2500 words long (+- 200 words). Assume that you are writing for someone who is unfamiliar with the situation and that you must both explain the situation and explain why your solution is the best. You are laying down the reasons for the view you are defending, and you do not want your readers to find you saying something stupid; you also do not want those reading your opinion to be bored.

Structure – The paper should have clear structure, so divide it into separate parts. That will make it easier for the reader to follow your ideas. Make the Minto pyramid of your argument before you start writing and attach it to the paper.

Connections – your essay should be well reasoned; clear links and announcements should lead a reader through your argument and connect all the parts into one coherent whole. You should state your own point of view with regards to the counterarguments, explain and clarify the issues which are analyzed.