Write TWO letters arguing a side of any current event that you have opinions on. You may address them to a current politician or public figure. Each of these letters should be approximately one page in length, have a coherent claim for the side you are arguing, and the use of rhetorical devices. You must highlight the claim in yellow, supporting evidence/elaboration in green and rhetorical devices in blue.

Explanation:

In this article we are going to explore the process of constructing a high quality discussion, or argumentative essay.  After reading this guide be sure to take a look at our top five essay writing tips and our essay writing tools for teachers and students.

DEVELOPING DISCUSSION IN THE CLASSROOM

The ability to craft a coherent argument and to express those arguments with others in a discussion are essential skills to encourage in our students. They help our students not only engage with the world, but also to process their thoughts and discover their opinions about things.

In this article we will use the terms’ ‘discussion’ and ‘argument’ interchangeably. But, it is worth noting that the real purpose of a discussion is to explore a variety of arguments to arrive at the truth, where possible.

Teaching our students the basics of argument and discussion is not about tooling them up to ‘win’. The processes of discussion are as much about the student discovering what they think as they are about persuading others to agree with them. As students mature and get more practiced in their discussions they will discover that often discussion is a necessary precursor to having an opinion on a given topic, no matter how basic or advanced that topic may be.

For students, discussion often bridges the gap between the speaking and listening learning areas and reading and writing ones. It is for this reason that we will look at some oral discussion activities, before examining how to approach the writing of discussion pieces in the classroom. These oral activities can serve as excellent pre-writing exercises for the students to prepare their thoughts and ideas before they sit down to write. They also work well as standalone oral activities that afford students the opportunity to practice their persuasive speaking skills and all that entails.

Transient

An argumentative essay also known as a discussion presents both sides of the argument on a specific topic so as the audience can form their own opinion.

The first task in writing a good argumentative essay is finding a suitable topic that has strong and valid opinions for both sides of the argument.  You will find some engaging writing prompts below.

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formal arguments

in written, formal arguments, the best way to build credibility with readers is to provide them with evidence. no matter what your argument might be and which side you agree with, citing strong evidence to back up your claim leaves the opposition with little to argue.

emotional appeal is often used in oral arguments. written arguments, however, rely on four main types of evidence. as you read further, you will see that some types are more credible than others and "hold more water" so to speak.

statistical evidence

the strongest type of evidence in formal writing is statistical evidence. this ranges from true, hard data presented as a percentage or number, to survey-type data. for example, statistical evidence could be:

4 out of 5 experts claim

85% of women in the united

7 members were present

statistical evidence can be proven as fact. you can actually go out and find hard information to prove your particular claim.

testimonial evidence

the use of celebrities as credibility evidence can be considered testimonial in nature. many people look up to celebrities as role models in their lives. good or bad, when a person chooses a life-path that takes them into public light, there will be many others out there who want to emulate the celebrity. these celebrity endorsements provide the second-strongest type of evidence found in formal arguments.

testimonial evidence can also be collected from experts and authorities in a given field. doctors, dentists, lawyers often provide expert testimonials. their authority is not often questions. they are expected to "know their stuff."

anecdotal evidence

when storytelling is involved as evidence, anecdotal evidence is being used. due to its less objective nature, anecdotal evidence is not extremely strong. when coupled with statistical or testimonial evidence, anecdotal evidence can be highly effective in determining credibility or proof.

storytelling, although based on fact, can include quite a bit of opinion, thus making it less objective. usually, eyewitnesses are used as providers of anecdotal evidence. they saw or experienced the phenomenon at hand are telling their version or side of the story.

analogical evidence

when information is scarce about something and little is known, analogical evidence is often used in a formal argument to increase credibility of the proof. if the phenomenon in question is new and little is known about it, analogical evidence that pulls in known factors about a similar phenomenon to show parallels can be an effective way to provide proof.

due to limited knowledge about the phenomenon, in this situation, analogical evidence can be regarded as the weakest type of evidence used in formal arguments. one can only imagine and hope that the comparison-phenomenon is close enough that the results can be applied to the new phenomenon.

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all that really matters in a formal argument is whether or not the writer has credible evidence to back up what they want to say or what they are thinking. so often, we hear people say, "prove it! " to one another.

one last little formal arguments not only provide credible evidence to support claims, don't forget that acknowledgment of the opposing point of view in an argument also strengthens the entire product.