It’s Showing time : Agreement or Disagreement Point in Essay

It’s Showing time : Agreement or Disagreement Point in Essay

What happened in the previous meeting ?

            Welcome again to the next meeting of writing. On Friday (April, 25^th 2014) at 07.30 WIB, PBI-D students fight again in writing field.  As our opponent is Argumentative Essay. Appetizer has mr.Lala provided to us, that appetizer is a little definition about Argumentative essay.

On slides (Argumentative vs Expository Essay) :

The argumentative essay is commonly assigned as a capstone or final project in first year writing or advanced composition courses and involves lengthy, detailed research. The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner. Expository essays involve less research and are shorter in length. Expository essays are often used for in-class writing exercises or tests, such as the GED or GRE.

Argumentation of Fitzpatrick 2005 :

In writing an argumentative essay you have to persuade your audience to consider your point of view, even if they may disagree with you. This requires some care and skill: you need to show respect for opposing points of view, you must choose vocabulary carefully, and, above all, you must write clearly and logically.

            From those definition, we can conclude that argumentative essay is consist of collecting information, providing point of view, providing evidence and facts, also all of that requirements come from a deep research which done by a Qualified Reader. As the qualified reader, there are three steps of it :

1.      Preparation            2. Whilst          3. Post Reading

            Be a qualified reader is not as easy as we thought. Many consideration that qualified reader have to do. When they collect some information, it has to pass through many researches. If that detail information has complete enough, it ready to serve. Some reasons of read detail :

 

            An argumentative essay has some characteristics, such as in making argumentative essay we have to remember that no counter argument there, also for making argumentative essay we use only one point of view. As mr.Lala showed to us that to make our argumentative essay more perfect, we have to do some activities, are:

—  Define the topic!

Some topics require definition and we have to define the term.

—  Limit the topic!

Some argumentative topics require limiting. 

—  Analyse the topic!

Before we decide upon a point of view, you should analyse the issue thoroughly.  Most argumentative topics have two points of view – for and against – and can be stated as a yes/no question.

—  Opinion

In the 4^th level, opinion is the last one we have to complete. Giving any opinion is a signal in argumentative essay. For example :

“HSS should NOT work during the school year”

-          They  can get better grades if they do not work

-          They can participate in extracurricular activities

            The next step that we have to do is making thesis statement.  A thesis statement are consist of opinion and also reasons. A strong reason is one that is believable, relevant, and important. Opinions are usually expressed with the modal verb “should” or evaluative such as “good” and “bad”. For example :

—  Teenagers should have part-time jobs.

—  Part-time work is good for teenagers.

            A complete thesis statement also contains reasons, or supporting arguments. A thesis statement may also contain an opposing view. An opinion create a data and facts, and argument can create a relevance of evidence. There is CYCLE of argumentative essay :

A.  Depend on roanestate.edu.html

            To write an argument essay, you’ll need to gather evidence and present a well-reasoned argument on a debatable issue.

1.      How can I tell if my topic is debatable? 

            You cannot argue a statement of fact, you must base your paper on a strong position. Ask yourself…

• How many people could argue against my position?  What would they say?
• Can it be addressed with a yes or no?
• Can I base my argument on scholarly evidence, or am I relying on religion, cultural standards, or morality? (you MUST be able to do quality research!)
• Have I made my argument specific enough?

2.      You MUST choose one side or the other when you write an argument paper!

            Don’t be afraid to tell others exactly how you think things should go because that’s what we expect from an argument paper.  You’re in charge now, what do YOU think?

Do…	Don’t…
…use passionate language	…use weak qualifiers like “I believe,” “I feel,” or “I think”—just tell us!
…cite experts who agree with you	…claim to be an expert if you’re not one
…provide facts, evidence, and statistics to support your position	…use strictly moral or religious claims as support for your argument
…provide reasons to support your claim	…assume the audience will agree with you about any aspect of your argument
…address the opposing side’s argument and refute their claims	…attempt to make others look bad (i.e. Mr. Smith is ignorant—don’t listen to him!)

3.      By addressing the opposition you achieve the following goals:

• illustrate a well-rounded understanding of the topic
• demonstrate a lack of bias
• enhance the level of trust that the reader has for both you and your opinion
• give yourself the opportunity to refute any arguments the opposition may have
• strengthen your argument by diminishing your opposition's argument

B.  Depend on Argumentative Research Essay Topics

1. Argumentative Research Essay Topics Selection: if you are assigned one, then this step should be eliminated. If not, then let us tell you 3 secrets for selecting the best topic

                        * Brainstorm the topics of your interest

                        * Select the one that appeals to you the most

                        * Choose one which you are familiar with

2. Research and Analysis of argumentative essay: This could be the first step if you already are assigned a topic. Research your topic on the Internet and in published journals. Don’t rely on just one source of research. Take out the important issues relevant to your topic and make note of it. Analyze your weaknesses and strengths. Also analyze your argument that should be of a real importance

3. Brainstorming of argumentative essay A genuine and an original piece need your brilliance. Ask questions that arise in your mind related to the topic and look out for your answers.

4. Thesis statement of argumentative essay: The technique for finding a thesis statement within the argumentative essay is to pick such points on which you can write as few pages. Remember. your argumentative essay will be surrounding the thesis statement which has been summed up in a short and concise sentence. Before or after writing thesis statement in your research paper copy, state the importance of thesis statement, as your readers may not know its role.

5. Creating an outline of argumentative essay: stretching up your argumentative essay without a proper outline is just like writing without purpose. Bullet form is very helpful in creating an outline. Create an outline for each paragraph. Structure your arguments too, as that will help in giving your argumentative essay questions a unified look.

C.  Depend on AnnaSanczy.pdf

Academic Writing

            In the academic settings, writing skills are practiced in the form of compositions. Composing consists of two kinds of writing: the writing as telling or retelling, and the writing that involves transforming. The former contains narrative and descriptive writing, and the latter expository and argumentative writing (Grabe and Kaplan 1998:4-5). “

            Then, other level discourse difficulties of EFL writers are poor topic continuance, inadequate use of examples, limited vocabulary, and incorrect or limited use of cohesive devices (Meisuo 2000:61).

1.      Cohesion in Essay Writing

            Halliday and Hasan‟s method of analyzing discourse has provided the taxonomy of cohesive devices which are considered the major resources of text construction in the linguistic system (Crowhurst 1987:185). Research on cohesion has been flourishing since the publication of Cohesion in English (1976).

             A few studies of cohesion in written discourse were conducted aiming at functions of cohesive devices in essay writing. Some of the researchers acknowledge the importance of including the concept of cohesion in essay writing and some believe cohesive devices are irrelevant to writing quality. In many of these studies cohesion and coherence were both taken into account as they are considered tightly related in essay writting.

2.      Argumentative Writing

            One type of academic essay writing is argumentation. he writing of argumentation in the tertiary level of education is referred to a formal type of argument. The writers of such essays are required to explicitly state a main proposition, present supporting evidence and reasoning, use formal language and academic terminology, be objective and include opposing views with a due care. For argumentation to be convincing it needs to be presented directly and straightforwardly (Podis and Podis 1996:283), and the validity of the premises of the argument has to be observed (Raimes 1999:178).

             Basically, the argument consists of expressing an opinion or point of view and providing the justification for it. Therefore, while presenting the argument, a writer needs to inform the reader of the instrumental arguments for and against the issue under discussion. Then, the writer needs to takes his position on the topic and present his view in order to persuade or influence the reader; thus, the writer may express a personal viewpoint to maintain the interaction with the reader (Seely 1998:133-136). This writing strategy requires the writer to present “a carefully reasoned, well-supported argument” and take into consideration other points of view where the writer shows the skill to present this argument in “a thoughtful and convincing way” .

            Thus, the arrangement of the argument is to make a claim, offer supporting reasons and evidence, and handle counterarguments. The claim is a central part of argumentative essay writing. (Axelrod and Cooper 1988:494).

            Essentially, “argument depends for its effectiveness on logical reasoning and concrete support for stated facts and makes a heavy use of transition words and phrases” (Axelrod and Cooper 1988:147).

D.  The structure of the argumentative essay: the basic format :

1. Introduction

Thesis statement = opinion + reasons

2. Body

                        first point and supporting info

                        second point and supporting info

                        third point and supporting info

3.      Conclusion

Restate thesis statement

E.  Outline of Argumentative Essay

1.      West Papua should not be separated from NKRI because if it happens, other big countries will control and take it over.

2.      What makes NKRI do not want West Papua to be separated:

First opinion    : (History). Indonesia did a lot for Papua, especially when did integration of Papua to NKRI.

Second opinion  : (Papuan has no power). Indeed Papua has many resources, but if Papua be separated from NKRI, Papua has hasn’t power enough to do anything to be independent country.

Third opinion  : (Autonomy).  Indonesia give a solution, for example they give indigenous autonomy to Papua.

3.    In conclusion, the kindness from other big countries to Papua is not only for Freedom of Papua, but there is something hidden behind it. Those countries will take another bad step for Papua because they know that Papua has many resources. So, just keep it and develop it !