Tentative outline
Topic. What do all religions have in common?
Subtopic. Do Christians, Muslims, and Jews worship the same God?
The paradigm for an Argumentative Researched Paper Traditional or Classical Argument Purpose: to win; to get the audience to agree with the arguer with evidence to support the claim and evidence to strongly refute any counterarguments Organizational Paradigm:
- Introduction · Attention-grabber or lead—a story, example, statistic, or quotation that introduces your topic and draws your audience into the paper · An overview of the primary issues—a section highlighting the different issues people would consider when looking at your topic; this section might also include the following content: o Definitions of key terminology—definitions of any terms that are associated with your topic; some topics will have multiple terms to define whereas other topics will have few terms to define o Background information—information regarding how the issue in your paper has developed into a controversy and/or any essential historical information highlighting the issue over time · Proof of the controversy—a section demonstrating the validity of the controversy; this section typically includes quotations or paraphrases from your research that indicate the controversial nature of the subject; in other words, this section must demonstrate disagreement about the issue in your paper · Thesis statement—your primary assertion about your topic; the thesis usually comes at the end of your introduction and should be one to two sentences in length · Antithesis—an optional part of the introduction; this section consists of a paragraph presenting the primary opposing views on the issue; it ends with a statement that restates your thesis, emphasizing the importance of the thesis **For a 2300-4000 word paper, the introduction will usually be between one and two pages in length. II. Body · Sub claims to prove the overall claim · Specific support (evidence) from research to prove the sub-claims (See Wood p. 226 table 10.2 for the optimal types of proofs for different claims) · Rebuttals (counterarguments): Any arguments or other perspectives that would come against the claim. Note, that developing rebuttals is a required part of the argument for this course. (See Wood, pp. 114-115 – “Backing” and “Rebuttal” for an example of how to refute the counterarguments with an argument [claim, support, warrant]) III. Conclusion · Reassertion of your thesis in different words · A statement of the consequences of not embracing your position · A strong clincher—an appropriate, meaningful final line (you may be able to revisit your attention-grabber in the introduction as a clincher
