A R G U M E N TAT I V E M L A R E S E A RC H P R O J E C T

9TH GRADE

PART I: GET THINKING!

JOURNAL #1

• What was your worst writing experience? What was your best writing experience? Explain

LET’S LOOK AT SOME STANDARDS FOR ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING:

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

MORE STANDARDS

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

WHAT DO THESE STANDARDS IMPLY?

•What words jump out?

•Support claims, valid reasoning, relevant, sufficient, clear, appropriate to task, credible, accurate, draw evidence, technology

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERSUASION AND ARGUMENTATIVE?

PERSUASION VS. ARGUMENT

• Ethos (author credibility)

• Pathos (emotional appeals)

Persuasion

• Logos (logical appeals)

• ReasonArgument

THE DIFFERENCE…

A particular audience can be persuaded, whereas the universal audience must be convinced; particular audiences can be approached by way of values, whereas the universal audience (which transcends partisan values) must be approached with facts, truths, and presumptions.”

~Miller & Charney

ARGUMENT

WHAT IS AN ARGUMENT?

• 1. To change reader’s point of view

• 2. To bring about some action on the readers part.

• 3. To ask the reader to accept the writer’s explanation or evaluation of a concept, issue or problem.

IS IT ARGUMENT OR PERSUASION?

IS IT ARGUMENT OR PERSUASION?

IS IT ARGUMENT OR PERSUASION?

IS IT ARGUMENT OR PERSUASION?

ELEMENTS OF ARGUMENT

ClaimEvidence: relevant and verifiableWarrant: explanation of how the evidence

supports the claim; often common sense rules, laws, scientific principles or research, and well-considered definitions.

Backing: support for the warrant (often extended definitions)

Qualifications and Counter-arguments: acknowledgement of differing claims

ZOMBIES!

• Read the following comic strips. Discuss:

• 1. What is the claim?• 2. What is the evidence?• 3. What is the warrant?• 4. Are there any qualifications or counter

arguments?

AUDIENCE

How do writers’ assumptions about audience affect production of a text? 1. How much to elaborate based on what they anticipate readers

know 2. How much to tailor the development of claims 3. How much to care, since writers’ concerns are bigger when

audience matters 4. How to accommodate audiences if writers don't identify with them “Considering the audience, therefore, is not simply a matter of selecting

the information that readers need to understand the argument. Instead, writers must anticipate objections and questions and develop persuasive appeals, including building on common ground, refuting opposing claims, offering an acceptable reader-writer relationship, and presuming upon appropriate beliefs and values."

~Miller & Charney

CHOOSING AN ARGUABLE ISSUE

• Arguments need. . . • An issue• An arguer• An audience• Common ground• A forum• Audience outcomes

• Arguments fail with.

. . • No disagreement or

reason to argue• Risky or trivial

issues• Difficulty

establishing common ground

• Standoffs or fights that result in negative outcomes

CREATING AN ARGUMENTC

laim

A Miner would be a good mascot selection for our school.

Evid

ence

Mascots should be strong or tough and represent the area. They should be something people would be proud to be.

Exp

lanati

on Our area has mining

as one of its primary industries, so the choice would represent our area. In addition, miners need to be tough because they do strenuous work—and dangerous work. They work hard to fill a need for people everywhere. That’s something to be proud of.

FOUR CORNERS

• The Supreme Court was right this week to reverse the ban on the sale of violent video games to children.

• Strongly Agree? Agree? Disagree? Strongly Disagree? Write for 3 minutes on your opinion.

FOUR CORNERS CONT.

• Go to corner of room matching your response. In your groups, you have several minutes to create an argument: claim, convincing evidence and explanation to present a two-minute argument to the rest of the groups.

STEP 1: PICK A TOPIC

• At this time, you need to pick a topic for your argumentative essay!

• What is your claim?

TOPIC/FOCUS

• Chose a topic that interests you.• Consider the availability of sources.• Ask yourself:

• Why is this interesting?• What makes my argument valid?• What should someone know about this topic?

STEP 2: RESEARCH

• Find sources that you MIGHT use.

• What evidence could you use to support your claim?

SOURCES

• A good source will have an author or be a credible website, sponsored by a major company or news organization.

• Make sure you write/copy/print: all titles (of book, article, web page) name of publisher, company, news organization, dates, place of publication, publisher, editor, page numbers, date site was made, date you accessed the site.

BAD SOURCES

• About.com• Howstuffworks.com• *Wikipedia• Personal blogs• Sites with no author

STEP 3: THESIS STATEMENT

• Now that you looked at the research, you need to create a thesis statement.

• Definition: a short statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence.

STEP 4: ORGANIZE NOTES

• 1. Create 3-5 clear points to be made• 2. Organize research notes/materials to fit into

each category.• 3. Establish your point made through reading the

research.

REMEMBER:

• Claim• Evidence• Explanation

• (For each topic)

GOOD WRITING

• Now that you have chosen a topic, written a thesis statement, organized your research and created your claims, it’s time to write!

• Let’s look at good writing!

GENERAL QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING

• Grouping ideas into sentences and paragraphs that carry meaning efficiently and move ideas forward

• Creating an effective thesis• Introducing an idea effectively• Connecting ideas (between sentences and

paragraphs)• Punctuating correctly• Creating and maintaining an appropriate tone• Concluding meaningfully• Using words eloquently

THE STRUCTURES AND LANGUAGE OF ARGUMENT

• Incorporating others’ words or ideas• Subordinating opposing views• Organizing for greatest effect• Maintaining an academic tone• Analyzing and explaining data/sources

adequately • Recognizing the difference between reasons and

evidence• Evaluating quality of evidence/research

CONNECTING IDEAS EFFECTIVELY

• Why? To establish clear relations between ideas“The best compositions establish a sense of

momentum and direction by making explicit connections among their different parts, so that what is said in one sentence (or paragraph) not only sets up what is to come but is clearly informed by what has already been said. When you write a sentence, you create an expectation in the reader’s mind that the next sentence will in some way echo and be an extension of the first, even if—especially if—the second one takes your argument in a new direction.” ~Graff & Birkenstein

WAYS TO MAKE CONNECTIONS

• Transitions• Pointing words• Repetition of key words and phrases• Synonyms• Idea hooks

EXAMPLE

• “The only thing more dangerous than being on the back of a racehorse was being thrown from one. Some jockeys took two hundred or more falls in their careers. Some were shot into the air when horses would ‘prop,’ or plant their front hooves and slow abruptly. Others went down when their mounts would bolt, crashing into the rails or even the grandstand. A common accident was ‘clipping heels,’ in which trailing horses tripped over leading horses’ hind hooves, usually sending the trailing horse and rider into a somersault. Finally, horses could break down, racing’s euphemism for incurring leg injuries.” Seabiscuit, Hillenbrand

TRANSITIONS

EXAMPLES: Also, besides, furthermore, in addition, similarly, in other words, for example, for instance, although, but, despite the fact that, however, as a result, since, so, therefore, admittedly, as a result, consequently, yet

Spot is a good dog. He has fleas. Spot is a good dog, even though he has fleas.

Courage is resistance to fear.Courage is mastery of fear.Courage is not absence of fear.

POINTING WORDS

• EXAMPLES: this, these, that, those, their, such, her, it, etc.“Children wanted their kiddy-cars to go faster. First, the animal

design was done away with. Then off went a couple of the wheels. The two remaining wheels were greatly enlarged and then aligned down the center of the vehicle. Finally, handlebars and footrests were added. These primitive two-wheelers went much faster than the four-wheeled kiddy-cars.” ~ Toys! Wulffson

“Riders didn’t even have to leave the saddle to be badly hurt. Their hands and shins were smashed and their knee ligaments ripped when horses twisted beneath them or banged into the rails and walls. Their ankles were crushed when their feet became caught in the starter’s webbing.”~ Seabiscuit, Hillenbrand

REPETITION OF KEY WORDS OR PHRASES

• “She sighed as she realized she was tired. Not tired from work but tired of putting white people first. Tired of stepping off sidewalks to let white people pass, tired of eating at separate lunch counters and learning at separate schools. She was tired of ‘Colored’ entrances, ‘Colored drinking fountains, and ‘Colored taxis. She was tired of getting somewhere first and being waited on last. Tired of ‘separate,’ and definitely tired of ‘not equal.’” ~ Rosa, Giovanni

SYNONYMS AND PRONOUNS

• “Candy is almost pure sugar. It is empty of nutritional value. It is an extravagance. It dissolves in water. It melts in your mouth, not in your hands. It’s the icing on the cake. Candy is so impossibly sweet and good that eating it should be the simplest thing in the world. So how can there be anything of substance to say about it?” ~ Candy and Me, Liftin

• “Religion was central to Egyptian life from the beginning, and the pharaoh played a key role in its rituals. In life, the ruler was thought to be the son of Ra, the all-powerful sun god.” ~ Secrets of the Sphinx, Giblin

IDEA HOOKS

• “Mark Twain is established in the minds of most Americans as a kindly humorist, a gentle and delightful ‘funny man.’ No doubt his photographs have helped promote this image. Everybody is familiar with the Twain face. He looks like every child’s ideal grandfather, a dear old white-thatched gentleman who embodies the very spirit of loving-kindness.

• Such a view of Twain would probably have been a source of high amusement to the author himself.” ~ Lively Art of Writing, Payne

IN COMBINATION“Jebel Musa in the morning is like a tiger at dawn, a cat curled up

in the shadows, its coat the color of pumpkin pie, its demeanor a misleading message: tame. As we arrived at the small plateau where climbers prep for the hike to come, the mountain seemed almost inert, waiting. At 7,455 feet, it’s not a particularly tall mountain: half as high as the tallest mountain in the Colorado Rockies; roughly as tall as the highest peak in the Appalachians. But it is impressive, completely dominating the landscape around it like a mother elephant dwarfing her babies. A mixture of red and gray granite fused together in an imposing, almost threatening mass, Mount Moses rises straight from the ground and softens slightly at the top like a drip castle. Though not as angular as Mount Ararat, nor as tall as nearby Mount Katarina, it still seems like a particularly imposing backdrop, waiting for some particularly majestic drama to take place in front of it.” ~ Walking the Bible, Feiler

STEP 5: WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT!

• (But how to I use my research information correctly?)

USING OTHERS’ IDEAS APPROPRIATELY

• Quoting: using the exact words of another. Words must be placed in quotation marks and the author cited.

• Summarizing: putting the ideas of another in your own words and condensing them. Author must be identified.

• Paraphrasing: putting someone else’s ideas in your words but keeping approximately the same length as the original. Paraphrase must be original in both structure and wording, and accurate in representing author’s intent. It can not just be switching out synonyms in the original sentence. Author must be identified.

QUOTING

• Why use quotations?• when the speaker’s name and reputation add credibility• when the phrasing of the quotation is interesting or

revealing and cannot be stated another way as effectively

• How effective are these examples?• Many students “improve their reading ability” by

looking at a text closely and by giving their first reactions to it (Burke 46).  

• Mem Fox contests, “worksheets are the dead-end streets of literacy: there’s a non-message on each line, going nowhere, for no reason” (69).

• Hints: cut quotes to the core and use them like spice, sparingly

SUMMARIZING

• Summaries• Should be shorter than original text• Should include the main ideas of the original• Should reflect the structure of the original text somewhat• Should include important detailsIs this an effective summary of Source B?At the moment of harvest, food begins to lose vitamins,

minerals, and phytochemicals important for fighting disease and maintaining health. Because the decrease is negligible, however, even if food is days or weeks from harvest, it’s still possible to derive nutrition from it and be healthy by making smart food choices.

PARAPHRASING

• Source: “People of African descent in the Diaspora do not speak languages of Africa as their mother tongue.”

• Inappropriate Paraphrase: “People of African descent no longer speak the languages of Africa as their first language.”

• Appropriate Paraphrase: “Painter contends that cultural factors like language and religion divide African Americans from their ancestors. Black Americans speak a wide variety of languages, but usually these are not African.”

INTRODUCING OTHERS’ IDEAS

• Put source names either before the idea [Painter insists that the hula hoop can help fight diabetes] or after the idea in parentheses [Others find the idea ridiculous (Smith, Wilson)].

• Use vivid and precise verb signals more than “says” or “believes” to show how an author feels or how an idea might relate to other ideas: agrees, recommends, insists, explains

• Make sure the idea adds to the point you are making. Dropping in unrelated quotes or names diminishes your credibility. SHOW how the idea contributes to YOUR argument.

NOW IT’S TIME FOR MLA

• Is this torture over yet???

• Step 6: Preparing the final copy

WHAT IS MLA?

MLA stands for Modern Language Association which promulgates guidelines for preparing student research papers and projects and scholarly manuscripts in the humanities. “MLA style” refers to a system of citing research sources.

SETTING UP YOUR PAPER

• 1. 1 inch margins • 2. Set paper on double spacing• 2. Header: Name and page numbers (upper right

hand corner)• 3. Heading: Your name, teacher’s name, name of

class, date (day-month-year)• 4. Title: Centered

FORMAL MLA FORMAT

Header

Heading

Title

1”

1”

FORMATTING QUOTATIONS

• Citation follows the quotation directly At the time we thought, “gone are the days of care” (Frick 29), but now we know different.

• Punctuation always outside parenthesisDo dreams always “alter our perception of waking reality” (Wilson 8)?

HOW DO I CITE?

There are two parts to citing according to MLA style:

1. Brief In-text citations (in parentheses) within the body of your essay or paper

2. List of full citations in the Works Cited page at the end of your paper

WORKS CITED PAGE

The Works Cited Page appears at the end of your paper on its own page.

Everything you referenced in your text must be listed in your Works Cited page. Conversely, everything you list in the Works Cited page must be cited in your essay.

The Works Cited page provides the information needed for a reader to find and retrieve any source used in your paper.

SAMPLE WORKS CITED PAGE

*Sources are listed alphabetically

Indent all lines after the first ½ inch foreach work listed

*The entire Works Cited page is double-spaced

Title “Works Cited” is centered at the top of the page

Be sure that each citation has a format descriptor (properly placed within the citation); e.g., Web, Print, Film

All citations end in a period (.)

STILL NOT SURE?

• Use your Central Dauphin MLA Handbook for reference