Freshmen Comp II - Words N Definiton

Argumentative Thesis (Thesis Statement)

the point of your argument, it’s when you have to prove your audience. In other words, it has to be arguable, which means it has to be a complete thought and it cannot be obvious to the average person.

• It’s not your topic, but it’s your opinion about your topic.

• It’s not just your opinion, it’s supported by reliable facts or sources.

• It’s not a statement of accepted fact, it’s a statement that most people would need proof to believe.

• It does not try to cover every aspect of a topic, it focuses only on tightly related aspects of the topic which can be proven in one essay.

EXAMPLE: Ways to Cook Broccoli > This is the best way to cook broccoli.

Claims

is the central assertion or main argument of an essay, which the writer aims to prove with evidence. All of them should fulfill the qualifications of a thesis: they must be proven.

Claim of Fact

a type of claim that something is true. It’s not obvious, and it must be supported with factual evidence to be believed. It can be proven or disproven through sufficient and appropriate data, testimony of reliable authorities, facts and/or inferences.

EXAMPLE: it cannot be “Lion are louder than kittens” but it could be “Writing and thinking are inseparable activities”

Claim of Value

a type of claim that expresses a judgment call. It cannot be just an expression of taste like “chocolate is better than vanilla.” You have to be able to defend it through widely accepted standards or criteria, and you have to express those criteria clearly in order to defend a claim of value.

Claim of Policy

a type of claim that argues that something should or should not happen or should or should not exist. It is usually based on both claims of fact and claims of value, in other words you need to establish facts and evaluate them according to clearly define criteria in order to prove a claim of policy.

Support

it refers to the evidence, details and reasoning use to validate a writers claims, assertions, and main arguments. All claims you make must have back up in one or more of the following ways and evaluated for accuracy and reliability.

Warrants

are assumptions argues make about what their audience believes or values. They are the connection between the claim and the support. If your assumptions are wrong, and your audience doesn’t share your belief or values, then your argument will not persuade your audience.

Authoritative Warrant

a type of warrant that justifies a claim by appealing to the credibility and expertise of a source, such as an expert, a reputable institution, or a well-known study.

Does the audience respect the source? Do other equally respected sources agree? Do other equally respected sources disagree?

Substantive Warrant

a type a warrant that is an unspoken assumption or principle that connects evidence to a claim by providing a logical link based on factual evidence or established logic.

Do examples given represent the whole community/audience? In a cause/effect argument, does the cause account entirely for the effect? Or are other causes equally important? If you use analogies, do they explain or merely describe other sufficient similarities to make the analogy appropriate?

Motivational Warrant

a type of warrant that is an unstated assumption that connects an argument's evidence to its claim by appealing to the audience's shared values, emotions, or motivations.

Will the audience regard the values as important? Are the values relevant to the claim?

Definition

the purpose, nature, and core activities of the course, which is a required introductory college writing class focused on improving students' writing, revision, and research skills for university-level work and beyond. it’s sometimes vital to making your warrant stick.

Dictionary Definitions and/or Defining Vague and Ambiguous Terms

a type of definition that makes sure your audience knows what you mean by certain words or phrases. As a part of this, you should be consistent in terms you use.

Stipulation

a type of definition that means being specific about what you are (and possibly what you are not) talking about it goes together with negation below. What it is.

Negation

a type of definition that sometimes an issue is so complex any argument about it requires you to argue for certain sub issues within it and against others. Thus, you might need to explain which part of the issue you discuss in which you do not. What is isn’t.

Examples

a type of definition that shows an audience what you mean by historical, rhetorical, or anecdotal examples will often give the audience a clearer vision of what you mean than any set of more vague descriptions.

Extended

a type of definition that is sometimes necessary for very complicated arguments. It means you might need to use all the above techniques just to clarify what you mean, what you are for, what you are against, and how it works in the world.

Induction

is when you come to a conclusion about the whole group or situation based on only a few examples, or even just one.

Deduction

is when you follow an extremely logical set of premises towards a conclusion, and yet the conclusion works only if all the premises are correct.

Logical Fallacies

are error in reasoning that weaken an argument by using flawed logic, irrelevant points, or misleading connections.