3.8 vid 2

Understanding Essay Structure

• Argumentative Essay Parts: The essay will have multiple components that need to be carefully structured.

  • Part A: Take a position and present a line of reasoning.

  • Part B: Use one foundational document alongside a course concept to support your thesis.

  • Part C: Explain how your reasoning connects your evidence to your claim.

  • Part D: Describe the counterclaim and provide a rebuttal.

Importance of Evidence and Reasoning

• Using Connective Words: Incorporate words like "because" or "therefore" to strengthen arguments.

• Reading Prompts Carefully: Understand the positions available to take on the given topic.

• Brainstorming Reasoning: Generate ideas to support your claim and select your thesis.

Example of an Argumentative FRQ

• Question Focus: Discuss how the Bill of Rights protects individuals against unreasonable search and seizure by the government, and how judicial review affects individual beliefs regarding the Fourth Amendment.

• Position Options:

  • Protection of individual liberty best achieves government goals.

  • Social order best achieves government goals.

Developing a Thesis

• Formulating a Thesis Statement: Both positions must include a claim and reasoning.

  • Example for Individual Liberty: "The protection of individual liberty best achieves the foundational goals of government because it maintains personal freedoms and prevents abuse of power."

  • Example for Social Order: "Social order best achieves the foundational goals of government because it ensures stability and adherence to laws that protect citizens."

Structuring the Argument

• Part C Outline: Each paragraph will cover specific aspects of the argument.

  • Paragraph 1: State the claim and reasoning (e.g., social order promotes individual rights).

  • Paragraph 2: Discuss the first document and how it supports the thesis with reasoning (e.g., the Fourth Amendment protecting against unlawful searches).

  • Paragraph 3: Explain the second document or concept that corroborates the thesis (e.g., the social contract theory as discussed by Thomas Jefferson).

Supporting Evidence

• Case Study for Social Order: Use Chimel v. California as evidence for the Fourth Amendment's 'incident search' exception to warrant requirements, which supports police actions and societal stability.

• Social Contract Theory: Reference Thomas Jefferson’s views on the government’s obligation to protect individual rights while maintaining order.

• Case Study for Individual Liberty: Examine cases where courts have expanded individual liberties (e.g., the due process clause) and how this impacts social order and limited government principles.

Conclusion

• Judicial Role: Acknowledge that courts may expand civil rights or social order based on context, emphasizing the complexity of balancing individual liberties with the need for societal order.