Assignment #2: Argumentative Essay

Now that you've had some fun with creative, descriptive writing with your odes, it is time to be persuasive in Assignment #2:  The Argumentative Essay.  This is the most common type of essay, so it is important to practice and learn how to properly structure one.

The first thing you need to do is develop your opinion.   In other words, you need strong arguments to support your opinion.  The more you know about your topic the better, so always read and think as much as possible before writing.  

For this purpose, I've introduced you to the many issues surrounding the recent stir caused by a viral video called KONY 2012.  In just a few short months, the video has been viewed over 100,000,000 times, and has resulted in a lot of attention aimed at a man called Joseph Kony.  Many people think he is the modern version of Adolf Hitler, and must be captured, while many others feel he is not the person we should be focusing on at this time.  Africa is a continent with many problems,  and many experts think it is ridiculous that millions of Americans are only focusing on Uganda and Joseph Kony.   Before we get carried away with some possible arguments that support or criticize the video, lets watch it and see what you think:

You can see that this video is clearly very persuasive.  Do you know the Three Modes of Persuasion?  They are: 

If you want to persuade someone to share your opinion, you have to use all three of these to become convincing.  The documentary you saw just now uses all three of these very effectively.  Everything from music to camera angles to editing - Invisible Children is an organization that knows how to make a strong argument.  But is it the 100% truth? 


All over YouTube, there is plenty of evidence that not everyone in the world is happy with what Invisible Children wishes to do:

With a bit of googling and research, you should easily be able to enrich your opinion and have something to write about in a good argumentative essay.  Before you do write it, however, you should plan it.  Keep in mind the following elements:


Reguirements: 500 words (4-5 paragraphs)
Must include: At least one video, one picture, and one link.

Here are the three elements of essay structure you must focus on:

1. Introduction

The first paragraph is the introductory paragraph. It introduces your topic with a creative hook and clearly states your opinion - or as it is more commonly called - a thesis statement.

2. Body

The body paragraphs contain the reasons which support your thesis statement. Each paragraph should deal with one reason only, and should support that reason with evidence.  It is always good to appeal to "ethos" by becoming as credible as possible. Use quotes, stats, and persuasive language.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion restates the points you made in the introduction (and hopefully proved in the body).  You should summarize your arguments in a colorful way that is not repetitive or too similar to the introduction.  However, it should not be too different either.  Do not introduce new reasons in the conclusion.   

 The most important thing is to be balanced and organized in order to communicate strongly.  


Have fun!