BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR ARGUMENT WRITING

Your assignment is to write several paragraphs, in argument style, that make a claim and support that claim. Decide the TOP THREE things to blame for the sinking of the Titanic. Then, rank them. Which was the primary blame? Which was the secondary blame? And which one is the third blame?

  • You can decide to argue only about the primary blame if you have enough support.
  • You can decide to argue about the primary and the secondary blame together.
  • Or… you can decide that you want to argue about all three. This will be a little tougher because you have to add in support for all three.

Important Criteria to Include:

  • You must have an introductory paragraph that draws the reader’s interest and states your claim. (there are examples here for you)
  • Any claims you make must be stated in a clear and scholarly way.
  • You must have at least three different and distinct reasons that you elaborate upon for your primary claim to blame, as well as the secondary claim if you use that and the same for a third claim if you choose to use that.
  • You must back up those reasons with precise evidence from any of the readings, videos or info-graphics that you have taken notes from, mentioning the sources that contained the information.
  • You must conclude your essay in some logical way tying everything together.
  • Be sure to have a variety of sentence beginnings and proper grammar and spelling.
  • Make revisions to show your best quality work.

Examples of Openings….

EXAMPLE ONE:

Nothing could have been more tragic than the sinking of the RMS Titanic over the night of April 14 and through the morning of April 15, 1912. Touted to be unsinkable, the boat failed to live up to her name and to this day people continue to argue the major causes. I firmly believe that the blame for this tragic incident is a mixture of people and things, primarily the blame of the decisions of Captain Edward Smith.

EXAMPLE TWO:

On April 10th, 2012, The Associated Press printed the following in an article commemorating the Sinking of the RMS Titanic: “There are replica ships in Tennessee and Missouri, graveyard tours in New York and Nova Scotia, traveling exhibits from Las Vegas to Atlanta, and two brand new museums in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Southampton, England.” Obviously this shows the public what an impact this 1912 event had worldwide. Who was to blame for this tragedy? What was to blame? The blame lies in several areas, with the major blame beginning before she even left shore – faulty rivets and faulty construction.

EXAMPLE THREE:

Assigning blame to incidents or actions is natural to humans. Distinguishing who or what is to blame for something seems to bring closure to that which is hard to cope with. One dictionary definition states that blame is “assigning responsibility for a fault or a wrongdoing.” So, where does the responsibility lie for the tragedy that occurred on April 14, 1912 in the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean? Yes, that was the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the “unsinkable”. The responsibility lies in three areas – initial decisions made by several people in her design, the hurried construction by the workers and the ignorant behavior of Captain of the SS Californian.

Example of a simple argument essay: Michael Jordan, A Man of True Character

INTRODUCTION: Who has never heard of Michael Jordan? This famous athlete is known for his abilities on the basketball court. In the 90’s, Jordan helped the Chicago Bulls win 7 NBA titles. After retiring in 1997, he found even more success as a coach in the NBA. However, Michael Jordan’s success didn’t come easy. There were many obstacles he had to overcome to get where he is today. I believe Michael Jordan is a striking example of determination and perseverance.

BODY AND BACKUP FOR CLAIM: As a boy, Jordan grew up loving basketball, but unfortunately talent didn’t come naturally to him. In fact, during his junior year of high school, Michael was cut from the varsity team. Even though that devastated him, Jordan was determined and made the choice to work even harder to reach his goal. By continually practicing, participating in all the street games that he could, Michael fine-tuned and improved his basketball skills. These improvements helped him to make the varsity team his senior year.

CONTINUED BACKUP FOR CLAIM: At the completion of a successful senior year, one would have thought Michael Jordan’s career was laid out for him. However, this was not to be the case. After trying out for Duke University, Jordan was told by the coaching staff “You’re good, but you’re not good enough to play at the college level.” Did that stop him? No. Jordan refused to give up. His dream was to play professional basketball so he needed to make a college team. Instead of quitting, he practiced more and more. Involving himself in every opportunity there was to play and receive extra coaching, Michael practiced day and night. He went to extremes to be faster and more agile. This hard work paid off when he attended a tryout at North Carolina University. The coaches not only thought he was good enough to play college basketball, but that he was good enough to be their starting guard in his first year. The success continued from there.

CONCLUSION: Many people may be surprised at the fact that Michael Jordan was not the “natural born talented athlete”. With a mindset of perseverance, Michael showed the world what hard work and determination can do. The pay-off was huge. His journey from childhood basketball to College and finally to his titles in the NBA prove the outcomes of his perseverance. Michael Jordan is a true model for what a young athlete can do if he or she is willing to work for it.