Tips for Developing a Strong Argument

  1. A strong argument is convincing; it offers evidence to back up the position. In other disciplines, "proof" for your argument might include lab reports or statistics. In literature, evidence is usually a quote from a primary text and its analysis, and/or support from secondary sources.
  2. If no one would disagree with what you're saying, it's not an argument. Make sure that your claim isn't simply self-evident. If this is the case, you probably need a better focus. It is hard for a paper to have too narrow a focus, but it is easy for the focus to be too wide. When in doubt, narrow things down. Don't make sweeping generalizations you can't possibly back up ("Since the beginning of time, humans have believed that...").
  3. Along the same lines, avoid vague terms like "our society" or "the modern world," which are so general as to be meaningless. Specify what it is about "society" that you want to examine.
  4. Make sure each sentence in your paper says something. This may seem obvious, but often is not the case. For example, "The story makes an interesting comparison between the upper and lower classes" is a "filler" sentence because it does not convey any specific information. You should work into such a sentence some aspect of why you consider the comparison interesting. This commentary should be relevant to your argument as a whole. (As the above example suggests, vague adjectives like "interesting" or "unique" are fairly useless, as they don't convey much information. Instead of merely describing something as "interesting," explain what makes your argument or topic "interesting.")
  5. Make sure you are analyzing what a text is doing, not just summarizing it. If you ask the questions "how" and "why" rather than simply "what," you'll be on the right track. Some "what" questions that are helpful include: What are the implications of the issue being analyzed? What does it (the novel, the issue, etc.) assume? What is unclear, and why might this be? What are the effects of having the text do a particular thing? What is significant about the kinds of information provided or left out by the text? What is significant about the structuring of this information?
  6. VERY IMPORTANT: remember to answer the "So what?" question. The ability to explain why your argument and observations matter makes for a good paper. A strong introduction and conclusion will usually explain the relevance of your work to some larger issue.