Argumentative_essay 英文議論文寫作基礎(chǔ)

.,TheArgumentativeEssay,.,.Maincommunicativepurposesoftheargumentativeessay:Toconvinceorpersuadetoagreewithanopinion;todefendanopinion;toattackanopinionyoubelievetobemisguiding,untrue,orevil,.,.BasicfeaturesTheargumentativeessaymusttakeacontroversialissueforanopendebate,i.e.,theissuemustbearguable;Theargumentcannotbegeneralbelief;personalpreference;orfact,.,Twosidesaregenerallyinvolved:proponents(thoseinfavoroftheissue)andopponents(thoseagainsttheissue);Thethesismusttakeasideofanissue,andfrequentlyproposesacourseofaction;Theargumentativeessayarehighlypersuasiveandlogical(oftenexpressedwiththemodal“should”);Goodlogicistheheartoftheargumentativeessay.,.,.StrategiesforlogicalpersuasionBefullyawareofyouraudienceorreader;Asthepurposeofanargumentativeessayistoconvincethereaderofyourposition,youshouldaddressyourreaderbywritingobjectively,logically,andrespectfully.,.,TrytoidentifyandunderstandyouropponentspointofviewYoucannotjustpresentyourownopinioninargumentation.Thiscanneverconvincethereader.Youhavetoconsiderthepointofviewofyouropponents.,.,3.Usetwoformsoflogicalreasoning:inductionanddeduction.Induction（歸納）:theprocessofreasoningfromtheparticulardetailstothegeneralconclusion.Itinvolvesexaminingparticulardetailssuchasspecificcases,facts,orexamples.Theconclusionismadebasedontheevidencecomingfromthespecificdetails.,.,Deduction（演繹）:theprocessofreasoningfromthegeneraltothespecific.Itbeginswithageneralizationandisappliedinaspecificcase.Theconclusionisdrawnbasedonageneralization.,.,Deductioninvolvesathree-stepformofreasoningcalledSyllogism（三段論）:MajorPremise(theinitialgeneralization),MinorPremise(thespecificcase),andConclusion(theresultingstatement).Thisthree-stepformcanbeillustratedasfollows:MajorPremise:Dogsbark.MinorPremise:LittleBrownisadog.Conclusion:Therefore,LittleBrownbarks.,.,Tobemorespecific,themajorpremiseisageneralizationthatyouandyourreadercanbothagreeon,whetheritisagenerallyacceptedstatementorwhetheryouhavealreadyproveditearlierintheargument.Theminorpremiseisthepartthatyouneedtoproveinyourargument.,.,e.g.Iftheissueisaboutnuclearpowerplantconstruction,youmaytakethethree-stepformofreasoninglikethis:Majorpremise:Onlysafesourcesofenergyshouldbedeveloped.Minorpremise:Nuclearpowerplantsaresafesourcesofenergy.Conclusion:Therefore,nuclearpowerplantsshouldbeconstructed.（Notice:Somecomplexissuesrequiremorethanonepremisetobeproved.),.,Toavoidbeingillogicalinthisreasoningprocess,youneedtokeepthefollowingpointsinmind:Themajorpremiseandtheminorpremisemustbetrueiftheconclusionistobevalid;e.g.,Allpeopleliketosuffer.(MaP)Jonnyisaperson.(MiP)Jonnylikestosuffer.(C)Theabovereasoningprocessappearsillogicalsincethemajorpremiseisnotbasedonthetruth.,.,Themajorpremiseandtheminorpremisemustbesetuptofollowthecorrectlogicalorder;Thecorrectlogicalorderisasfollows:A=BAllautomobileshavewheels.C=AHondaisanautomobile.C=BTherefore,Hondahaswheels.,.,Anincorrectlogicalorderisasfollows:AllA=BAllautomobileshavewheels.C=BHondahaswheels.C=ATherefore,Hondaisautomobile.(Suchanillogicalordermakestheconclusioninvalid,forHondamightbeamotorcycleorawagon.),.,Thetermsinonepremisemustbeusedthesamewayintheotherpremise.Lookatthefollowingexamples:Somevegetarianseateggs.Johnisavegetarian.Johneatseggs.AllAmericansspeakEnglish.MaryisaSouthAmerican.MaryspeaksEnglish.,.,.PlanninganargumentativeessayWhenyouplananargumentativeessay,keepinmindthefollowingpoints:Theargumentativeessayshouldintroduceandexplaintheissueorcase;Theessayshouldofferadequatereasonsandsupportthereasonswithgoodevidence;,.,Theessayshouldrefuteopposingarguments.Thisisaveryparticularcharacteristicwhichdistinguishesargumentativeessaysfromexpositoryessays.Youmustnotonlypresentyourownpointofviewandproveit,butalsorefuteyouropponentsviewandprovethatyoursismorevalidorsuperior.,.,.Organizinganargumentativeessay(1)IntroductionTomakeagoodbeginningofsuchanessay,youshouldfirstintroducetheproblemandthethesistoclarifythecontroversialissuetoyourreader.Thenyoushouldprovidebackgroundinformation.,.,(2)ThedevelopmentalpartConfirmation(2-3paragraphs)andrefutation(1-3paragraphs)arerequiredindevelopingthemainpartoftheessay.Toconfirmyourpersonalpointofview,youneedtogivereasonstosupportyourthesis;,.,thereasonsmustbeconvincingevidencewhichisnormallyfromexamplesfactsauthoritativeorexpertopinionsstatisticalfindingspersonalexperienceorobservations,.,Torefuteopposingviews,youshouldconsideryouropponentspointofviewatthesametime;acknowledgethegoodpointsofopponentsviewsfirst,explainwhyyouropponentsviewsarenotgoodenough.,.,Indevelopingthemainpartoftheargumentativeessay,youmaychooseanypatternorcombinethepatternstofurtherdevelopthethesisaswedealwithcause-and-effectgenrewriting(description,narration,definition,classification,exemplification,causalanalysis,comparison&contrast,etc.),.,(3)TheConcludingpartTobetterconcludetheessay,youshouldrestateyourthesissummarizeyourmainpointsurgeyourreadertotakeactionpredictthefuture,.,.SometransitionalwordsandphrasesChronologicalorderfirstofall/first,afterthat/second,then/next,last/finallyExemplificationtoillustratethispoint,canbeillustratedasfollows,agoodcaseinpointisAdditionbesidesthat,apartfromthis,inaddition(to),furthermore,whatsmore,moreoverComparison&contrastlikewise/similarly,inthesameway,similarto,conversely/onthecontrary,incontrast(to),ontheotherhand,differentfrom,.,.SometypicalsentencepatternsforargumentationItcanbearguedthatPeopleargue/maintain/believethatSomepeopleargue/claimthatButmoreoftenthannot,thereverse/theoppositeisusuallythecase/true.Someassum