S I X PA RT S

THE ARGUMENT ESSAY

AP Argument Prompt 2012

Consider the distinct perspectives expressed in the following statements.

If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible.~William Lyon Phelps, American educator, journalist, and professor (1865-1943)

I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine. ~Bertrand Russell, British author, mathematician, and philosopher (1872-1970)

In a well organized essay, take a position on the relationship between certainty and doubt. Support your argument with appropriate evidence and examples.

1. INTRODUCTION HOOK (EXORDIUM)

• Introduce the subject (or problem) by gaining your readers’ interest and willingness to listen

• Start with some kind of hook. Probably the best way to do this is with exemplification—a concrete real or, if need be, hypothetical example.

GENERAL = WEAK INTRO HOOKS

• Certainty and doubt are inevitable parts of life.

• Many of us have experienced being certain of an idea that we later came to discover was untrue.

• You’re in a certain situation where you need confidence. That voice of doubt will not be quiet and it negatively impacts your performance.

SPECIFIC = IMPROVED HOOKS

Weak: Certainty and doubt are inevitable parts of life.

Stronger: The day after the Union Army suffered horrific casualties at the Battle of Fredericksburg, President Lincoln asked Isaac Arnold, a good friend and advisor, to come to his office. To Arnold’s surprise, Lincoln began reading him jokes from a book of humor. Lincoln claimed that he needed relief from the burden of knowing that lives were and would be lost because of his decisions. Arnold realized that Lincoln’s use of humor was often a mask used to hide something that was simultaneously present in this leader’s certainty—namely, doubt.

WEAK GENERAL INTRO EXAMPLES

Weak: You’re in a certain situation where you need confidence. That voice of doubt will not be quiet and it negatively impacts your performance.

Stronger: I have played the flute since I was six. I played Chopin’s Nocturne No 20 in C-sharp minor without error for an audience of 500. But as I placed my sheet music on the stand at the competition recital, my hand was shaking and all I could hear was this voice of doubt: “Cut your losses and go home. You’re going to mess this up big time. You haven’t even started playing yet and the notes already lack wind support and sound flat.”

2. BACKGROUND/ENTER THE CONVERSATION (NARRATIO)

You provide background material (context) that’s important to the topic or argument.

• Here is where you offer some “They Say,” to enter the conversation before declaring your stance.

• If the task asks you to respond to another writer’s idea, then you must mention his/her name and paraphrase his/her idea

• If the task does not ask you to directly respond to another person’s thinking, then you can still use the “They Say” that’s provided OR you can provide some “They Say” of your own OR both

2. BACKGROUND/ENTER THE CONVERSATION (NARRATIO)

The wild array of theories that go into the field of theocratic philosophies are categorized into two main sides: free will and determinism. The difference of free will and determinism is similar to that of certainty and doubt because the free will of human beings to live without respite from a creator or to make decisions on their own accord is of equal contrast to those who in determinism believe that their fate has been decided or that they must adhere to the teachings of a God.

Excerpt from a high-scoring 2013 essay

2. BACKGROUND/ENTER THE CONVERSATION (NARRATIO)

William Lyon Phelps and Bertrand Russell portray conflicting views regarding the importance of certainty and doubt. Phelps’s position is that having certainty in ourselves allows us to accomplish insurmountable tasks. On the other hand, Russell believes that it is healthy to obtain a certain level of doubt in ourselves and that we should not dogmatically believe in any one philosophy.

Excerpt from a high-scoring 2013 student essay

3. THESIS

• Now it’s time for you to weigh in with your stance, the argument you will defend.

So all together, the full introduction looks like this:

Hook (exordium)Background/Context on “They Say” (narratio)

Thesis

THESIS TIPS

• Embrace the complexity of the issue and don’t oversimplify it.

• One way to write a nuanced thesis is to structure it as a complex sentence—a subordinate clause (for main opposing argument) and an independent clause (for your position)

• When, Although, Except, By, Since, On the one hand, etc.

• Answer the Why does this matter? Question• You might even want to include the word

“because” in your thesis statement to ensure that you are including this part.

EXAMPLE CERTAINTY/DOUBT THESIS SENTENCES

WHICH ARE STRONG? WHICH NEED WORK?

1. Having doubt can cause productive, curious, and cautious behaviors.

2. Doubt is imperative because it causes breakthroughs in discovery that lead to new certainties that would not otherwise be possible.

3. The relationship between certainty and doubt divides people into two categories: believers and realists.

4. While a certain degree of confidence is required for success, an element of doubt in any situation ensures both efficiency and motivation.

5. By questioning things, one can find new answers, increase personal freedom, and increase knowledge.

6. It is through doubting, questioning, and examining that society has grown.

7. On the one hand, while it’s important to be certain of ourselves and confident in our endeavors, we must not assume our beliefs are all powerful and rule out the ideas of others.

8. Certainty often takes on a motivational purpose while doubt commonly promotes safety.

EXAMPLE CERTAINTY/DOUBT THESIS

SENTENCES

WHICH ARE STRONG? WHICH NEED WORK?

LET’S WRITE AN INTRO FOR THE HORACE ADVERSITY PROMPT

So all together, the full introduction looks like this:Hook (exordium)Background/Context on “They Say” (narratio)Thesis

5 Minutes:• Write a hook (exordium)• Revise your HW thesis statement

4. DEVELOPMENT OF ARGUMENT/PROOF (CONFIRMATIO)

You offer detailed support for the position in your thesis (your stance, your main claim)

• organize paragraphs by ideas/arguments that support your thesis and not by evidence type

• support should be in the form of factual evidence, examples, illustrations, etc. (the CHELPSS)

• The body of the argument essay is really a test of LOGOS APPEAL. Use your CHELPSS examples as part of your logical reasoning. High scoring essays reflect an ability to utilize inductive and/or deductive reasoning.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARGUMENT/PROOF (CONFIRMATIO) EXAMPLE FROM 2013 STUDENT ESSAY

This student’s argument aligned more with Phelps’s argument regarding the necessity of certainty for achieving goals

Possessing confidence comes from having certainty. This type of confidence can be seen in athletics. Sports psychologist Jenna Warner wrote an article on the power of believing in one’s self. She stated that the only way to perform well was to have the certainty and confidence in yourself and your abilities. Warner provided research and statistics to back her theory. Players who had unshakeable confidence in their talents and abilities performed drastically better. In fact, she found that this factor—the ability to shut out and even ignore voices of doubt—separates Olympics athletes from the rest.

It seems to me that, when the goal is something larger, like attempting to effect sweeping social change, there is really very little room for doubt. Let us consider the example of MLK and other civil rights activists of the ‘50s and ‘60s, who endured constant physical and verbal abuse, threats of imprisonment and death, yet most remained firm in their convictions. If we can assume that it’s human nature to avoid abuse, imprisonment, and death whenever possible, then King, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, and tens of thousands of others were either nutjobs with death-wishes, or they were unequivocally certain of their cause.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARGUMENT/PROOF (CONFIRMATIO) EXAMPLE – WHAT TYPE OF REASONING?

It seems to me that, when the goal is something larger, like attempting to effect sweeping social change, there is really very little room for doubt. Let us consider the example of MLK and other civil rights activists of the ‘50s and ‘60s, who endured constant physical and verbal abuse, threats of imprisonment and death, yet most remained firm in their convictions. If we can assume that it’s human nature to avoid abuse, imprisonment, and death whenever possible, then King, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, and tens of thousands of others were either nutjobs with death-wishes, or they were unequivocally certain of their cause.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARGUMENT/PROOF (CONFIRMATIO) EXAMPLE – WHAT TYPE OF REASONING?

YOUR TURN: DEVELOPMENT OF ARGUMENT/PROOF (CONFIRMATIO) FOR THE HORACE ADVERSITY PROMPT

• 3 Minutes: With your partner, choose a CHELPSS example from the homework, and discuss how it could be folded into a line of deductive reasoning.

• On your own, write a 4-minute TDEC.

5. CONSIDERATION OF OPPOSING POSITIONS (REFUTATIO)

• You reasonably consider possible “They Say” objections to your thesis and try to levelheadedly counter those objections, showing why your thesis and supporting arguments are still better than the others• Support your argument by using logical reasoning

with factual evidence, examples (the CHELPSS)• Here is where you want to make a concession to the

opposing position but then refute or qualify• Be careful when addressing “They Say” objections

not to commit the straw person fallacy by misrepresenting or dumbing down opposing arguments

5. REFUTATIO FROM 2013 STUDENT ESSAY

This student’s argument aligned more with Russell’s position, so here the student attempts to refute Phelps’s position.

While it is true that great thinkers often achieve greatness because of their ability to, in the face of doubt, be certain about their ideas, there are many beliefs that some people hold to be certain that are not acceptable. Hitler, for example believed that people of Jewish descent were inferior and his certainty led him and his followers to murder six million people. Similarly, crusaders in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries were certain that Rome had the right to Jerusalem. They killed thousands and sparked a holy war that is still not over. European colonists were certain that they had the right to the entire North American continent, which led them to horribly massacre and expel Native Americans from their homes on the Trail of Tears. In 1860, the southern states believed, without a doubt, that slavery was acceptable. While certainty may breed confidence and achievement, not all achievements create progress and not all ideas warrant confidence.

5. YOUR TURN: CONSIDERATION OF OPPOSING POSITIONS (REFUTATIO)

FOR THE HORACE ADVERSITY PROMPT

• With your partner, think of an opposing argument that you would need to anticipate and refute.

• Think about what slight concession you could make.

• Think about how you could refute the opposing argument. (What does the argument fail to consider or how is it incomplete or invalid?)

• Choose a CHELPSS example from the homework, and discuss how it could be used to support your refutation.

• On your own, write a 4-minute TDEC.

6. CONCLUSION (PERORATIO)

You draw together the entire argument and move the audience to action.• DON’T

• merely restate your thesis• use the words “in conclusion”

• DO include one or more of the following:• address the “so what” question—why your thesis

matters• reinforce your credibility • make clear what you want the audience to think or to do

(although avoid sounding like you’re giving advice)• Write a last sentence that brings closure. Endings are

where it is often effective to end with an emotional appeal