Universidad Nacional de Cuyo

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Departamento de Inglés
Idioma Inglés IV

ARGUMENTATION

Profesoras Adscriptas Alejandra Farías y Paola Puppato

Argumentation in life

Though we may not be aware of it, argumentation is present in several contexts of our every day lives .
Whether we are at home, school or work, we usually find ourselves in situations in which we have to
take up a position on an issue and defend it with reasonable and solid arguments to convince others of
the validity of our point of view. For example, at home teenagers argue as they try to talk their parents
into letting them go away on a trip, siblings can argue in favor of watching a different show on TV. At
school, students may try to convince their teacher to postpone an exam or argue in favor of their own
view on a topic. And at work employees might have to argue for a higher salary or for their employers’
approval to carry out a project.

Argumentation is also used in broader contexts such as publicity, to persuade customers to buy a
product; in politics, to attract voters, or to get a bill passed in Congress; and at a trial, to convince the
judge or jury that the accused is innocent or guilty.

In addition, there are several written genres that call for argumentative skills. For example, in a letter of
application, the prospective candidate tries to persuade the employer that he is the best candidate for
the position. In a letter of complaint, the client writes to convince the company which sold him a flawed
product or gave him poor service to provide a solution to the problem. In a letter to the editor, the writer
tries to convince others that his opinion on a current issue is worth taking into account.

In the academic world, researchers and professors argue in favor of their research proposals, they try to
convince the readers of their articles that their research objectives are relevant and that their findings
are significant and reliable; students try to argue convincingly in favor of the critical position they adopt
towards their study material in the context of essays or oral presentations.

Given the relevance of argumentation in professional and academic life, it is very important that as
future teachers, researchers or translators, we get well acquainted with the main genres in which
building up an argument is a key feature of the text. These notes are intended to help you learn about
the argumentative essay and the argumentative oral presentation, two types of texts very frequently
negotiated in the context of undergraduate and graduate university studies.

In the following sections we will first discuss the key features of the argumentative essay. In so doing, we
will foreground the ways in which it differs from the expository essay, a genre you are already familiar
with. Then we will discuss how to prepare an argumentative OP, focusing on the features it shares with
the argumentative essay as well as those that make them different.

The argumentative essay

The argumentative essay is a genre which has the purpose of convincing the audience to accept or
seriously consider our point of view with regards to a controversial issue. Broadly speaking, a
controversial issue is a topic that allows for at least two different perspectives which may be totally or
partially opposed. The writer chooses one of these possible views on the issue and supports it with
reasonable arguments to persuade others.

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As you experience the whole process of essay writing, whether expository or argumentative in nature,
you will be practicing and learning about the following key processes:

- critical reading of literary and non-literary material and viewing of movies

- deciding upon a purpose
- selecting and organizing information that is appropriate in the light of the controlling idea
- condensing, expanding on, analyzing, interpreting and drawing generalizations on information
- expressing your ideas effectively using varied language (vocabulary and syntax) strategically
- evaluating audience’s needs and expectations

And among the skills you will develop when writing argumentative essays are:

- adopting a position that is strongly and interestingly argumentative

- convincing others that the position you have taken up is the strongest, most solid and
reasonable one by means of clear, solid evidence
- acknowledging that there exist other possible positions that are potentially valid, that you have
considered them and, yet, taken up your own

In this section, we will discuss argumentation in the context of the college essay. We will first discuss
what makes a topic argumentative and then move on to discuss the textual structure of an
argumentative essay, paying special attention to the analysis of those sections which differ from those in
the expository essay. 1

Selecting a topic for an argumentative essay

When we choose a topic that is suitable for argumentation, it makes sense to pick a topic that can be
considered from different points of view. That is, the nature of the topic needs to be controversial.

For example, when considering the topic sexual education in the school curriculum, we can surely find
more than one possible stance on this issue. Some people may consider it essential for schools to offer
this type of education, while others may think that only parents should be responsible for their children’s
sexual education.

In contrast, if we were to write about the effects of excessive alcohol consumption on people’s health,
our purpose would be to inform and explain rather than convince. Clearly, this topic is not about
different ‘positions’, but, rather, about the identification and discussion of the ‘effects’ of alcohol
consumption.

Some topics allow for perspectives which are totally opposed to one another, in which case we try to
convince our readers that our position is right and that the other one is wrong; or alternatively, the
perspectives can relate in terms of opposition, yet without invalidating each other. In this case, we adopt
the stance which is more solid or reasonable to us.

1
These notes draw upon and are a continuation of the notes on the expository essay as it is taught in the subject Language IV at Facultad de
Filosofía y Letras, UNCuyo, Mendoza.
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For example, if we were to write about the type of family the Tulls were (from Dinner at the Homesick
Restaurant) we could either claim that it was a functional or dysfunctional family. Here we would be
dealing with totally opposing views. On the contrary, when writing about Pearl’s role as a mother, we
could argue that although Pearl could behave violently, she was a most devoted mother. In this case, the
two positions on this topic do not cancel each other out: the fact that Pearl was occasionally a violent
mother does not mean that she was not devoted to her children.

The structure of the argumentative essay

The overall structure of an argumentative essay is very similar to that of the expository essay. In both
types of essays we wish to discuss an idea, so we provide factual evidence to support it, which we then
analyze and discuss to arrive at a conclusion. Therefore, most of the steps we go through as we write
them are similar: first, we introduce our topic in general terms to engage and prepare our audience; we
then announce our thesis; we take up each aspect of our thesis and support it with evidence; we discuss
the evidence provided; and we finally close our essay by recapitulating what we have discussed and
exploring the wider implications of our topic in the light of the discussion we have conducted. 2

Yet, the persuasive purpose of the argumentative essay and the controversial nature of the topic have an
impact on the way the text unfolds. These differences in purpose between both types of essay make
these texts different in structure as well. Since we are not just exploring and discussing a topic, but,
rather, adopting and defending a position on an issue that allows for more than one viewpoint, the
different perspectives will be present throughout the text. Although many expert writers usually devote
a separate section of the essay to acknowledging the opposing view(s), the different positions will be
coming up once and again as the discussion unfolds.

Now we will go over each section of an argumentative essay concentrating on the features that differ
from those in the expository essay. As we discuss the different sections of the essay, we will introduce
examples taken from two sample essays created to illustrate these notions, which are included in the
Appendix.

2
You may want to review these stages in further detail in the Notes on the expository essay as familiarity with this type of essay is assumed
throughout the discussion of the argumentative essay.
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The Introduction

As said above, the purpose of the introduction is to engage the readers by establishing the importance of
the topic to be discussed, to activate or provide knowledge that is relevant to our topic, and to announce
the thesis.3

Since in this type of essay the nature of the topic is controversial, as we make introductory
generalizations we need to establish that there are two or more possible points of view on this issue. In
this first approach to the topic, we already bring in the two positions, setting the pattern which will be
followed throughout. While doing so, we also anticipate which our stance is. These opposing ideas can
be expressed by means of concessive adjuncts such as although, however, nevertheless, in spite of, yet,
despite, etc.

Consider the following introductory paragraphs, in which we have underlined the introductory
generalizations:

Text I

Being a parent can be one of the most fulfilling roles we can take up in our adult
life. It can also be most challenging as it can demand that we bring to bear all our
experience, our tenacity and our love. The very nature of its demands make it a
context in which we are likely to make mistakes, no matter how loving and well-
meaning we may be. This is particularly the case for single parents for whom
raising their children on their own can be specially trying. They can often feel
overwhelmed by this daunting challenge and feel they lack the experience to
become the sole sustenance of their family. Even when they try very hard to keep
their family together, and are keenly aware of how much their children’s basic
needs depend on them, they may fail to provide their children with the support
that they need. This seems to be the situation experienced by Pearl and her
children in the novel “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Anne Tyler. They
were suddenly abandoned by Beck, the father of the family, who left with no
explanation whatsoever, not to come back for many years. Pearl found herself the
sole supporter of the family, unable to come to terms with Beck’s abandonment
and, consequently, unable to provide her children with the support and
understanding they needed. In fact, burdened by the responsibility of taking care
of the children with no support and exhausted by the many chores she had to take
on, she often lost her temper and could even become very violent. As the children
became adults, she remained a domineering mother, one who would try to impose
her will on her children and be oblivious of their own needs or aspirations. She can
be described, indeed, as a difficult mother. Yet, early on in her children’s life, she
strove to provide for them, remained unconditionally close as they took their own
ways, always trying hard to do whatever she thought would get them going in life.

Text II

3
Again, we would like to recommend reviewing the discussion of this section of the essay in the Notes on the expository essay. In this
handout, our discussion will not be exhaustive as we will take for granted your familiarity with the expository essay, of its sections and the
function each section performs.
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 Relationships are essential to human life: we need to bond with others, interact
with them, give and receive love, and in the process receive reassurance about our
personal worth. The need to bond with others and to feel appreciated is indeed
critical to our emotional and mental health. That is why when people feel that a
valued relationship such as a family bond or a friendship is being threatened by
someone they perceive as a rival, they often come to feel jealousy. Often enough,
jealousy moves people to do harm to the ‘competitor,’ the person who is perceived
as a threat. They often become the object of mean remarks or actions aimed,
sometimes obsessively, at getting them out of the way and recovering the bond
that they feel is being threatened. Yet, even though the perceived rival can be very
much affected by the jealous person’s behaviour, the negative thoughts and
feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety that jealousy provokes can be a lot more
frustrating and painful for the jealous person himself. To make matters worse, “by
making people behave in ways that will alienate others, jealousy becomes a self-
fulfilling prophecy, depriving its victims of the affection or success they are so
anxious to protect”. The damaging workings of jealousy are a key feature of the
relationship between two siblings in the novel “Dinner at the Homesick
Restaurant” by Ann Tyler, in which Cody, the eldest child, is consumed with
jealousy of his younger brother Ezra and is resentful of what he considers to be
their mother's favouritism for Ezra. Cody's jealousy negatively affected the life of
his brother Ezra as he becomes the main victim of Cody’s mean plotting, but not as
much as it crippled his own, as he was beset by feelings of insecurity, inadequacy,
and suspiciousness, and alienated himself from some members of his family.
Indeed, although Cody’s jealousy of Ezra led him to commit ‘crimes’ that
negatively affected Ezra, his jealousy was more damaging to himself than it was to
his brother.

In both cases the introductory generalizations are not only announcing the topic and giving relevant
information that attempts to prepare the reader for the rest of the discussion, but also presenting both
sides of the issue and anticipating which one will be supported in the essay. In text I, we are presented
with the topic: the challenging and demanding role of being a parent. We are also introduced to two
possible sides or positions from which we could approach this topic: parents making mistakes on account
of their lack of experience or their feeling overwhelmed by their task, yet, on the other hand, caring
about their children and wanting the best for them. Here the author has chosen to side with the second
position.

In text II, we could consider whether the negative consequences of jealousy have a stronger impact on
the person who is the target of the jealousy or the one who is jealous. The author makes it clear that he
will defend the second option.

To show which point of view they have sided with, both authors have used concessive adjuncts such as
‘even though’ and have placed the idea they want to defend in the independent clause. We will illustrate
with text II:

Yet, even though the perceived rival can be very much affected by the jealous
person’s behaviour, the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and

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 anxiety that jealousy provokes can be a lot more frustrating and painful for the
jealous person himself.

After presenting the topic of the essay in broad, generic terms, we are ready to move on to the more
particular situation we want to discuss, that is, we move away from the consideration of the topic at a
general level to the treatment of this same topic in the particular, more restricted environment of the
reading we are discussing in the essay.

In an attempt to make this transition to particulars smooth, we mention the reading, its author, and we
provide background information on the reading. We are very selective about the information we include
here. We choose only what is important in terms of our thesis idea. Here again, the argumentative
nature of our discussion will be foregrounded, now in more specific terms. This section will also reflect
the two-sided structure that was set in the introductory generalizations, yet in more specific terms. Look
at the following examples:

Text I

This seems to be the situation experienced by Pearl and her children in the novel
“Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Anne Tyler. They were suddenly
abandoned by Beck, the father of the family, who left with no explanation
whatsoever, not to come back for many years. Pearl found herself the sole
supporter of the family, unable to come to terms with Beck’s abandonment and,
consequently, unable to provide her children with the support and understanding
they needed. In fact, burdened by the responsibility of taking care of the children
with no support and exhausted by the many chores she had to take on, she often
lost her temper and could even become very violent. As the children became
adults, she remained a domineering mother, one who would try to impose her will
on her children and be oblivious of their own needs or aspirations.

Text II

The damaging workings of jealousy are a key feature of the relationship between
two siblings in the novel “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Ann Tyler, in
which Cody, the eldest child, is consumed with jealousy of his younger brother
Ezra and is resentful of what he considers to be their mother's favouritism for
Ezra. Cody's jealousy negatively affected the life of his brother Ezra as he becomes
the main victim of Cody’s mean plotting, but not as much as it crippled his own, as
he was beset by feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, and suspiciousness, and
alienated himself from some members of his family.

In both texts we can again see the two positions that were presented in the introductory generalizations
but in reference to the specific characters and situations of the novel. In text I, we go from speaking in
general terms about parents/single parents, mistakes and difficulties, to talking about Pearl, her inability
to provide her children with the support and understanding they needed and her tendency to lose her
temper, and her being burdened by the responsibility of taking care of the children with no support and
exhausted by the many chores she had to take on.

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In text II, we have moved from general notions such as relationships/bonds, a threatened bond, a jealous
person and his/her rival or competitor, to the relations between two siblings, Cody and Ezra, in the novel;
their mother’s favoritism for Ezra and the identification of Cody as the jealous one, and Ezra as his rival.

In both cases, we are provided with background information about what happens in the particular story
to remind us of relevant details that will help to better understand the claim made in the thesis.

After this transition to particulars, we are ready to announce the thesis statement. As you already know,
in the thesis statement we typically present the controlling idea of the whole essay and anticipate its
development by mentioning some aspects related to the controlling idea that will be discussed in the
body of the essay. In doing so, we are also anticipating the sequence in which the ideas will appear.

Therefore, since in the argumentative essays we are dealing with an issue that has more than one side,
and these opposing views will appear throughout the text, it makes sense to announce both positions in
the thesis statement, anticipating the content and structure of the rest of the paper. We also establish
which viewpoint we have chosen to support.

Let’s consider the following examples:

Text I

She can be described, indeed, as a difficult mother. Yet, early on in her children’s
life, she strove to provide for them, remained unconditionally close as they took
their own ways, always trying hard to do whatever she thought would get them
going in life.

Text II

Indeed, although Cody’s jealousy of Ezra led him to commit ‘crimes’ that
negatively affected Ezra, his jealousy was more damaging to himself than it was to
his brother.

As we can see in these two examples, the writers announce the controlling ideas for their essays (Pearl’s
role as mother; the effects of jealousy on Ezra and, more critically, on Cody). In text I, we also get to
know the aspects the author will develop to show that his position is the strongest (striving to provide
for her children and remaining unconditionally close as they took their own ways). In doing so, the
writers make reference to the two sides of the issue that they have considered (Pearl being a difficult yet
caring mother; Cody’s jealousy affecting Ezra and himself) and state which position they will defend
(Pearl being a caring mother; Cody being more vitally affected than Ezra by his jealousy).

We can announce our thesis idea in a single sentence with a clause complex, as in the second example,
or in two separate sentences, as in Text I. If we choose to use a clause complex, our own stand will be
expressed in the independent clause, highlighting and emphasizing our point, while the other position
will be relegated to the dependent clause. Similarly, if we decide to express our thesis in two sentences,
the first would typically include the opposing view, leaving our own stand for the second sentence. We
position the key idea we wish the reader to focus on at the end of the clause. This is the position we
usually give to the information related to the direction the text is taking.

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Developing and supporting our stance

The body of an argumentative essay is quite similar to that of the expository essay in that we take up
each aspect that we have anticipated in the thesis statement and develop it and support it in our
discussion.

However, in an argumentative essay we are additionally dealing with the opposing view. As we
anticipated above, our main purpose as we build up our case in this type of essay is to support the
position we have adopted. Yet, we cannot ignore or disregard the opposing view(s) which will most likely
be in our readers’ mind. We do not want anything to distract our reader from the position we are
endorsing.

If we observe what expert writers do as they build up their case, we will notice that they typically choose
to explicitly bring into the text the view that is being challenged or countered, even before they start to
discuss and support their own. There seem to be several reasons for this: you want to show your
audience that you have, in fact, examined the topic from several perspectives, that you have a
comprehensive view of it and that, after examining it from several viewpoints, you have decided that
yours is the strongest, most reasonable one. You also want to acknowledge the opposing view so it does
not interfere with your discussion, that is, you don’t want your reader to be thinking about the
alternative view that your text does not mention. It seems better to acknowledge that it exists, although
you will later refute it with your own arguments.

The sooner this is done, the better. We want to dismiss any ideas that could interfere with our own early
in the text so we can go straight into the discussion of the position we wish to endorse. A good place to
do this seems to be right after the announcement of the thesis, before we begin to discuss our point of
view.

So we typically devote the paragraph after the introduction to fulfill this function, which we call the
counter-argument or acknowledgment of opposition stage. Here we present the opposing view in
general terms, maintaining the discussion at a degree of generalization that makes it unnecessary to
include concrete evidence. This is so because the purpose of this section is not to support and discuss the
opposing view, but to let the readers know that we have considered it. We just mention it, acknowledge
it and get it out of the way quickly to move on to support and discuss our position. Thus, it will be both
briefer and more general than the rest of the discussion.

Let’s look at the following examples:

Text I

After Pearl was abandoned by her husband, Beck, she became an angry and
sometimes an abusive mother who failed to provide the children with the
emotional support that they needed. When the children were young, and their
father abandoned them, she would lose her temper very easily, would call them
terrible names and even wish they disappeared from her life. Unable to come to
terms with her new situation as an abandoned wife, she reacted by denying what
had really happened to the family and never talked to the children to reassure
them they would be alright and, much worse, she contributed to their confusion.
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 She reacted by shutting them all off from the company or support of relatives or
friends. Pearl was undeniably not in control of her life at the time and carried the
children along by making them feel confused, lost and even guilty of the family
situation.

Text II

Both as a child and an adult, Ezra suffered quite a bit due to his brother’s
consuming jealousy. All his childhood he had to cope with Cody’s malicious plans
against him: he was permanently being pestered by him and could never get to
enjoy a loving, comradely relationship with his elder brother. Later on in life, he
was deeply hurt by Cody when Cody stole Ruth, Ezra’s fiancée, and took her for his
own. After they got married and went away, Ezra was left lonely and broken-
hearted, having lost the only woman he had ever loved. Therefore, it can be said
that Cody’s jealousy inflicted considerable pain on Ezra.

As we can see in these examples, the opposing view is taken up and discussed in broad terms, only to be
acknowledged. We do not need to give too many details or to refer to one-time events that would
strengthen the point of view we do not, actually, adhere to.

Some writers introduce this section with expressions such as it cannot be denied that; it must be
acknowledged; it seems reasonable to admit; it may be argued/contended that or admittedly. Others
prefer the nature of the information itself to signal that its function is to acknowledge the existence of
another view on the matter. This is, in fact, the case of both texts I and II in which the paragraphs open
with a topic sentence that anticipates the information to be discussed without the use of specific
linguistic markers.

Before moving on to the discussion of our stance and the particular aspects we want to develop, we
typically include a refutation, where we restate our own stance again to bring our reader’s attention
back to our purpose. This can be done at the very end of our counter-argument or at the very beginning
of the next section, before presenting and discussing each of the arguments which support our position.

For example:

Text I

Yet, side by side with her shortcomings as a single mother, we witness her
determination to keep the family going and to remain close to her children even as
they grow and find their own ways.

Text II

Still, even though Ezra was the target of Cody’s jealousy all his life, it is evident
that he managed to ignore his brother’s unreasonable feelings towards him. Ezra
did not pay attention to Cody’s malicious dealings towards him; neither did he let
his hostility affect him. Instead, he concentrated on his goal of running his own
restaurant and dedicated his life to doing what he liked best: preparing meals
people were homesick for. What is more, though he really suffered when Ruth
abandoned him, he did not hold grudges on Cody: he continued loving his brother
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 and caring about him. Cody, on the contrary, could never overcome his feelings of
jealousy, which subsequently caused him a lot of pain and suffering. Cody’s life
was a lot more disturbed by his own jealousy than Ezra’s ever was: he never fully
valued what he had and was often so competitive and even cruel that he came to
isolate himself from the people who loved him.

In these examples, the refutation is included at the end of the counter-argument paragraph. Once again,
we use concessive adjuncts and linkers (yet, still) to show contrast or opposition. Both refutations stress
the shift from the previous section, in which the authors have referred to the opposing views (Pearl’s
mistakes and shortcomings as a mother; Ezra’s suffering as a consequence of Cody’s jealousy), to the
discussion of their own position, which will be then developed in the subsequent paragraphs. In text I,
the refutation is a restatement of the author’s point of view to bring our attention back to what he wants
to discuss and support, while in text II, the author explains why the consequences of Cody’s jealousy on
Ezra did not affect Ezra in a very profound or long-lasting way, and then he moves on to remind the
reader of his own position by stating explicitly that “Cody’s life was a lot more disturbed by his own
jealousy than Ezra’s ever was.”

Having acknowledged the opposing view and having stated our own, we are now ready to move on to
discuss our arguments, that is, to support own position. At this point we develop our supporting
arguments in paragraphs which include: a topic sentence which announces the key idea(s) of the
paragraph and, in so doing, anticipates the content and structure of the whole paragraph; a transition
statement that leads into the treatment of the specific evidence; background information that sets the
scene before the evidence is provided; the presentation and discussion of the evidence; and a brief
rounding off. As we can see, the structure of the developmental sections of the essay is very similar to
those in an expository essay.

However, in an argumentative essay we will find that at times it may be both natural and very effective
to make reference to the opposing view and refute it or concede it in the light of the case we are
building. It also helps us sound very reasonable as we acknowledge once and again the opposing view,
without forcing only our own. Yet, once and again, we will also try to show that our position is stronger
or more reasonable. This is very effective as it contributes to strengthen our own position.

For example, in text I, at the end of the third paragraph, where the author is discussing the evidence he
has offered to show how Pearl strove to provide for her children, he says:

All her efforts to take care of the day-to-day urgencies put great pressure on her, a
situation that, we must acknowledge, led her to overlook her children’s emotional
needs and become at times a violent mother. Yet, given the suddenness of the
changes in her life circumstances, she tried hard to cope, as best she could.

Here the author is briefly bringing in the opposing view (the idea that Pearl did make mistakes as a
mother) to acknowledge what the situation really is and, thus, to sound reasonable. Yet, the strength of
the concession is diminished by the way the reader turns up or turns down the volume of certain
information that follows: we are also told that Pearl was under “great pressure” (the volume is turned
up) and that she was “at times a violent mother (turning the volume of frequency down)”. The writer

11
then moves on immediately to his refutation. Even here, however, he tries to sound reasonable and adds
the qualifier “as best she could” to signal his awareness that Pearl was not, in fact, a perfect mother.

Similarly, in text II, the author gives evidence of Cody’s tormented soul as he addresses his brother, wife
and son. He also acknowledges that Cody was not the only one to suffer:

Even when these destructive statements reveal Cody’s harshness towards his son
and wife, and how much they suffered his wrath, they also reveal how insecure he
felt about his family’s love. His low self-esteem made him believe nobody loved him
and to torture others and himself with irrational plottings that were only in his
mind. He was convinced his brother wanted to destroy him and he lacked
confidence about his wife and son’s loyalty to him.

The writer is trying to be reasonable, and he acknowledges that Cody was spiteful and cruel to his family.
Yet, he returns to the case he is building to argue that Cody was the one to suffer most significantly. The
coming and going from the position endorsed in the text to the position that is conceded is not
debilitating in terms of the case that is being built. To the contrary, it shows that the writer is sure
enough about his own case, can afford to concede everything that needs to be conceded and still build
his case solidly.

The Conclusion

Similarly to what happens in an expository essay, the purpose of the conclusion is to take our stand as
firmly as possible as we wrap up our discussion. It seems a good idea to first remind the reader of the
key arguments we discussed throughout the essay, bearing in mind that this does not entail making a
simple restatement of our thesis, but taking it up again in the light of the evidence that we have
discussed. Moreover, as the nature of the topic we are dealing with is argumentative, it will only be
natural to bring in the opposing view again, acknowledge it, and make the point that our own is the
strongest, most reasonable, sensible stance. Once we do this, it is always good to try to bring our
discussion to an end by including thoughts that wrap up and reaffirm our discussion or, alternatively to
move on to the wider implications of what we have been discussing, trying to show the more ample
significance or consequence of the topic.

In some cases, we can also suggest a course of action. This can be done when the nature of the topic
discussed in the essay lends itself to some kind of recommendation. We just need to phrase the
recommendation in a way that does not sound bossy or judgmental. We are just reflecting, based on the
experience discussed in the essay, upon the implications on people or on life (both public and personal)
and offering our thoughts.

The following examples illustrate the functionality of the concluding remarks:

Text I

All along, Pearl tried very hard, despite her dire life circumstances, to keep her
family together. This was not easy for her. When she was faced up with her
husband’s abandonment she was unable to come to terms with it. She became a
difficult, angry, unyielding mother. Yet, despite her shortcomings, she managed to

12
 keep her family together and her children going in life. Already adults, her
children came to see her in a softer light. Jenny came to appreciate her mother’s
effort to ‘raise [them] on her own’, and acknowledged she ‘[hadn’t] had an easy
life;’ Ezra, forever conciliatory, insisted that ‘she wasn’t always angry’ and
remembered her playing Monopoly with her children, singing them songs. Even
Cody came to soften the harsh images he had always associated his mother with,
as the novel closes, remembered Pearl, ‘her hair lit gold, her small hands
smoothing her bouquet.’ Her children’s memories of her pay tribute to the
determined, loving mother she proved to be.

Text II

To conclude, a jealous person can really cause a lot of suffering to the people they
regard as threatening by harassing them with hostile remarks and aggressive
attitudes. However, the crippling effects of jealousy are a lot more destructive for
the persons who harbour them. It is clear that Cody was seriously damaged by his
intense feelings of jealousy. He failed to appreciate all the valuable things he had,
he turned into a selfish and sometimes cruel person, and he condemned himself to
many years of misery. Cody’s needless suffering could be taken as an example of
the damage we are likely to inflict to ourselves when we cannot control our
jealousy. Cody’s experience seems to bring to the front the crippling effects that
our insecurities can have on our own life and that of those we deeply love and the
need to attend to these insecurities, examine them and attempt to solve them as a
way to avoid pain and to live better lives.

In text I, the writer reminds the reader of the position adopted in the discussion and then refers, yet
again, to the opposing view. In order to consolidate the argument that has been built, the writer chooses
to include the testimony of Pearl’s children instead of his own restatement of the key ideas in the text.
This seems to function effectively as a closing, as Cody, Ezra and Jenny’s voices reliably endorse the
author’s. We could just leave it as it is. Yet, to illustrate another alternative, we could include an
invitation to action, as in:

Even Cody comes to soften the harsh images he had always associated his mother
with and, as the novel closes, remembers Pearl, ‘her hair lit gold, her small hands
smoothing her bouquet.’ Her children’s memories of her pay tribute to the
determined, loving mother she proved to be and invite us readers to look kindly
upon this difficult, yet endearing character.

In this case the writer chooses to invite readers to try to understand Pearl and reconsider her
performance as a mother and her difficult life circumstances. In so doing, we can better appreciate her
good intentions and actions, just as her children came to do at the end of the novel. The implications of
the exhortation are intended to go, of course, beyond Pearl’s case, for the consideration of people in
general, with their flaws and virtues, with respect and compassion.

In text II, reference to the wider implications of the topic marks the shift into the more general
concluding remarks. The writer then recapitulates briefly his own position, reaffirms it and then makes
some closing remarks in which the wider implications of the general topic of the essay are briefly
explored. In this second example, we can also see an implicit recommendation for the readers, as the
13
writer not only shows how the problem of insecurity can affect anyone, but he also warns the readers of
the damaging consequences insecurity can have on us and those around us. The reader is also invited to
avoid the detrimental effects that personal insecurities can have our lives. Due to the nature of the topic,
which is related to human bonds, and given the critical, analytical nature of the essay, it would not make
sense to sound judgmental here and suggest the course of action in a more exhortatory, direct way. Here
the author has wisely avoided expressions such as “we should/have to”, and has chosen to express his
recommendation in a more subtle, indirect way.

Now that we have explored in detail how to write an argumentative essay, we will compare and contrast
this written argumentative text with an oral argumentative text: the argumentative oral presentation
(OP).

The argumentative oral presentation

The sections that make up an argumentative OP are very similar to those of an argumentative essay
since the key function of both texts is to take up a position and support it. First, we introduce the
controversial topic in general terms, presenting both sides of the issue. We then announce our thesis,
which includes both positions but already establishes which viewpoint we endorse. It also anticipates the
main arguments we will offer in support of our view. Next, we acknowledge the opposing view briefly,
showing the audience that we have considered it, and then we quickly move on to supporting our
position. We take up each aspect, that is, each one of the arguments that we announced in the thesis
and support it with evidence. We try to discuss the evidence showing its relevance in terms of the key
arguments we have taken up. Finally, we close our presentation with a conclusion, in which we
recapitulate what has been said. Here we acknowledge the opposing view once again and restate ours
strongly in the light of the evidence we have provided, making the point that ours is the strongest, most
reasonable stance. We also explore the wider implications of our topic, showing its broader significance
or its consequences.

In spite of the fact that the structure of an argumentative essay and that of an argumentative OP have a
lot in common, these genres differ mainly in the way the message is put across, i.e., the channel we are
using: written and spoken respectively.

There are several aspects of the organization and the language resources used in a text that differ
depending on whether the text is written or spoken. OPs are clearly oral texts and, as such, they share
features of this kind of texts. Yet since they are, at the same time, carefully planned texts which are
generally written to be delivered, they actually display several features that are typical of written texts:

 oral presentations basically have a monologic organization: although all the texts are interactive as
we know, the OP is not organized in a turn-taking sequence but as a monologue;

 they have a synoptic structure (the structure of the text is determined before completing it) as
opposed to dynamic (where what one interactant says depends on what the other person has
previously said); and they are typically finite and closed texts (once we fulfill the purpose of the
presentation, it typically concludes);
14
  they are usually context independent, since we do not tend to refer much to the more immediate
context we are in, that is, to the here and now in which the text is presented, and therefore the
text can stand on its own;

 they are carefully planned and edited, having gone through multiple drafts;

 they display rather formal vocabulary and standard grammar.

(adapted from Eggins, 2004: 93)

As these features are typical of the essays you are more familiar with, we will now move on to review the
features of an OP that they share with oral texts. The fact that the OP is delivered orally has an impact on
its textual structure as well as the language used.

Oral texts are ephemeral, that is, they are produced by the speaker and processed by the listener in real
time. This implies that the listener has to decode all the ideas as the text is being produced. If the listener
misses something or does not understand an idea, he cannot go back in the text and look at it again as a
reader would do. Additionally, it is very unlikely that the listener will interrupt the presentation to
request repetition or clarification.

To help the audience cope with real time processing, it is a very good idea to anticipate and recapitulate
our ideas as often as we feel it is necessary, to help our audience follow our stream of ideas comfortably.
We do this by providing plenty of signposts along the way as we move from one part of the presentation
to the next, making transitions clear and smooth.

The language that is used in an OP is also special in some ways. One of its key features is that it typically
displays a low lexical density. This means that the proportion of content words (as opposed to function
words) in every clause is relatively low. Lexical density has to do with “how closely packed the
information is” (Halliday, 1989: 66).

Since in written texts we can take all the time we need as we draft and re-draft our work, we tend to
pack the information more. Therefore, we can afford to use complex nominal groups containing long
premodifiers and postmodifiers, embedded clauses and nominalizations more freely. However, in oral
texts, it is more difficult for the interactants (speaker and listener alike) to both produce and process
highly packed pieces of information since speaking is a “dynamically unfolding situation” (Eggins, 2004:
96). In spoken texts we tend to use simpler, less packed, pre-modification in nominal groups; we only use
structures that are syntactically more demanding, such as initial inversion for emphasis, for key ideas;
and we tend to use more active than passive voice.

So when we prepare an OP, it makes sense to carefully consider how we wish to express our ideas so
that we sound more natural as we speak and we make it easier for our audience to process the ideas we
are discussing. We need to draft a text that is more lexically sparse, in which the information the
audience receives is generally unpacked, and therefore, easier to process in real time.

So for example, while in a written text we could write:

15
  The growth of attachment between infant and mother signals the first step in
the development of a child’s capacity to discriminate amongst people.

 Some migrants acted upon encouraging advice from relatives and friends who
had preceded them to the colonies.

in spoken language we might say:

 When an infant and its mother start to grow attached to each other, this is a
signal that the child is beginning to discriminate amongst people.

 Some people migrated because they were encouraged by the advice they got
from their relatives and friends who had gone to the colonies before them.

(These examples were taken from Halliday, 1989: 62)

This contrast can also be illustrated with examples that could occur in our essays and OPs:

While in an essay we could find passages such as:

 Being a parent can be one of the most fulfilling yet stressful, energy and time
consuming jobs we can take on. As we take up the challenge we need to bring
to bear all our experience, our tenacity and our love. The very nature of its
unexpected, often perplexing and seemingly permanent demands makes
parenting a job in which we are prone to make mistakes, however loving, well-
meaning and devoted we may be. (3 sentences with heavy subordination that
include embedded non-finite and finite clauses. Very densely pre and post-
modified noun groups)

 In fact, burdened by the responsibility of taking care of the children with no

support and exhausted by the many chores she had to take on, she often lost
her temper easily and even became violent. (a single sentence with two
embedded non-finite clauses pre-modifying ‘she’)

in an OP we could express these same ideas as follows:

 Being a parent can be one of the most fulfilling roles in a person’s life.
However, it can also be stressful as it consumes a lot of our time and energy. It
typically calls for all the experience, love and tenacity we can bring to bear.
The demands we face can be both unexpected and permanent and they can
strike us as perplexing and very difficult to face up to. All these qualities make
parenting a job in which we are prone to make mistakes. However loving, well-
meaning and devoted we might be, we are likely to regret some of the things
we do. This is part and parcel of what parenting means. (7 sentences which
unpack information that was included in noun groups in the first version,
above. There is subordination and coordination yet information is all less
lightly put together)

 In fact, Pearl was burdened by the responsibility of taking care of the children
with no support. She was also exhausted by the many chores she had to take
on. As she felt overburdened, she often lost her temper and even became

16
 violent. (three sentences that are more unpacked and easier to produce and to
process)

These pairs of examples attempt to contrast two ways of expressing the same idea that seem to be fit for
different types of channels, one eminently written (the first version of each pair of examples) that
requires careful composition by the writer and processing by the reader. The second version of each pair,
however, makes things easier for the speaker and the listener(s). Each sentence has a subject who is
involved in an activity under certain circumstances. This pattern is repeated again and again. The ideas
have been unpacked making it much easier both to produce and to comprehend them.

So far we have briefly reviewed the impact that the oral nature of this text has on some minor features
of its structure and the type of language that we use.

Now we will move on to discuss how we can go about choosing a good topic for a presentation.

Selecting a topic for our OP

One of the most difficult tasks when preparing an OP is choosing a topic. Similarly to when we select a
topic for an argumentative essay, we need to choose a controversial topic for our presentation, that is, a
topic that can be considered from different points of view. But given that we have time constraints when
presenting4 and that we need to take our time to support our position soundly and to guide our audience
by anticipating and recapitulating along the presentation, it makes sense to choose a topic that is narrow
enough for us to fully develop it in a restricted amount of time. If we choose a very ambitious or
comprehensive topic, we may find ourselves rushing through the discussion unable to take the time we
need to present and to carefully explain the evidence we have selected to build our case.

So when we choose a topic for an argumentative OP, we need to think of a topic that will constitute an
enlightening contribution. At the same time, it should be somewhat restricted so that we have enough
time to present both sides of the issue, acknowledge the opposing view, present evidence in support of
ours, discuss the evidence thoroughly, and hopefully convince the audience that our point of view on the
issue is at least worth considering.

We will now list some ideas for OPs that seem interesting and restricted enough for the type of
presentations that we work with in Language IV:

 I would like to discuss the fact that even though María realized that it would
be very hard for her to become an integral part of North American society, she
found solace in her thoughts about the kind, supporting people in her English
class. (English as a Second Language)

 I would like to discuss the lessons that María and her children teach each
other. Maria’s children, already second generation immigrants, seem to be
better adjusted to North American culture than María. Actually, they teach
their mother lessons about aspects of their new life in the United States at
several moments in the story. Yet, María herself has very important lessons
4
These notes are preparatory for the typical oral presentations delivered in Language IV, which range from 5 to 12 minutes.
17
 about their ancestry that she is determined to transmit to her children as they
are a crucial part of what she and her children are and always will be. (English
as a Second Language)

 As Jenny and Cody became young adults, they had to decide whether to stay at
or leave home. I would like to argue that although material concerns could
have played a role in their decision to either stay at or leave their parental
home, the two siblings left resolutely driven by their vital emotional needs.
(Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant)

 I would like to discuss that though Jenny probably had good reasons to stay
away from Baltimore, she had strong emotional bonds that tied her to that
town and her mother. (Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant)

 Even when Cody spends most of his time as a child plotting against his brother
Ezra and having unhappy thoughts about him, there are two revealing
occasions described in chapter 2 when he shows he cares about and wishes to
protect his younger brother. (Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant)

 Ezra is portrayed as an insecure, often weak young man. Yet he can also react
with determination and deliberation with respect to things that really matter
to him. (Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant)

 Baba and Monin made serious mistakes as they raised their children which, in
turn, caused a lot of suffering to their children. Still, they proved to be devoted
parents who strove to ensure good prospects for their children’s future. (The
Kite Runner - When I was Puerto Rican)

The structure of the argumentative OP

We will now go over each section of the argumentative OP. To illustrate the different parts of the OP, we
will use one prepared by a Language IV student which we have adapted. The complete text is included in
the Appendix.

The Introduction

The purpose of the introduction is to present the controversial topic of the OP, to engage the audience
by establishing its importance, to activate or provide knowledge that is relevant to our topic, and to
announce the thesis. These functions are, in fact, the same as the ones we reviewed above, when we
discussed the argumentative essay. However, because we want to guide the audience carefully so that it
is easier for them to follow the presentation and because we need to stick to the limited time available,
we need to bear in mind some considerations.

First, before making the generalizations that will help engage our audience and activate previous
knowledge, it makes sense to announce what we plan to speak about in general terms so that once we
get to the generalizations, the audience already has a sense of where the presentation is going and they
don’t have to spend the next few minutes possibly making wrong predictions about the content of the
presentation.
18
In our sample text, this announcement of topic is done as follows:

Good afternoon. I’m going to talk about some of the challenges associated to being
a parent. I’ve based my oral presentation on the novels “When I was Puerto Rican”
by Esmeralda Santiago and “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini.

In this case, the speaker anticipates in very general terms the idea he wishes to discuss in this OP (the
challenges of being a parent) and which texts he is going to refer to throughout the presentation.

Then we make our introductory generalizations, which tend to be shorter than those in an essay,
starting as close as we can to the particular topic we want to discuss. This will make it easier for our
audience to follow. After this, we can move on to the transition to particulars. Let’s consider the
following example:

Parents face multiple situations they aren’t always prepared for as they raise their
children. Thus, they often make mistakes which can hurt or confuse their children.
Yet, this doesn’t mean they don’t love their children or they are careless or
irresponsible. They can be, in fact, devoted parents who sometimes make the
wrong parenting decisions. They often act thinking that what they do is the best
for their children and they actually make dire sacrifices to provide their children
with a good life. This is the case of Monin, a character in the novel “When I was
Puerto Rican”, and Baba, in the novel “The Kite Runner”. Both Monin and Baba
made serious mistakes as they raised their children, Negi and Amir respectively.
This caused a lot of suffering to their children, and made their childhood difficult.
Still, they also proved to be devoted parents who strove to ensure good prospects
for their children’s future.

In this example, the speaker introduces the topic, including both sides of the issue: it is true that parents
make mistakes that can hurt their children, but that does not mean that they do not care about their
children and are not ready to make sacrifices to make up for their mistakes. This has been done in five
sentences. We have underlined these introductory generalizations in the example. Then he moves on to
particulars, briefly showing how the generalizations mentioned above apply to the characters in the
novels he has chosen to discuss.

Once we have anticipated in general terms what we are going to be talking about, we can announce the
particular idea we are going to focus on, that is, the controlling idea we are going to explore, establishing
at the same time what stance we have chosen to support. We do this in the thesis statement. At this
point we also explain the reason why our thesis idea constitutes a contribution to the discussion of the
topic. In other words, we try to justify the focal point of our discussion. We have called this sub-stage
justification of thesis idea. Here we answer questions such as: why are we arguing that…? What
particular aspect, issues, elements of the story do we wish to uncover? How will the OP help us
understand the story better?

In the sample OP we have chosen, the speaker announces the thesis statement in the following way:

I would like to discuss the idea that even when these parents made mistakes that
negatively affected their children once and again, the sacrifices they made to get
their children going in life show they were caring and committed parents.
19
As we can see, the speaker states his thesis, clearly establishing the idea he is going to support. As we do
when writing an argumentative essay, we can state the thesis in one clause complex, where the
independent clause would include the stance we have chosen to defend, and the dependent clause
would express the other possible point of view. Otherwise we could choose to express the thesis in two
sentences, generally placing our own stand second, the best position for the key idea we wish the
listener to focus on and retain. We connect these ideas with concessive adjuncts such as: yet, still,
though, although, despite this, however, nevertheless.

In our example, the student then continues to explain why he selected the topic of his OP:

In doing so, I would like to foreground the complexity of these characters. They
are round, many-sided characters that reflect the paradoxical nature that most of
us have, in some way or other. Actually, far from being contradictory or
unbelievable, they come to life with all their good will and shortcomings.

As we know, in an essay the thesis not only includes both sides of the issue, but it also has the implicit
function of anticipating the content and the organization of the whole text. However, in the OP, it
makes more sense to do this explicitly, separately, and in more detail. So, once we have clearly
established our thesis and the purpose of our presentation, we can take our time to review the overall
organization of the presentation. This again will help the audience follow the OP, since they will know in
advance exactly what to expect in every stage. Let’s look at the following example:

To do this, first I’m going to briefly refer to the mistakes that Monin and Baba
made. Then I’m going to discuss the efforts each of these parents made to make up
for their mistakes and provide for their children. Finally, I will refer to the
complexity and roundness of these characters.

In this section, the speaker simply enumerates the information he has included in his OP in the order he
would present it. We generally use future tenses to anticipate the content of the OP.

To sum up, there are several functions fulfilled in the Introduction:

 announcement of the topic in general terms;

 introductory generalizations, which engage the listener and at the same time provide general
information that will help them know what the presentation will be about, including both sides
of the controversial issue;

 transition to particulars, in which we connect or apply the generalizations done at the beginning
to the particular situation we wish to discuss;

 announcement of the thesis statement, in which we not only include both sides of the issue,
showing which position we have chosen to support, but also anticipate the arguments we have
chosen to defend our point of view;

 justification of the thesis, where we explain why we have chosen this topic;

 anticipation of content and organization of the OP

20
Developing and supporting our stance

At this point we can review the steps we discussed for the argumentative essay, as they are the same:
first we acknowledge the other point(s) of view, and then we move on to provide evidence that supports
our stance and discuss it. The only difference is that, since it is an oral text, we need to make transitions
clearer and more evident as well as anticipating and recapitulating more. This is done, as we have
already said, to provide our audience with as many signposts as we can along the way.

Some useful expressions to do this could be:

 So these are the insights into North American culture that María gained from
her children. Now I will go on to discuss the lessons that María was
determined to give her children.

 Clearly then, María had a lot to learn about North American culture and her
children were helping her to do this. Yet, there were also important lessons
that her children were to learn from her…

 I’ve just discussed/reviewed/analyzed… Now I will move on/go on to…

 Having explained… I will now turn to/I would like to comment on/I want to
draw your attention to…

 So far I have discussed/mentioned/analyzed/referred to… Next, I will…

 To recapitulate, in this presentation I have made reference

to/discussed/analyzed…

 As I said before/at the beginning of the presentation…

In the sample OPs we have been discussing in these notes, this is done at several points, especially when
rounding off an idea and moving on to the next one:

 Monin and Baba caused great pain to their children, making their life unduly
painful at times. Yet, they also tried very hard to ensure their children’s
wellbeing.

 Another enormous sacrifice that Monin made in order to give her children
better living conditions was…

 Baba also made a huge sacrifice in order to ensure a better future for his son,
Amir.

 But moving to the United States not only implied losing his prestige and
having to start anew. For Baba it also meant adjusting to a very different
culture…

The Conclusion

Once we have put forth our case, step by step in our presentation, we go on to conclude by
recapitulating the key ideas we have raised and by discussing the wider implication that follow. This

21
stage is particularly important in OPs. Since this genre is an oral text, and, therefore, more ephemeral
than written texts, the audience cannot go back and review the text, as the reader of an essay could do.
We thus need to explicitly recapitulate what we have done and remind the audience of the main points
of our presentation. We once more include both sides of the issue, showing that our position is
acceptable and perhaps the most reasonable one in the light of all the evidence we presented and
discussed before. We also suggest the broader implications of this topic or a possible course of action if
the topic of the OP calls for some kind of recommendation. You can refer back to our discussion of the
conclusion of the argumentative essay, on page 12.

In our sample OP, the speaker has chosen to conclude as follows:

All in all, Monin and Baba made significant mistakes that made their children
suffer. A good part of their childhood was marked by the difficulties they had,
some emotional, some more material, caused by their parents’ shortcomings. Yet,
Monin and Baba also proved to be caring and devoted parents who made huge
sacrifices to provide their children with a better life and a more promising future.
Monin managed to support her seven children on her own, while Baba left his
comfortable life behind and strove to adjust to a very different culture so that Amir
would have better opportunities as he entered manhood. Monin and Baba stand
out at different moments in the novels as parents who can cause their children
great pain and, equally importantly, as devoted parents who make huge sacrifices
to provide for their children. These apparent contradictions, far from making them
unbelievable, make them more human, more complex and more admirable.

In this example, we see that the speaker mentions both sides, and clearly shows why he has chosen to
argue that Monin and Baba were devoted and caring parents, going over the central points he has
chosen to present as evidence and discuss. He also shows how these two sides depicted in these parents
(making mistakes on the one hand, and being caring and devoted parents, on the other) make them real
and human, rather that contradictory or unrealistic.

The speaker could have alternatively chosen to give an implicit recommendation, as in:

Just like Monin and Baba, some parents make serious mistakes that inflict great
suffering on their children, but they also make enormous sacrifices to give them
the opportunity to succeed in life. Trying to avoid making mistakes or to repair the
ones we make seems to be one of the most significant challenges of being a parent.

In this case, the author is generalizing about parenting on the basis of these two characters and he is also
stressing the fact that it is very difficult not to make mistakes as we raise our children, something that
does not necessarily make us bad parents if we strive to make up for our mistakes.

In addition to considering the content of our conclusion, we should also take into account that the
language and intonation used in this stage should clearly signal that the OP is coming to a close. This is a
natural way of letting the audience know the OP is finishing, instead of feeling the need to say something
like: “And that’s all!”

In our example, the speaker opens the conclusion with the phrase “all in all” to signal that he is already
rounding off. And as he states the wider implications, he uses general terms (parents, children, sacrifices,
22
challenges) and the present tense to indicate that this is a situation that can apply widely. This shows
that the discussion of the specific situation he has been referring to has come to an end.

Delivering the OP

We will now briefly discuss the way in which we might prepare to deliver our presentation effectively.
This is a very important step and it should not be overlooked if we want to deliver a well-rounded,
compelling OP. This includes paying special attention not only to our pronunciation, but also to prosodic
and paralinguistic features. They all affect our delivery, and therefore, the audience’s understanding of
our presentation. According to Halliday (1989: 31) prosodic features include: intonation, rhythm,
phrasing and pausing. Paralinguistic features include: tempo, loudness, facial and bodily gestures.

Prosodic features work differently across languages, so it is important for us to be familiar with the
intonation and rhythm of English. As you already know, intonation carries grammatical meaning in
English, since it helps us differentiate types of clauses (dependent vs. independent, defining vs. non-
defining) and it is generally related to expressing certainty or doubt. Within the tone group, the tonic
syllable also contributes to the organization of the information, marking new information (what the
listener has to attend to) as opposed to given information. It is useful to express emphasis as well.
Rhythm, in turn, relates to the melody of the language and it is one of the features that can distract our
audience and interfere with comprehension the most when not produced properly (Halliday, 1989).

So an adequate use of prosodic features can help us convey our ideas clearly and make the point we
wish to make more forcefully, which is essential to convince the audience of the validity of our stance.

As regards paralinguistic features, it is good to try to keep a reasonable pace, neither too fast (so that
the audience can follow us comfortably and have time to consider what we are saying), nor too slow (to
avoid that the audience loses interest or gets lost). We also need to speak loud enough for all the
audience to hear clearly. As speakers we want to keep the listeners focused on the presentation and to
sound confident, which is extremely helpful when trying to persuade the audience. Gestures can also
help transmit meaning and guide the audience throughout the presentation. Walking around and
maintaining eye contact with as many members of the audience as possible (as opposed to just standing
still in one place and looking at the person in front of us) can help us engage the whole audience, and
maintain their attention. Yet, if we move around incessantly, we will surely distract them!

As there are quite a few things that we need to pay attention to simultaneously as we present, we
should make sure we practice all we can beforehand. If we wish to deliver a compelling OP, we need a
clear, engaging and confident delivery, and this involves practice. We surely do not want to spoil all the
effort that already went into preparing the content of the OP.

To help our audience follow the presentation we can also resort to visual aids, such as posters,
handouts, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Visual aids can also facilitate our task as presenters, reminding
us of all the ideas we have included. When we outline our key ideas on the visual aids, we should use
short phrases, since the audience cannot hear what we are saying and at the same time read whole
sentences. We could also try, whenever possible, to display our ideas graphically. This will be very helpful
23
for our audience to understand and remember the underlying organization of the OP. If we are planning
to include long and/or complex quotations, it also makes sense to write them down on the visual aid to
accompany our reading. Since this type of quotations are generally tightly packed with information,
including them in the visual aid can help the audience follow them more easily, and it allows them to go
back, and reread them if necessary, while we explain them.

Although organized as a monologue, we cannot forget that the OP is an interactive text, and we should
be able to follow the reaction of our audience as we go along. If we feel that we stated our purpose too
fast or that we read a quote too quickly, we can always very naturally ask our listeners if they would like
us to go over what we just said or read. If we use a word that we can anticipate some members of the
audience will have trouble understanding, we can ask them if the idea is clear. That is, after all the hard
work we have done preparing our presentation, our purpose is to make sure that our ideas are fully
understood by the audience.

To sum up, we have included a list of recommendations that reflect what seems to work better when we
prepare and deliver an OP. All of these recommendations are based on what has been discussed above,
so we hope by now the reasons that justify these remarks are clear.

 Choose a topic that is a contribution to the critical analysis of the text and narrow enough for you to be able
to take your time to explore and discuss it as fully as possible in the limited time you are given. Avoid topics
that were already partly or fully discussed in class or that are too ambitious for the time you have.

 Make sure you actually take up in your discussion all the ideas you announce in the introduction of your OP
and that you do not announce ideas you are not going to include or develop fully. Remember that the
promises you make as you announce your thesis and justify your topic choice raise expectations in your
audience.

 Choose evidence that strongly supports your view and discuss it thoroughly. Avoid skipping the discussion of
some of your ideas because you don’t have enough time to present. Instead choose a narrower topic or
concentrate on fewer arguments.

 Prepare a vocabulary domain to be ready to express your ideas in a variety of ways.

 Check expressions, and the pronunciation, stress pattern, meaning, usage and spelling of the words you are
using!

 Make sure you guide your audience all the time and include enough anticipation and recapitulation. Use
connectors if you think they can help to foreground transitions, instead of just relying on your own clear
awareness of how you have organized your presentation. Remember your audience is listening to it for the
first time, and in real time!

 Rehearse the presentation at home and check how long you take to deliver it. You want to avoid having to
rush through it while presenting.

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 If you use visual aids, make sure you guide your audience through the information you include in them,
pointing at the information you are referring to as you present. Try not to make your visual aids too small or
too complex, to stand in front of them or to ignore them completely through the presentation.

 Keep your audience alert and engaged by using a reasonable volume and pace, particularly at key moments
in your presentation, and by maintaining eye contact. Avoid reading or barely repeating your presentation
mechanically.

 As you deliver your presentation, try to transmit your ideas with conviction and enthusiasm. Try not to
present as if you are desperate to get the presentation over as quickly as you can. Remember you are
ultimately communicating with the audience and sharing your analysis!

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APPENDIX

Sample essay I

Being a parent can be one of the most fulfilling roles we can take up in our adult life. It can also be most
challenging as it can demand that we bring to bear all our experience, our tenacity and our love. The very
nature of its demands make it a context in which we are likely to make mistakes, no matter how loving and
well-meaning we may be. This is particularly the case for single parents for whom raising their children on
their own can be specially trying. They can often feel overwhelmed by this daunting challenge and feel
they lack the experience to become the sole sustenance of their family. Even when they try very hard to
keep their family together, and are keenly aware of how much their children’s basic needs depend on
them, they may fail to provide their children with the support that they need. This seems to be the situation
experienced by Pearl and her children in the novel “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Anne Tyler.
They were suddenly abandoned by Beck, the father of the family, who left with no explanation whatsoever,
not to come back for many years. Pearl found herself the sole supporter of the family, unable to come to
terms with Beck’s abandonment and, consequently, unable to provide her children with the support and
understanding they needed. In fact, burdened by the responsibility of taking care of the children with no
support and exhausted by the many chores she had to take on, she often lost her temper and could even
become very violent. As the children became adults, she remained a domineering mother, one who would
try to impose her will on her children and be oblivious of their own needs or aspirations. She can be
described, indeed, as a difficult mother. Yet, early on in her children’s life, she strove to provide for them,
remained unconditionally close as they took their own ways, always trying hard to do whatever she
thought would get them going in life.

After Pearl was abandoned by her husband, Beck, she became an angry and sometimes an abusive
mother who failed to provide the children with the emotional support that they needed. When the children
were young, and their father abandoned them, she would lose her temper very easily, would call them
terrible names and even wish they disappeared from her life. Unable to come to terms with her new
situation as an abandoned wife, she reacted by denying what had really happened to the family and never
talked to the children to reassure them they would be alright and, much worse, she contributed to their
confusion. She reacted by shutting them all off from the company or support of relatives or friends. Pearl
was undeniably not in control of her life at the time and carried the children along by making them feel
confused, lost and even guilty of the family situation. Yet, side by side with her shortcomings as a single
mother, we witness her determination to keep the family going and to remain close to her children even as
they grow and find their own ways.

As she strove to come to terms with her new status as an abandoned wife, Pearl also struggled to keep
the family going by providing for their basic needs. When Beck left, she reacted as quickly and
appropriately as she could by getting a job even when she had been raised to think that the man of the
house was the bread-winner, in charge of the family’s material needs. She left her pride aside and took a

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job as a cashier in the neighborhood grocery store, where she worked long hours only to return to her
young children who had their own needs to take care of. Working as a cashier was already a great effort
to her as she had always dreamt of having a brighter future for herself and for her family. To this she had
to add the housework and the care of her children. She was a painstakingly efficient housekeeper who
tried to keep the house in exceedingly perfect shape, a decent place for herself and her children. She
strove to keep her children as well dressed as she could, able to go to school and thus lead a relatively
normal life for a child. All her efforts to take care of the day-to-day urgencies put great pressure on her, a
situation that, we must acknowledge, led her to overlook her children’s emotional needs and become at
times a violent mother. Yet, given the suddenness of the changes in her life circumstances, she tried hard
to cope, as best she could. At the end of the day, the children did have their basic needs taken care of,
continued to be able to go to school and move slowly towards recovering a more ordinary life.

As the children became adults and they followed their own ways, Pearl always tried to remain close to
them, and offered her unconditional support whenever she was needed. Cody and Jenny left the house
when they were young adults and Ezra remained closer to Pearl. She managed to keep connected to the
three of them, available whenever they needed support or a helping hand. When she got to know that
Jenny had suffered a breakdown, she promised to go and take care of her ‘as soon as Ezra [could] drive
[her]’ to Jenny’s. She stayed two weeks and ‘set about putting the world in order again’ for her daughter.
She took care of Becky, Jenny’s daughter, and became quite close to her, in some way compensating for
the care she may have failed to provide when Jenny was a young girl. When Ezra was heart-broken, ‘a
walking ache of a man,’ after Cody had left with Ruth, Pearl ‘grieved for him’ and went out of her way to
get him to feel better. She even plotted to get Ezra and Ruth back together again by sending him once
and again to see her right after she had run away, just for them to see each other and, hopefully, get back
together. Although she did not actively stop Cody from running away with Ruth, she was keenly aware of
what was going on all the time and was now trying to help Ezra get over his pain. Even when Cody tried
hard to keep his distance from Pearl, she always took pains to keep connected. Sometimes Cody would
not call or visit for some time and Pearl would insist once and again, despite his curt replies, that they
come and see the family. She also accepted Cody’s halfhearted invitation to go and visit them in Illinois,
just to have the chance to see Cody and his family. With Ezra’s help, she faithfully took care of Cody’s
cottage in the country, even when he never acknowledged her effort and was very unappreciative.
Through the years, Pearl was keenly devoted to keeping close and available to her children. In fact, she
watched over them as they encountered, dealt with and solved the difficulties they found along the way.
Pearl’s children, each in their own way, had needed to keep their distance from their difficult mother in
order to build their own lives. Actually, they often resisted her presence. Nevertheless, she managed to
stay close and get them to accept her help: she took care of Jenny when she was ill, she was closest to
Ezra even when he would retreat into his own world and she managed to keep in touch with Cody and his
family despite his firm reluctance to see her.

All along, Pearl tried very hard, despite her dire life circumstances, to keep her family together. This was
not easy for her. When she was faced up with her husband’s abandonment she was unable to come to
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terms with it. She became a difficult, angry, unyielding mother. Yet, despite her shortcomings, she
managed to keep her family together and her children going in life. Already adults, her children came to
see her in a softer light. Jenny came to appreciate her mother’s effort to ‘raise [them] on her own’, and
acknowledged she ‘[hadn’t] had an easy life;’ Ezra, forever conciliatory, insisted that ‘she wasn’t always
angry’ and remembered her playing Monopoly with her children, singing them songs. Even Cody came to
soften the harsh images he had always associated his mother with, as the novel closes, remembered
Pearl, ‘her hair lit gold, her small hands smoothing her bouquet.’ Her children’s memories of her pay
tribute to the determined, loving mother she proved to be.

Sample essay II

Relationships are essential to human life: we need to bond with others, interact with them, give and
receive love, and in the process receive reassurance about our personal worth. The need to bond with
others and to feel appreciated is indeed critical to our emotional and mental health. That is why when
people feel that a valued relationship such as a family bond or a friendship is being threatened by
someone they perceive as a rival, they often come to feel jealousy. Often enough, jealousy moves people
to do harm to the ‘competitor,’ the person who is perceived as a threat. They often become the object of
mean remarks or actions aimed, sometimes obsessively, at getting them out of the way and recovering
the bond that they feel is being threatened. Yet, even though the perceived rival can be very much
affected by the jealous person’s behaviour, the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and
anxiety that jealousy provokes can be a lot more frustrating and painful for the jealous person himself. To
make matters worse, “by making people behave in ways that will alienate others, jealousy becomes a self-
fulfilling prophecy, depriving its victims of the affection or success they are so anxious to protect” . The
damaging workings of jealousy are a key feature of the relationship between two siblings in the novel
“Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Ann Tyler, in which Cody, the eldest child, is consumed with
jealousy of his younger brother Ezra and is resentful of what he considers to be their mother's favouritism
for Ezra. Cody's jealousy negatively affected the life of his brother Ezra as he becomes the main victim of
Cody’s mean plotting, but not as much as it crippled his own, as he was beset by feelings of insecurity,
inadequacy, and suspiciousness, and alienated himself from some members of his family. Indeed,
although Cody’s jealousy of Ezra led him to commit ‘crimes’ that negatively affected Ezra, his jealousy
was more damaging to himself than it was to his brother.

Both as a child and an adult, Ezra suffered quite a bit due to his brother’s consuming jealousy. All his
childhood he had to cope with Cody’s malicious plans against him: he was permanently being pestered by
him and could never get to enjoy a loving, comradely relationship with his elder brother. Later on in life, he
was deeply hurt by Cody when Cody stole Ruth, Ezra’s fiancée, and took her for his own. After they got
married and went away, Ezra was left lonely and broken-hearted, having lost the only woman he had ever
loved. Therefore, it can be said that Cody’s jealousy inflicted considerable pain on Ezra. Still, even though

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Ezra was the target of Cody’s jealousy all his life, it is evident that he managed to ignore his brother’s
unreasonable feelings towards him. Ezra did not pay attention to Cody’s malicious dealings towards him;
neither did he let his hostility affect him. Instead, he concentrated on his goal of running his own restaurant
and dedicated his life to doing what he liked best: preparing meals people were homesick for. What is
more, though he really suffered when Ruth abandoned him, he did not hold grudges on Cody: he
continued loving his brother and caring about him. Cody, on the contrary, could never overcome his
feelings of jealousy, which subsequently caused him a lot of pain and suffering. Cody’s life was a lot more
disturbed by his own jealousy than Ezra’s ever was: he never fully valued what he had and was often so
competitive and even cruel that he came to isolate himself from the people who loved him.

To begin with, Cody’s fixation with his brother Ezra prevented him from seeing and appreciating what he
had. Early in his life Cody was beset by the feeling that his brother was his mother’s favourite and that he
was the family’s disgrace, always blamed for any misconduct and never sufficiently loved. This bred a
growing resentment in Cody’s heart which hurt him in the course of his life and prevented him from seeing
he had also been a loved child. He could not see that he had all his brother had and even more. He could
not perceive he had a mother who loved him, who worried about him when he did not answer her phone
calls, who got “sick with worry picturing him in pain and longed to go to him”, who dutifully took care of his
house when he was away. Instead, he could only think about Pearl protecting Ezra. For instance, on one
occasion when Pearl fairly defended Ezra, he answered: “Naturally, he can do no wrong, can he, Mother.
Your precious boy. Can he.” Cody’s words visibly reveal the great resentment and dissatisfaction he felt.
In addition, his jealousy prevented him from seeing that he also had a wife and a son who loved him. He
was constantly thinking both of them preferred Ezra. He even got to think that Luke was Ruth and Ezra’s
son. He did not want them near Ezra because he feared to lose them. He once said to Ezra, “do you mind
not standing so close to my wife?” and told his family “Don’t you see what Ezra’s up to? Don’t you see
he’s out to steal my son?” Even when these destructive statements reveal Cody’s harshness towards his
son and wife, and how much they suffered his wrath, they also reveal how insecure he felt about his
family’s love. His low self-esteem made him believe nobody loved him and to torture others and himself
with irrational plottings that were only in his mind. He was convinced his brother wanted to destroy him
and he lacked confidence about his wife and son’s loyalty to him.

Not valuing what he had was not the only consequence of Cody’s jealousy. As a result of his bitter
feelings, he became a competitive and sometimes cruel person. As a child he was continually bothering
Ezra and trying to get him into trouble. For instance, Cody tortured his brother by framing Ezra’s best
friend for stealing Ezra’s beloved recorder, or taking pictures of Ezra surrounded by bottles of beer to
make him look like a drunk. Moreover, he was always highlighting Ezra’s faults and imperfections, always
trying to show people, and especially his mother, that Ezra was “not as perfect as she thought he was”.
His plans were clearly not so much aimed at making Ezra feel miserable, which, in fact, he succeeding in
doing, but at getting some attention from Pearl. Yet, as his mean machinations became clear to others,
what he gained was more recrimination from her and less of what he craved for: her approval and her
love. Regarding women, he kept the same competitive attitude. He would not stand it when any of his
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girlfriends made a positive comment about Ezra and when he knew that Ezra was going to get married he
became obsessed with the idea of seducing his fiancée: “It was a campaign, was what it was -a long battle
campaign,” he said, and in the end, he won. Yet, when he was leaving with Ruth on their honeymoon, he
seemed unable to enjoy his ‘triumph’ and silently sat next to her on the train, overcome by nostalgia and
sorrow as he heard Ezra’s music in the distance. This could show that although he had left Ezra heart-
broken, he felt just as bad. Later in life, he once told to his son: “Everything I ever wanted, Ezra got it.
Anything in life I wanted. Even things I thought I had won, Ezra won in the end. And he didn’t even seem
to be trying; that’s the hell of it.” These words reveal that in spite of his competitiveness and hostility, he
felt forever inferior and less fortunate than Ezra.

Cody’s obsessive jealousy also led him to isolate himself from the people who loved him. Indeed, his
growing alienation from his family was a direct a consequence of his obsessive jealousy and contained
resentment. In his early adolescence, he spent long hours away from home and as Pearl once said,
“Though of course she loved Cody dearly, from infancy, he had batted her away”. Then when he was at
college, “he wrote almost never and what letters he did write were curt and factual”. Finally, when he
reached adulthood, he was permanently moving around, hardly ever visited his family, and every time
Pearl wanted to visit him he made up feeble excuses. For instance, as soon as Pearl learnt that Ruth was
pregnant, she immediately offered to stay with them and help them, but Cody let her offer pass. In
addition, when he had a serious accident at a factory he did not let Pearl visit him, and even told his son:
“If your grandma calls again today, I want you to tell her I’ve gone back to work.” In this way, he denied
himself the chance to be the object of Pearl’s affection, something that he had always craved for ever
since he was a child. If he had left his jealousy aside and let his mother approach him, he would have
been able to forget the difficult times he had sometimes had at home and enjoy his mother’s company and
affection. Once again, Pearl became the object of Cody’s rejections and curt remarks; yet it was Cody who
missed out on the chance to be the object of his family’s affection for him.

To conclude, a jealous person can really cause a lot of suffering to the people they regard as threatening
by harassing them with hostile remarks and aggressive attitudes. However, the crippling effects of
jealousy are a lot more destructive for the persons who harbour them. It is clear that Cody was seriously
damaged by his intense feelings of jealousy. He failed to appreciate all the valuable things he had, he
turned into a selfish and sometimes cruel person, and he condemned himself to many years of misery.
Cody’s needless suffering could be taken as an example of the damage we are likely to inflict to ourselves
when we cannot control our jealousy. Cody’s experience seems to bring to the front the crippling effects
that our insecurities can have on our own life and that of those we deeply love and the need to attend to
these insecurities, examine them and attempt to solve them as a way to avoid pain and to live better lives.

Sample OP

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Good afternoon. I’m going to talk about some of the challenges associated to being a parent. I’ve based
my oral presentation on the novels “When I was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago and “The Kite
Runner” by Khaled Hosseini.

Parents face multiple situations they aren’t always prepared for as they raise their children. Thus, they
often make mistakes which can hurt or confuse their children. Yet, this doesn’t mean they don’t love their
children or they are careless or irresponsible. They can be, in fact, devoted parents who sometimes make
the wrong parenting decisions. They often act thinking that what they do is the best for their children and
they actually make dire sacrifices to provide their children with a good life. This is the case of Monin, a
character in the novel “When I was Puerto Rican”, and Baba, in the novel “The Kite Runner”. Both Monin
and Baba made serious mistakes as they raised their children, Negi and Amir respectively. This caused a
lot of suffering to their children, and made their childhood difficult. Still, they also proved to be devoted
parents who strove to ensure good prospects for their children’s future. I would like to discuss the idea that
even when these parents made mistakes that negatively affected their children once and again, the
sacrifices they made to get their children going in life show they were caring and committed parents. In
doing so, I would like to foreground the complexity of these characters. They are round, many-sided
characters that reflect the paradoxical nature that most of us have, in some way or other. Actually, far from
being contradictory or unbelievable, they come to life with all their good will and shortcomings.

To do this, first I’m going to briefly refer to the mistakes that Monin and Baba made. Then I’m going to
discuss the efforts each of these parents made to make up for their mistakes and provide for their
children. Finally, I will refer to the complexity and roundness of these characters.

Monin and Baba clearly inflicted great suffering on their children. They undoubtedly made serious
mistakes as parents. Monin failed to give her children a stable home as the family was constantly moving
around. Consequently, Negi, her daughter, had to change schools whenever they moved into a new
house. This made it hard for her to make friends. Additionally, Monin was unable to provide her children
with a pleasant and secure home environment as she constantly argued with her husband. We also know
that she was sometimes a violent mother. As for Baba, the biggest mistake he made as a father was not
telling his son Amir that Hasan, the boy-servant and his best friend, was actually his brother. Besides,
Baba failed to provide Amir with affection and understanding and made him feel insecure and rejected
instead. He didn’t accept his son as he was and wished he were braver, stronger and an athlete like him.
Monin and Baba caused great pain to their children, making their life unduly painful at times. Yet, they also
tried very hard to ensure their children’s wellbeing.

Monin made great sacrifices in order to give her children a better future. First of all, she decided to leave
her country in order to give her children a better place to live in. Even though Monin often moved her
family to a new house in an attempt to provide her children with a better, more comfortable home, their
living conditions were still poor. So after going to New York to find a new treatment for her son Raymond,
she decided to leave Puerto Rico and move with her family to New York, where there would be more

31
opportunities for her family. Even though Monin was determined to get ahead with their new life in New
York, she had to face several challenges. She had to leave behind her neighbours and friends, she had to
find a new job, to adjust to a completely different culture, and to deal with the difficulties of not knowing the
language. All this she had to do alone as Pablo, her partner, didn’t go to New York with her. However,
Monin was a determined and devoted mother who managed on her own to provide her children with better
health care, a better education and better living conditions once they settled in New York. This, of course
meant enormous adjustments for family but also a better life for them in the long term. Monin met all the
challenges that moving to a big city in a foreign country entailed in an attempt to build a better future for
her children.

Another enormous sacrifice that Monin made in order to give her children better living conditions was
getting a job both in Puerto Rico and in New York. Pablo didn’t have a steady job, so the money was
never enough. Very often, he disappeared for days on end, leaving Monin without money to feed her
children. Therefore, Monin got a job in a new factory in Puerto Rico, even though it wasn’t very common
for women to take a job. To this she had to add the housework and the care of her small children. Monin
found herself not only in charge of all the house chores, but also in charge of earning a living. In New York
she became the breadwinner, as well. Even though she knew people gossiped about her as women
weren’t supposed to work outside the house, she didn’t hesitate to get a job both in Puerto Rico and in
New York. She did all this with the conviction that it was the best way to ensure a better future for her
children.

Baba also made a huge sacrifice in order to ensure a better future for his son, Amir. He decided to leave
Afghanistan as a succession of wars broke out, that brought riots, bombs, mine lands and widespread
death and suffering. Baba thought that in the United States, they would have more opportunities to lead a
better life. But moving away to another country implied several challenges for Baba, some as he left
behind his former life and job, others as he strove to become assimilated into the new culture. First, it
meant losing his prestige and his former lifestyle. In Kabul, Baba had been a wealthy, respected, well-
known man, generous and helpful with family and friends. However, in California, he lived in a small
apartment, nobody knew him and it was he who was helpless now and needed help from his son to
assimilate into the new culture. Nevertheless, Baba was a strong man and a devoted father who gave up
his former life surrounded by friends and people who knew and respected him just to give his son “one last
gift” -the possibility of a new life in the United States. In addition, Baba was willing to take any job in order
to provide for his son. In Kabul Baba had been a wealthy and influential business man, who enjoyed
working and entertaining his business partners and friends in his study. Yet, in the United States he
worked long hours at a gas station to provide his son with the basic needs in a place where he had to start
all over, doing work that tired him out. It is clear that Baba was, in fact, a caring father determined to get
his son going in life with prospects of a good future.

But moving to the United States not only implied losing his prestige and having to start anew. For Baba it
also meant adjusting to a very different culture in the United States as he had to accept and adapt himself

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to customs that were alien to him. For instance, once he got into a fight in a grocery store when he was
asked to show his ID as proof of identity. Baba felt so insulted that he damaged the property unaware that
no offence had been committed against him. It is evident that he was still very attached to his own
traditions. Besides, he didn’t speak the language fluently. This made it hard for him to communicate with
people and make new friends. Even though Baba felt very misplaced in the United States since he
couldn’t understand the new culture, he tried hard to adjust even when this meant leaving behind his
country and the traditions he had lived by all his life. He was motivated by his determination to ensure his
son’s well-being. He never complained about the sacrifices he had to make and became set on building a
new life for his son Amir.

All in all, Monin and Baba made significant mistakes that made their children suffer. A good part of their
childhood was marked by the difficulties they had, some emotional, some more material, caused by their
parents’ shortcomings. Yet, Monin and Baba also proved to be caring and devoted parents who made
huge sacrifices to provide their children with a better life and a more promising future. Monin managed to
support her seven children on her own, while Baba left his comfortable life behind and strove to adjust to a
very different culture so that Amir would have better opportunities as he entered manhood. Monin and
Baba stand out at different moments in the novels as parents who can cause their children great pain and,
equally importantly, as devoted parents who make huge sacrifices to provide for their children. These
apparent contradictions, far from making them unbelievable, make them more human, more complex and
more admirable.

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