Building Strong Arguments

For essays, speeches, debates, meetings, or intense discussions, you may need to
organize your thoughts and defend them against people who might not agree with you. To
do your best in these situations, follow the process outlined in the next few pages.
Remember that arguments stem from a claim or position supported by compelling evidence
—evidence that persuades the reader or listener to accept a point of view.

The Seven C’s of Building an Argument

When you need to build an argument, use the seven C’s to develop and support a
position about a specific topic:
1. Consider the situation. Think of all aspects of the communication situation What
are the subject and purpose of your message? What medium will you use? Who is the
receiver? What is the context? (See the next page.)
2. Clarify your thinking. Think about the pros and cons of each side of the issue, and do
some preliminary research so that you understand the subject well. (See the next page.)
3. Construct a claim. Write a single statement that gives your position and the main
reason that you hold that position. (See page 104.)
4. Collect evidence. Research the issue in depth, using primary, secondary, and tertiary
sources. Investigate to make sure your claim holds up, and change it if it doesn’t. Gather
a variety of key evidence to support your claim. (See page 104.)
5. Consider key objections. Think about other viewpoints related to the argument.
What reasons could people cite to support opposing positions? What major problems
could they see with your argument? Decide how you will answer those objections—by
countering them (saying why they are unimportant) or by conceding them (saying they
are important but can be overcome). (See page 105.)
6. Craft your argument. Use your claim statement and the evidence you have gathered
to argue persuasively for your position. Appeal to the needs of your reader, and answer
any key objections. (See page 106.)
7. Confirm your main point. Wrap up your argument by stating your claim in a new
way, connecting it to real life and to the future.
Your Turn Which step in the process outlined above corresponds to the questioning
phase of the inquiry process? Which steps correspond to planning? Which steps relate
to research? In what ways does building an argument require the inquiry process?
 
103

1. Consider the situation.

 Before you can build a strong argument, you need to analyze the communication
situation. Ask yourself the following questions:

 As sender, what role do I have?

 What subject is my message about?
 What purpose do I have?
 What medium am I using?
 Who is the receiver? How can I convince that person?
 What is the context? When and where will the message arrive?

Sender: I'm writing less as a high school student and more as a concerned American
citizen.
Message Subject: I'm writing about the national debt.
Message Purpose: I'm calling for spending cuts and tax increases to address the debt.
Medium: This should be a letter to the editor, so it can reach a general audience.
Receiver: My audience is all Americans who are worried about federal fiscal
responsibility.
Context: This message will appear in a newspaper locally, and it could be picked up by a
wire service to appear in national papers.
 

Your Turn Think of the topics you are studying in your classes. Which topic do you feel
most strongly about? What position would you most like to argue for? Analyze your
communication situation by answering the questions above.
 

2. Clarify your thinking.

Before you can convince others, you must be clear in your own mind about your
position. What are you trying to prove? Why do you feel the way you do? What kind of proof
do you have? In addition, you should consider both sides of the issue. To do this, set up a
pro-con chart like the one shown here:
Pro Con

Reducing the national debt . . . Reducing the national debt . . .

 is the right choice for the future.  may slow the economy.
 requires us to live within our means.  requires bipartisan
 improves our country's credit scores. support.
  sets an example for other nations  requires tax increases.
regarding fiscal responsibility.  requires cuts to spending.
 creates a sustainable budget.  impacts those receiving
entitlements.
 impacts the military.
 

Your Turn Create a pro-con chart, arguing for and against your position. Thoroughly
explore both pros and cons. You will need to understand all perspectives to make a
convincing case.
 
104

3. Constructing a Claim
After you have thoroughly investigated an issue, you are ready to construct a claim about
it. Arguments develop three types of claims:
1. A truth claim indicates that you believe The national debt threatens the future
something is or is not true. of our nation.

2. A value claim indicates the worth that A balanced budget would be the best
you assign to something. gift we can give our children.

3. A policy claim says what you think The federal government must cut
should or should not be done. spending to reduce the national debt.
 

To formulate a claim, name your subject and express the truth, value, or policy you want
to promote.
Subject Truth, Value, or Policy Claim (Position) Statement

The national downsize post- To reduce the national debt, the U.S.
debt war military government must cut wasteful spending.
spending and
social programs
 

4. Collecting Evidence
After stating a claim, you must support it. Different types of details provide different
types of support:
  Facts and statistics connect your Each taxpayer's portion of the U.S.
claim to specific realities. national debt is over $140,000.

 Reasons and results show the The debt-ceiling debacle of 2011 caused

causes and effects of a situation. the U.S. credit rating to slip.

 Examples and anecdotes show A person who makes $46,000 can’t spend

how the claim works. $71,000—but the government does.

 Quotations and reflections get at “We must not let our rulers load us with
the feelings of the audience. perpetual debt,” said Thomas Jefferson.
 

Your Turn (1) Use the formula above to construct a truth, a value, and a policy claim
about a subject you feel strongly about. (2) Choose one of your claims and research it.
Write down one of each of the four types of supporting details listed in the chart above.
 
105

5. Considering Key Objections

Any debatable issue has at least two, and often many, points of view. When you build an
argument, you need to consider alternate positions. Just as you have gathered support for
your position, those with other perspectives will have gathered objections. Start by
identifying them.
Objection 1: The debt matches our gross domestic product, which means that the debt
has not yet reached an unmanageable size.

Objection 2: The boom of the '90s balanced the federal budget, and the next boom
will balance this budget.

Objection 3: The time to cut government spending is not during a recession but during
a boom.
Your Turn Reverse your thinking. Imagine that you strongly oppose the claim you
made and researched on the previous pages. List at least three serious objections to
your previous position.
 

Answering Objections
 Ignoring the objections to your argument weakens rather than strengthens it. You need
to face objections head-on. The following strategies have been applied to each of the
example objections above.
 Rebut the objection. If our gross domestic product goes down, our debt
goes up as we try to stimulate the economy. Allowable
debt can't be based solely on GDP.

 Recognize part of the It is true that the boom of the '90s resulted in a
objection but overcome balanced budget, but a balanced budget fixes only that
the rest. year's deficit, not the compounded national debt.

 Concede the objection Yes, during a recession, government spending is needed

and move on. to get the economy moving again. Now that the
recession is over, we need to reduce spending.
Your Turn Answer each of the objections to your own claim that you listed in the
previous “Your Turn” activity. Either rebut the objection, recognize part of it but
overcome the rest, or concede and move on.
 
106

6. Crafting Your Argument

How you structure your argument depends a great deal on how receptive or resistant
your audience is. For a receptive audience, you can provide support up front and rebuttal of
objections near the end. For opposed audiences, you may want to start with rebuttals.

Your Turn Think about the audience for the position (claim) you chose to work with
on pages 103-104. How receptive or resistant are they? Which of the structures above
would you use to craft your argument? Or would you use a different structure? Explain
your answer.
 

Using Persuasive Appeals

 Classical rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, prescribes three ways to appeal to your
audience:
1. Appeal to ethos—demonstrate that you are an ethical and trustworthy source.
2. Appeal to logos—use logic to argue for your position.
3. Appeal to pathos—move the person emotionally to connect with your position.
The most persuasive arguments may use all three types of appeals—but always
responsibly. Each of these appeals can be abused, as you will see in the section on logical
fallacies (pages 108–112).
Your Turn You’ve learned about using logic (logos) to connect with the reader. Now
consider what your audience wants or needs in order to make an emotional connection
(pathos). How does your position help them get what they need, want, or expect?
 

7. Confirming Your Main Point

Complete your argument by stating your main point in a new way and connecting it to
the future. Leave your audience with a strong final thought.
107

Using Socratic Questions to Examine Arguments

You’ve learned how to build a compelling argument. There’s also a technique for
examining arguments and deepening thinking.
The Greek philosopher Socrates examined arguments through questions, pushing
students to use logic to deduce answers. Socratic questions are especially useful for probing
the thinking of opponents in a debate.
Socratic Questions
 Clarifying questionsask the person to restate an idea in a new way.
o Could you please rephrase that statement?
o How would you summarize your position?
o Are you saying that ________________?

 Assumption questionsexplore the person’s underlying ideas.

o What are the assumptions underlying that statement?
o Is that statement based on the belief that ________________?
o Could you explain how/why ________________?

 Reasoning questionsget at the logic the person is using.

o Can you demonstrate how this premise is true?
o What evidence supports this claim?
o Are you implying/concluding that ________________?
  Perspective questionsprompt the person to use a different point of view.
o What analogy could you use to express that idea?
o How would ________________ respond to that idea?
o How do you answer the objection that ________________?

 Consequence questionsask the person to consider what might happen.

o What will result from that position?
o How can we apply that idea in a broader context?
o What is the value of that idea, and why?

 Recursive questionsreturn to the original question.

o Why are we asking this question?
o How does this question connect to the situation?
o How can we reframe this question?
 

Your Turn With a partner, discuss a current issue that you are studying in class. Use
Socratic questions occasionally to deepen the discussion. Which questions were most
helpful? Which were least helpful? Why?