Debating, Spring 2020_2021 Dr.

Najib Ismail Jarad

Elements of an Argument
claim: the proposition to be proven
grounds/support: the reason or evidence the speaker offers as the grounds for accepting the
conclusion
Warrant –the reasoning process that connects the support to the claim

Arguable statements. An arguable statement must meet three criteria:

1. It should seek to convince readers of something, to change their minds, or to urge them to
do something.
2. It should address a problem that has no obvious or absolute solution or answer.
3. It should present a position that readers can have varying perspectives on.

Arguable statement Violent video games lead to violent behavior.

Unarguable statement Video games earn millions of dollars every year.

How to qualify an argument:

Ethical appeals (Ethos). To make any argument effective, you need to establish your credibility.
Here are some good ways to do so:

• Demonstrate that you are knowledgeable about the topic.

• Demonstrate that you are fair and evenhanded by showing that you understand opposing
viewpoints and can make a reasonable counterargument.

Logical appeals (Logos). Audiences almost always want proof—logical reasons that back up
your argument. You can create good logical appeals in the following ways:

• Provide strong examples that are representative and that clearly support your point.
• Use narratives or stories in support of your point.
• Cite authorities and their testimony, as long as each authority is timely and is genuinely
qualified to speak on the topic.

Visuals that make logical appeals can be useful in arguments, since they present factual
information that can be taken in at a glance.

Emotional appeals (Pathos). Audiences can feel manipulated when an argument tries too hard
to appeal to pity, anger, or fear. You can appeal to the hearts as well as to the minds of your
audience with the ethical use of strong emotional appeals:

• Introduce a powerful text that supports your point.

• Use concrete language and details to make your points more vivid.
• Use figurative language—metaphors, similes, analogies, and so on—to make your point
both lively and memorable.

Visuals that make emotional appeals can add substance to your argument as long as you test them
with potential readers to check whether they interpret the visual the same way you do.
Debating, Spring 2020_2021 Dr. Najib Ismail Jarad

Restaurants should have to post calorie counts on their menus because…

… If people are more aware of what they’re eating, they’ll make healthier choices.
It will encourage customers to learn more about nutrition in general, not just when
they visit restaurants.
… It’s unethical to imply that some menu items (such as salads) are healthy when really
they aren’t.
… Nutritional facts are posted on items in grocery stores, so why shouldn’t this information
also be available for restaurant foods?

1. A good argumentative thesis is focused and not too broad.

It’s important to stay focused! Don’t try to argue an overly broad topic in your essay, or you’re
going to feel confused and unsure about your direction and purpose.

Don’t write:
“Eating fast food is bad and should be avoided.”
This statement is too general and would be nearly impossible for you to defend. It leaves a lot of
big questions to answer. Is all fast food bad? Why is it bad? Who should avoid it? Why should
anyone care?

Do write:
“Teenagers in the UAE should eliminate the regular consumption of fast food because a fast food
diet leads to preventable and expensive health issues, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.”
In this example, I’ve narrowed my argument to the health consequences related to a diet of fast
food. I’ve also chosen to focus on teenagers in the UAE rather than everyone in the universe.
2.

Don’t write:
“Secondhand smoke is bad and can cause heart disease and cancer; therefore, smoking should be
outlawed in public places, but outlawing smoking is unfair to smokers so maybe non-smokers can
just hold their breath or wear masks around smokers instead.”
A wishy-washy statement like this will make your reader scratch his head in puzzlement. Are you
for smoking laws or against them? Yankees or Mets? Mets or Yankees?
Pick a side, and stick with it!
Then stick up for it.

Do write:
Debating, Spring 2020_2021 Dr. Najib Ismail Jarad

“Secondhand smoke is just as harmful as smoking and leads to a higher prevalence of cancer and
heart disease; therefore, smoking in any public place should be banned.”
3. Government surveillance programs should be banned because they invade civil liberties, lead
innocent people to suffer unfair punishments, and ultimately fail to protect the citizens that they
are designed to safeguard.
4. Organ donors should be financially compensated to increase the supply of available organs and,
at the same time, to decrease profitable, illegal organ-harvesting activities in the black market.
Schools are too dependent on technology
5. Schools’ dependence on technology has caused students to lose the ability to think
independently, leading to a greater prevalence of mood disorders, memory loss, and loneliness.
6. School officials should fight cyberbullying
In order to improve the online behavior of students and decrease cyberbullying-related suicide
attempts, school officials should have the authority to discipline students who engage
in cyberbullying.
Cyber Bullying With more and more teens using smartphones and social media, cyber bullying is
on the rise. Cyber bullying puts a lot of stress on many teens, and can cause depression, anxiety,
and even suicidal thoughts. Parents should limit the usage of smart phones, monitor their children's
online activity, and report any cyber bullying to school officials in order to combat this problem.
7. Most teen celebrities should not be role models for children
Teen celebrities often engage in inappropriate and sometimes illegal activities and thus should not
be considered role models for children.
School Uniforms School uniforms may be an upfront cost for families, but they eradicate the
visual differences in income between students and provide a more egalitarian atmosphere at
school.
Veganism A vegan diet, while a healthy and ethical way to consume food, indicates a position of
privilege. It also limits you to other cultural food experiences if you travel around the world.
Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide should be legal and doctors should have the ability to make sure
their patients have the end-of-life care that they want to receive.
Beauty Pageants Beauty pageants are presented with the angle that they empower women.
However, putting women in a swimsuit on a stage while simultaneously judging them on how well
they answer an impossible question in a short period of time is cruel and purely for the amusement
of men. Therefore, we should stop televising beauty pageants.
Debating, Spring 2020_2021 Dr. Najib Ismail Jarad

Sample Argument
CLAIM: We, the affirmative team/the proposition firmly believe that violent video games should
be banned
REASON because they contain obscene content, cause mental and physical health problems,
poor academic performance, poor social relationships, and lead to aggression or violence.

WARRANT
If young people derive pleasure from random, sociopathic killing in video games, they can
transfer this pleasure to real life, thus leading to more aggression or violence.
BACKING
• Testimony from psychologists
• Evidence that violent video games desensitize people to violence
• Analogy to military training in which video games are used to “make killing a reflex action”
• Evidence that the distinction between fantasy and reality becomes especially blurred for unstable
young people

CONDITIONS OF REBUTTAL
Attacking the warrant and backing
• Perhaps kids are fully capable of distinguishing fantasy from reality.
• Perhaps the games are just fun with no transference to real life.
• Perhaps the games are substantially different from military training games.