Reference no: EM13882880

This paper is an argument paper.

I would like you to write an essay in which you tell me whether you think Plato (or Socrates) is correct in his view that men and women are essentially the same. It doesn't matter to me what your position on this issue is. The important thing is that you have a good defense for your position.

firstly, read the book VI of republic

Link of book VI https://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.7.vi.html

I. Why you need to learn this format

The brain is hardwired to make sense out of what it is presented with, hence it will fill in stuff it knows needs to be there. That means when you read your own writing, it will make perfect sense to you because your brain knows what you were thinking when you wrote, so it will automatically fill in anything that needs to be there in order for what you have said to make sense. Someone who does not know what you were thinking when you wrote cannot do that. This formula helps to make sure you say what you need to say in order to be comprehensible to someone else.

II. About this format

You are learning to write an argument, not a short story or literary essay. Clarity and persuasiveness are more important than literary eloquence or style. Once you have mastered this form, then you can begin to depart from it if you want. You can do this ONLY after you have truly mastered it though.

III. The format itself

1. Intro

Just state the issue and your position on the issue. Your position should ideally be expressed in a sentence that begins: "I am going to argue that..."

2. Background

How does this question come up, or why is this a question? This is also where you define any technical terms you will be using. DO NOT PUT DEFINITIONS IN THE INTRO!

3. Argument

This is where you begin to try to convince your reader that what you identified in the intro as your position is correct (do NOT do that in either the intro or the background section. Make sure your points are clearly stated. Whenever possible, use examples to illustrate them. Also, make sure you provide evidence that supports your points. Assume, from the beginning, that your reader does not agree with you.

After all, you wouldn't try to convince someone of something he already believed. Present lots of strong evidence!

4. Conclusion

Remind the reader of what it was you set out to do in the paper. Sometimes people will get sidetracked by some minor point and think that they disagree with and think they disagree with your whole argument. The conclusion helps to prevent that. The wording of the conclusion should be very similar to the wording of the introduction, not identical, but similar.

IV. Learning the Format

Step 1. Look at your paper. Don't read it, just look at the shape of it. Does it have the sections identified above? The first paragraph should be very short. The background can be shorter or longer, depending on the paper topic and what you want to do with it. It might be one paragraph, but it could also be two or even three paragraphs. Generally, the longer the background, the shorter the argument. Sometimes you can present the background information in such a way that the argument almost makes itself, so you really need only a paragraph for it. In general, though, you'll have one or two paragraphs of background and then two to four paragraphs of argument for these 600-800-word papers. Again, look at the paper. The conclusion should be really short, just like the intro. I can often tell how good a paper is just by looking at the paragraph divisions. If the first page is one long intro paragraph, then I know the paper has problems. Ditto for the conclusion. If the last page is one long paragraph, it's pretty clear that the author has not organized his or her thoughts well.

Step 2. That is the first step, just looking at the paper. The next step is to give it to someone else to read. Give them only a few minutes to read it, then take it back from them. After you have taken your paper bask, ask the person who read it to summarize it for you. If they can't do that, then you haven't done a good job of following the form described above. Don't assume you have chosen a stupid person. Anyone should be able to summarize such a short argument if you have presented it clearly. If your reader can't summarize your argument, then go back and fix it until you've got a version that people can summarize.

Step 3. The last step is to give your paper to someone else to read and see if they agree with your position. Look for a reader who does not agree with it. That is, tell people your position before you give them your paper. If someone says they agree with you, then don't give it to them to read. Find someone who doesn't agree with you. Have that person read it and then ask them after they have finished if they now agree with you. If they don't, get them to tell you why not. That is, get them to tell you what it was in your argument that failed to convince them. Maybe they didn't like the examples you used to illustrate your point (maybe they didn't like that you didn't have any examples!). Maybe they thought of very strong counterarguments you hadn't addressed (you don't always have to address counterarguments, you have to do that only when they are particularly strong). Find out what you need to do to make your argument more convincing to them and then do it.

V. General remarks:

Please always have some kind of title.

Don't assume your reader is in the class. You are writing for the average person, the person on the street, so to speak.

Write like you speak. If you wouldn't say something, don't write it! You will get into trouble, and probably not make much sense, if you try to adopt a manner of expressing yourself in your writing that does not come naturally to you. I'm not looking for Shakespeare here. I'm looking for writing that is clear and persuasive.

Don't say anything you don't need to say. For example: "There are many different opinions in the world about what the meaning of life is." You don't need "in the world" so take it out! Don't include material that is not directly related to the paper topic just because it was in the reading. For example: Don't talk about virtue in Aristotle if the paper topic is whether we all want the same thing out of life. You don't need to talk about virtue in Aristotle in order to be able to answer that questions persuasively, so don't talk about it!