precise, informative title (usually includes author,
essay, and indicates the direction of your thesis)
accurate, objective summary of Do's essay, along
with the appropriate attributive tags
an arguable, original thesis assessing some area
of strength or weakness in the essay
several reasons to support your thesis' assessment,
developed into separate paragraphs
evidence to support each reason
logical development and presentation of reasons
conclusion discussing the significance of your
thesis' claim
The Excellent Argument Analysis
performs a significant assessment, bringing an
important concern of the essay forward for our consideration rather than
focussing on a trivial element.
organizes the reasons carefully, recalling that
finding an "umbrella term" or identifying a category for all the reasons
helps you clearly tie each reason back to your thesis. For example, think
about how the excellent sample Argument Analysis links each perceived flaw
back to an essential problem with causality.
uses transitions to demonstrate the relation of
each paragraph to the next
employs evidence to good use. Remember to support
every reason with discussion and explanation, and with evidence such as
direct quotations and paraphrases from the essay, as well as with
logical reasoning or examples of your own.
concludes by discussing the implications, significance,
consequences, or ramifications of your thesis. The conclusion is a good
place to direct the audience's overall reaction to your argument. For example,
consider the following thesis: While Do's
use of personal examples adds great emotional impact to his argument against
euthanasia, he fails to balance his personal history with more objective
evidence against euthanasia. After defending
this claim in the body of your analysis, your conclusion could estimate
how severely this flaw damages the overall credibility of Do's argument.
You might, for instance, instruct your audience to think that Do's argument
is so personal that it's difficult to understand how the argument
is relevant in most other situations. Without good statistics or authoritative
commentary, Do's treatment of euthanasia does not accurately inform
the audience about the real issues at stake in euthanasia. As a result,
Do's essay, though moving, adds very little to the debate of whether or
not euthanasia should be legalized.
uses complex, varied, and logically coherent sentences
instead of repetitive, simple subject/verb constructions. Think about the
exercises in which we used subordinate clauses.
