As you read the selections in this chapter, you will see how different authors argue convincingly for their positions:

Analyzing how these writers focus and frame their arguments to appeal to the hearts and minds of readers, how they anticipate and respond to opposing views, and how they select and present evidence that will convince readers and undermine objections will also help you see how you can employ these techniques to make your own position argument clear and compelling for your readers.

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience.

Although arguing a position helps writers decide where they really stand, typically writers compose arguments to influence their readers. As you read the position arguments that follow, ask yourself questions like these:

What seems to be the writer’s main purpose in arguing for a position?

What does the author assume about the audience?

Assess the genre’s basic features.

As you read position arguments in this chapter, consider how different authors incorporate the basic features of the genre. The examples that follow are taken from the reading selections that appear later in this Guide to Reading.

A FOCUSED, WELL-PRESENTED ISSUE

Read first to identify the issue. Look first at the title and the opening paragraphs. For current, hotly debated issues, the title may be enough to identify the issue for readers.

Why Privacy Matters Even If You Have “Nothing to Hide” (Solove)

Writers may use their opening paragraphs to remind readers about what is at stake or what the position is that they oppose, using a simple sentence pattern like this:

For example, Solove uses this strategy in the opening paragraph:

When the government gathers or analyzes personal information, many people say . . . (par. 1)

His “but I think . . . because . . .” response to the common view takes up the bulk of the essay.

To present their positions effectively, writers must focus on a specific aspect of their issue, one they can address fully in the space allowed. An issue like youth employment, for example, is too complex to be tackled fully in a relatively brief essay, so writers must focus on one aspect of the issue, as Amitai Etzioni does when he considers whether working at a fast-food restaurant, like McDonald’s or Burger King, is a good idea for high school students.

Notice how the writer establishes the issue’s significance. If readers are likely to be unfamiliar with an issue or consider it trivial, a writer will need to establish the issue’s significance, as student Jessica Statsky does in her position essay:

“Organized sports for young people have become an institution in North America,” reports sports journalist Steve Silverman, attracting more than 44 million youngsters according to a recent survey by the National Council of Youth Sports (“History”). (par. 1)

To establish the significance of the issue, Statsky quotes a respected authority and also cites statistics.

Also consider how the writer frames the issue. Framing an issue is like cropping and resizing a photograph to focus the viewer’s eye on one part of the picture (see Figure 6.1). Writers frame an issue to set the stage for their argument and promote their point of view. They may suggest that particular values are at stake or raise in readers’ minds certain concerns having to do with the issue. As you read, notice how each writer frames the issue, asking yourself questions like these:

A WELL-SUPPORTED POSITION

Identify the writer’s position, and determine whether the position is appropriately qualified. To argue effectively, writers need to assert an arguable position (an opinion, not a fact that can be proved or disproved or a belief that must be taken on faith). They may also need to qualify that position (for example, by using words like may and by specifying conditions) to avoid making a claim that is too strong to be defended given the available evidence.

In a position argument, writers typically declare their positions in a thesis statement early on in the essay. Notice, for example, how Jessica Statsky states her thesis:

When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children’s sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children.

I am concerned about all organized sports activities for children between the ages of six and twelve. (pars. 1–2)

She makes a claim that reasonable people could dispute, and she qualifies her claim by limiting its scope (not all children, just those between six and twelve, for example).

Examine the main reasons and the evidence the writer provides. Make sure that the reasons clearly support the writer’s position and that the evidence (facts and statistics, examples and anecdotes, research studies, expert testimony) is credible.

Look for sentence strategies like these that introduce supporting reasons:

Credible evidence is both relevant and representative; that is, it must clearly support the reason (which must in turn support the topic sentence and thesis), and it must be typical. The following examples demonstrate some approaches to introducing supporting evidence:

“24 percent . . . worked . . . five to seven days. . . . There is just no way such amounts of work will not interfere with school work, especially homework. In an informal survey. . . , 58 percent of seniors acknowledged that their jobs interfere with their school work. (Etzioni, par. 13)

Also consider whether the evidence the writer provides appeals to readers’ intellect, values, or emotions and avoids logical fallacies. Writers can draw on various types of evidence — from facts and statistics to examples and anecdotes to photographs and flowcharts — to support their positions, but position arguments are most convincing when writers are able to appeal to readers on three levels:

Ask yourself how effectively the writers appeals to the reader’s intellect, emotions, and sense of fairness:

AN EFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO OPPOSING VIEWS

Notice whether the author anticipates readers’ objections and opposing arguments, and whether he or she refutes or concedes those objections and arguments. Writers refute (argue against) opposing views when they can show that the opposing view is weak or flawed. A typical refutation states the problem with the opposing view and then explains why the view is problematic, using sentence strategies like these:

Writers often introduce the refutation with a transition that indicates contrast, such as but, although, nevertheless, or however:

The deeper problem with the nothing-to-hide argument is that it myopically views privacy as a form of secrecy. In contrast, understanding privacy as a plurality of related issues demonstrates that the disclosure of bad things is just one among many difficulties caused by government security measure. (Solove, par. 10)

Writers may also concede (accept) valid objections, concerns, or reasons. A typical way of conceding is to use sentence strategies like these:

Here is an example from Jessica Statsky’s essay:

Some children want to play competitive sports; they are not being forced to play. These children are eager to learn skills, to enjoy the camaraderie of the team, and earn self-respect by trying hard to benefit their team. I acknowledge that some children may benefit from playing competitive sports. (par. 12)

Conceding a strong opposing view reassures readers that the writer shares their values and builds a bridge of shared concerns.

Frequently, though, writers reach out to readers by making a concession but then go on to point out where they differ. We call this the concession-refutation move. Like writers refuting a point, writers making the concession-refutation move often follow their concession with a transition indicating contrast to indicate that an exception or refinement is coming. Here’s an example:

True, you still have to have the gumption to get yourself over to the hamburger stand, but once you don the prescribed uniform, your task is spelled out in minute detail. (Etzioni, par. 7)

While reading position arguments, assess the effectiveness of the responses by asking yourself questions like these:

A CLEAR, LOGICAL ORGANIZATION

Look for a thesis statement that asserts the writer’s position and a forecast of the reasons the writer will offer as examples. For instance, Amitai Etzioni grabs readers’ attention with an alarming sentence — “McDonald’s is bad for your kids.” — and then goes on to explain just how McDonald’s is bad for kids in the next sentence:

I do not mean the flat patties and the white-flour buns; I refer to the jobs teen-agers undertake, mass-producing these choice items. (par. 1)

In addition to asserting the thesis, writers sometimes preview the reasons in the order they will bring them up later in the essay, as in this example of a forecasting statement by Jessica Statsky:

Highly organized competitive sports . . . are too often played to adult standards, which are developmentally inappropriate for children and can be both physically and psychologically harmful. Furthermore, . . . they are actually counterproductive for developing either future players or fans.Finally,. . . they . . . provide occasions for some parents and coaches to place their own fantasies and needs ahead of children’s welfare. (par. 2)

Notice also where the writer uses logical transitions to indicate

Transitions may be useful in a forecasting statement, as in the preceding example, or in the topic sentence of a paragraph or group of paragraphs, as in the following examples from Solove’s position argument:

One such harm, for example, . . . . Another potential problem with . . . is. . . . A related problem involves. . . . Yet another problem. . . . (pars. 11–14)