{"id":4876,"date":"2016-10-31T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T03:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/?p=4876"},"modified":"2019-07-19T16:53:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T10:53:24","slug":"developing-an-argument-in-academic-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/developing-an-argument-in-academic-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing an Argument in Academic Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word argument is derived from the Latin word \u201carguer,\u201d which means \u201cto make clear.\u201d An essential aspect of academic writing<\/a> is arguing and discussing. This involves proposing a claim and offering a rational reason with help of evidence that strengthens an author\u2019s point of view. When presenting an argument, the possible counter-arguments should be taken into account. Thus, an academic argument can be called as an evidence-based defense of a complex issue.<\/p>\n

Features of an Effective Argument<\/h2>\n

\"argument\"<\/p>\n

Consider the following quotation by Kenneth Burke (1941),<\/p>\n

Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got <\/em>there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a <\/em>while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thus, it can be concluded that presenting an argument involves an understanding of the reasoning being presented (the context) as well as ensuring that intervention (i.e., presenting the argument) takes place when there is something significant to contribute.<\/p>\n

To evaluate or present arguments in a structured manner, the following questions can be considered:<\/p>\n