Topic 3: Standard Form of a Thesis-Defending Essay

PHI332 : The Class : Essays : Standard Form

Topic 3: Standard Form of a Thesis-Defending Essay

You already know that an essay defending a thesis will contain an introduction, body, and conclusion. You also know how to read an introduction to find both background information and a statement of the thesis to be defended.

The following outline will help you write your research paper for this (and any other) course, and will help you identify arguments in the essays of others.

TITLE [ought to state the thesis to be defended]

INTRODUCTION [contains background information explaining what the issue is; also contains a statement of the thesis to be defended, with a sketch of the argument in its defense.

BODY [divided into sections]

SECTIONS GIVING BACKGROUND INFORMATION SUFFICIENT TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE
SECTIONS GIVING A REVIEW OF PREVIOUS OPINIONS ON THE SUBJECT, ESPECIALLY ARGUMENTS THAT ARE OPPOSED TO THE THESIS (Call these opposing arguments the "target" arguments)
SECTIONS EVALUATING THE TARGET ARGUMENTS AND SHOWING THEIR ERRORS (Call this part the "negative" defense of the thesis-"negative" because it denies opposing arguments))
SECTIONS GIVING POSITIVE ARGUMENTS FOR THE THESIS ("positive" because they affirm supporting arguments for thesis)

CONCLUSION [restates the thesis, may suggest further consequences of thesis, or qualifications to thesis, or other background information]

Given this outline, you can expect the argument of a thesis-defending essay to have the following general structure:

There are two points I want you to notice. First, a great deal of a thesis-defending essay may be devoted to background information. The real arguments you need to identify and evaluate are usually going to be in only two places, parts 3 and 4 of the Body. The Introduction and Conclusion should restate this argument and help you see the main lines,but they are basically background information. Second, a thesis-defending essay will usually contain both target and thesis arguments to identify. Strictly speaking, target arguments are background information. They are not part of the argument in defense of the thesis. But it is sometimes helpful to identify them in a diagram, to help you evaluate the arguments against them.

To complete this topic successfully, do as many of the following exercises as you find necessary to acquire the relevant skill. You have acquired the relevant skill when your answers to exercises are reliably either the same as the given answers or are alternative answers you can explain and defend:

ASSIGNMENT 1: Exercise3.3.1

ASSIGNMENT 2: Exercise3.3.2

Once you have completed this module you should:

Go on to Topic 4: Practice on Whole Essays
or
Go back to Argument ID in Essays

E-mail George Rudebusch at George.Rudebusch@nau.edu
or call (520) 523-7091