The Three Parts of an Argument. Writing good essays requires making clear arguments. Understanding the

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1 The Three Parts of an Argument Writing good essays requires making clear arguments. Understanding the different parts of an argument will help you to refine and clarify your ideas. This exercise will be especially important for writing good body paragraphs. Practice using these three elements intentionally (highlighting them will make them obvious): Claims Your claims are your preliminary suppositions - what you believe to be true, and what you are going to try to prove. They are similar to your thesis, but not the same thing. Your claims should work together to support the overall thesis of your essay. Evidence Your evidence will be the quotations you draw from the text to support your claims. These quotations usually come with introductions, and brief explanations. But describing where a quotation comes from, placing it in a particular context, even explaining what it means - these are not the same thing as analysis. Analysis Your analysis is the argument that you make about what you think the evidence shows. Thus, analysis is an explanation of your quotations in relation to your preliminary claims. Analysis must connect evidence to supposition. Your arguments should work together to support what you set out to prove. 1

2 Lazarillo de Tormes is abandoned by society. He has no choice but trying to survive, however he can. Whenever he finds a new master, he expects the new master to help him. But none of them worry about Lazarillo, only themselves. Nobody wants to help him, so he must help himself. When Lazarillo s mother says goodbye, she tells him, Look after yourself (12). Everyone in the story follows this same piece of advice. Everywhere Lazarillo goes, he finds people looking after themselves, and nobody else. But Lazarillo doesn t understand what his mother means right away. When the blind man slams his head against the stone bull on the bridge, Lazarillo says: It seemed to me that at that moment I awoke out of the simplicity in which I had remained like a sleeping child. And I said to myself, He s right. I d better keep my eyes open and my wits about me, for I m on my own, and I ll have to figure out how to manage for myself. (12) The blind man teaches Lazarillo the truth of his mother s advice, without using words. Tricking Lazarillo teaches him to stop trusting people, which he calls the simplicity in which I had remained. Hurting him wakes him up, the way that a sudden pain wakes up a sleeping child. He expects the blind man to help him, but the blind man just uses him. He finally understands his mother s advice when he thinks, I m on my own. With each new master, Lazarillo sees another segment of Spanish society looking after itself. To be members of the same society means working together. It means helping one another. But in Lazarillo s world, no one helps anyone, so the best advice is to Look after yourself. 2

3 The Form of an Analytical Paragraph Claims, Evidence, Analysis Lazarillo de Tormes is abandoned by society. He has no choice but trying to survive, however he can. Whenever he finds a new master, he expects the new master to help him. But none of them worry about Lazarillo, only themselves. Nobody wants to help him, so he must help himself. When Lazarillo s mother says goodbye, she tells him, Look after yourself (12). Everyone in the story follows this same piece of advice. Everywhere Lazarillo goes, he finds people looking after themselves, and nobody else. But Lazarillo doesn t understand what his mother means right away. When the blind man slams his head against the stone bull on the bridge, Lazarillo says: It seemed to me that at that moment I awoke out of the simplicity in which I had remained like a sleeping child. And I said to myself, He s right. I d better keep my eyes open and my wits about me, for I m on my own, and I ll have to figure out how to manage for myself. (12) The blind man teaches Lazarillo the truth of his mother s advice, without using words. Tricking Lazarillo teaches him to stop trusting people, which he calls the simplicity in which I had remained. Hurting him wakes him up, the way that a sudden pain wakes up a sleeping child. He expects the blind man to help him, but the blind man just uses him. He finally understands his mother s advice when he thinks, I m on my own. With each new master, Lazarillo sees another segment of Spanish society looking after itself. To be members of the same society means working together. It means helping one another. But in Lazarillo s world, no one helps anyone, so the best advice is to Look after yourself. 3

4 How this corresponds to the outline format Paragraph: a. What are your general claims for this paragraph? b. First piece of evidence: c. Analysis of how it supports your claims remember to look at the words, in depth: d. Second piece of evidence: e. Analysis of how it supports your claims remember to look at the words, in depth: f. Summary of how all this connects to your overall thesis: 4

5 Final claims, or Transition Sentences You will notice that I have colored the concluding sentence of the analytical paragraph in green, for claims. The first and last sentences of each paragraph are often called transition sentences, because they serve as the bridge between your arguments. The easiest way to ensure your essay stays focused is to develop each of your transition sentences, particularly the ones that come at the conclusion of each paragraph, in connection with the overall thesis developed in your introduction. Think about the final claims of each paragraph as the connection between that paragraph s particular argument and the general thesis of the essay. Your transition sentences will then lead to subsequent arguments, which also develop upon your overall, general thesis. This is not a strict rule, because these transition sentences also often prepare the reader for the specific argument of the upcoming body paragraph. But if you keep the connection to your introduction in mind at these moments, then your essay will stay focused on your topic. 5

6 Potential Essay Outline 1. Introduction: a. Strong opening sentence b. Clear Thesis (Focused central idea of essay) c. Preview the arrangement of ideas to follow 2. Body Paragraph One: a. What are your general claims for this paragraph? b. First piece of evidence: c. Analysis of how it supports your claims remember to look at the words, in depth: d. Second piece of evidence: e. Analysis of how it supports your claims remember to look at the words, in depth: f. Summary of how all this connects to your overall thesis: 3. Body Paragraph Two: Repeat above 4. Body Paragraph Three: Repeat above 5. More body paragraphs, as necessary 6. Conclusion a. Can you bring all of your general claims together? b. How has your overall thesis been changed by your arguments? c. What is your summation, or the final twist to your argument? 6

7 Writing good analytical paragraphs means: 1. Writing paragraphs using the three parts of an argument for building block: Claims, Evidence, Analysis 2. Putting them together in the right order. 3. Developing the connections between them. Here are some tips: a. Connect the claims of your paragraph to the overall thesis of your essay; doing this will help you write effective transition sentences at the beginning and end of each paragraph. b. Introduce and explain quotations. Quotations cannot just appear out of nowhere. You have to introduce them. Often, this just means explaining what is happening in them. c. Make sure that your analysis explains your quotations in relation to your claims. Analysis must connect your evidence to your suppositions, so that your arguments prove what you set out to prove. This is very important. d. Take your analysis one step further. Usually, if you look back at the text again, you can develop your analysis one level deeper. e. Finish the paragraph with more claims. This last sentence of the paragraph is effectively a transition sentence. Connect your argument back to the overall thesis of your essay, or to the subject of the next body paragraph. 4. Work to develop your style. Here are some tips: a. Cut out unnecessary words. b. Be direct. Write in the active voice. c. Try to use strong verbs. Don t use nouns derived from verbs. d. Introduce key info at the beginning and ending of the sentences, rather than in the middle. e. Check your sentences. Do they express your idea in the most effective and convincing fashion possible? Re-read and revise. 7