{"id":18370,"date":"2023-05-02T20:28:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T20:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/questions\/argumentative-essay-on-if-the-united-states-should-abolish-the-electoral-college\/"},"modified":"2023-05-02T20:28:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T20:28:04","slug":"argumentative-essay-on-if-the-united-states-should-abolish-the-electoral-college","status":"publish","type":"questions","link":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/questions\/argumentative-essay-on-if-the-united-states-should-abolish-the-electoral-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Argumentative essay on if the United States should abolish the electoral college."},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Thesis<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an argumentative paper. That means there\u2019s going to be a thesis, a central claim, that<\/span><\/p>\n

you\u2019re defending. Here are some examples of theses:<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Originality<\/span><\/p>\n

You should strive to offer original analysis. Don\u2019t just say that you agree with one or more of the<\/span><\/p>\n

authors you cite. If you have something to say about why you agree or disagree, then that\u2019s good.<\/span><\/p>\n

Citations<\/span><\/p>\n

You should read and properly cite at least 3 academic sources. Academic articles are either<\/span><\/p>\n

academic journals, such as those you\u2019d find through search engines like JSTOR and WorldCat,<\/span><\/p>\n

or books published through academic publishers. Citations for topical philosophy papers can be<\/span><\/p>\n

found at www.philpapers.org, though you might have to find the papers themselves on<\/span><\/p>\n

WorldCat. Your academic sources don\u2019t necessarily need to be from philosophy. You can cite<\/span><\/p>\n

research in other disciplines so long as it bears on your thesis. <\/span><\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Part 1: Thesis statement and introduction<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first paragraph, give your thesis statement. That is, one sentence, or at most two, to explain<\/span><\/p>\n

what you will be arguing in your paper. You can use any of the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this paper, I argue that ________.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe thesis of this paper is that____\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You could also say a little bit more: \u201cIn this paper, I argue that _____ on the grounds that<\/span><\/p>\n

____\u201d or \u201c…because _____.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The thesis statement doesn\u2019t have to be the first sentence of your first paragraph. You can start<\/span><\/p>\n

with your thesis statement or you can introduce the topic and then segue into the thesis. One way of doing this is by asking a question. <\/span><\/p>\n

Part 2: Explication<\/span><\/p>\n

Now you need to give the background for your topic. Think of this as a short informative essay<\/span><\/p>\n

in the middle of your argumentative essay. You\u2019re going to want to:<\/span><\/p>\n

Explain relevant terms (e.g., what is \u201cabortion\u201d? What is \u201ccivil disobedience\u201d?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe say something about the history of the argument (e.g., X has said this, then Y<\/span><\/p>\n

responds with this. Is there any good response to this?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Discuss the range of views on the topic.<\/span><\/p>\n

This could be a couple of pages or longer, especially if you have a lot of quotes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Researching this part of the paper will also help you figure out what lines of argument are<\/span><\/p>\n

new, so that you\u2019re not merely repeating what others have said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Part 3: Give your argument<\/span><\/p>\n

This step is pretty important. It would be good if you could state your argument in a formalized<\/span><\/p>\n

way, as follows: My argument is as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

Argument name<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Premise.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Premise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your next paragraph should explain the argument. For example, are there any terms or<\/span><\/p>\n

ideas in it that are not self-explanatory? You\u2019ll want to explain them here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Be sure to your argument is logically valid, and that there is no equivocation in any of the<\/span><\/p>\n

terms, i.e., that the words don\u2019t mean one thing in one premise and another thing in<\/span><\/p>\n

another premise. Then you will want to justify your premises. If they can be supported by<\/span><\/p>\n

evidence, then you should at this point bring that evidence to bear.<\/span><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to state your argument in this way, but it\u2019s good if you are able to<\/span><\/p>\n

because it makes clear to me what your reasons are. You might want to see if you can<\/span><\/p>\n

formalize your argument even if you decide not to put it in your paper that way. But you<\/span><\/p>\n

should have one, and only one, central argument. You don\u2019t want to give a bunch of<\/span><\/p>\n

bullet points that are more or less independent of one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step 4: Anticipate an objection to your argument<\/span><\/p>\n

This may be the hardest part. It requires you to put yourself in the shoes of someone who<\/span><\/p>\n

disagrees with you and see through their eyes. What might someone who disagrees with you say?<\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t know, you could actually try asking a friend who disagrees with you, or who you<\/span><\/p>\n

think might disagree with you. Then think of something to say in response. It doesn\u2019t have to be<\/span><\/p>\n

so compelling that it would definitely convince anyone who disagrees. But it has to be<\/span><\/p>\n

compelling enough that it might conceivably change someone\u2019s mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

Step 5: Conclusion<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where you remind me what I\u2019ve (hopefully) learned while reading this paper. If you<\/span><\/p>\n

really want a great conclusion, consider whether what you are saying has any implications for<\/span><\/p>\n

any other issues or questions. For instance, if you are writing a paper on abortion, does it mean<\/span><\/p>\n

anything to the animal rights debate or the euthanasia debate?<\/span><\/p>\n

Step 6: References<\/span><\/p>\n

You are going to need a references page that complies with either MLA. Be<\/span><\/p>\n

consistent. Again, you should cite at least three academic sources.<\/span><\/p>\n



<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thesis This is an argumentative paper. That means there\u2019s going to be a thesis, a central claim, that you\u2019re defending. Here are some examples of theses: Originality You should strive to offer original analysis. Don\u2019t just say that you agree with one or more of the authors you cite. If you have something to say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"disciplines":[702],"paper_types":[],"tagged":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/18370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/questions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/18370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=18370"},{"taxonomy":"paper_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper_types?post=18370"},{"taxonomy":"tagged","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tagged?post=18370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}