This post is based on the reading, Craft of Research, Part III: Making a claim and supporting it.

Making Good Arguments: An Overview

So basically, how to make a good argument? In the Part III, chapter 7, the author said, first, you are going to set an argument as a conversation with readers. What is that mean? It means, imaginging you are in a conversation with the readers, you can be A or B in the conversation and you are going to find the claim, the reasons to support the claim, the evidence, your own acknowledge about the topic, the principles and the warrent to your argument. You can find some useful tips on page 110, the Craft of Research book.

Making Claims

You can find 3 important questions on the page 120: 1. What kind of Claim should I make? - to determine your claim type; 2. Is it specific enough? - If the question is too broad, you might want to narrow it down so you can get more focu on; broad question might have too many possibilities and sometimes you get confused by yourself. 3. Will reader think it is significant enough to need an argument supporting it? - If you are trying to discussion a question or making a claim that is too tiny to discuss, or not important at all, would it be boring and not that meaningful to dig into it? Making a claim that is worth your time, and worth others’ time to read it.

Assembling Reasons and Evidence

Your reasons and evidence should “make sense”, be careful do not trap yourself into your own logic or you find yourself on the other side of the argument you are trying to argue with (believe it or not, it happens A LOT). When you are thinking about reasons and evidences you should make them fit your topic and the arguement you are trying to support.

Acknowledgments and Responses

You should be the expert in this topic, be prepared when people/readers ask you questions.

Warrants

Find a strong “reason” can support your argument so it can make sure you don’t have logic bugs on your reasearch.

Resources:

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2008). The Craft of Research. Chicgo: The University of Chicago Press.