From topic to Question/Argument to Rationale
Narrow your topic to manageability. A focused paper concentrates on just one or two aspects or angles on the topic. Your topic should address specifically a text that we’ve read. Consider: what do you really care about writing? What do you want to persuade others into thinking?
Formulate a research question now.
Now think, “so what?” Why is the answer to your question important to you? To your reader?
Example argument:
I am writing about race in Othello because I want to demonstrate to my reader how the play shows Othello transforming from a noble army captain to the very “black devil” that people frame him as in order for us to understand how the play confirms racist stereotypes even when it seems to subvert them.
I am writing about gender roles in Medea because I want to demonstrate to my reader how the play shows the most extreme revenge possible—the destruction of a man’s family line—as the direct result of Jason’s dismissal of Medea in order for us to understand how the play cautions its Athenian audience about neglecting or underestimating the value of women and other “underclass” people.
We decided the above example was too long and wordy, so we shortened it to this:
(Medea and gender roles)
Jason’s dismissal of Medea and the consequences that follow teach/shows us how the play cautions its Athenian audience about neglecting or underestimating the value of women and other “underclass” people.
Fill in your ideas below:
I am writing about ______(topic) in ______(text title) because I want to persuade or demonstrate to my reader (who/what/when/where/how) ______(something you want the reader to notice in the text/argument) in order for us to understand (who/what/when/where/how) ______(problem/rationale)
Note that this template can lead to a wordy argument. That’s okay! Once you’ve filled it out, if your argument is wordy, you can then edit/refine it by making it into two sentences. The point is that it helps you get your argument out on the page.Other templates for arguments:
1) X reveals Y
2) Through X, the text shows Y. Consequently….
3) Through X, the text celebrates/questions/criticizes Y. Consequently…
Through Enkidu’s journey from “wild” man to civilized one, and his critique of Shamhat and the hunter after he has been civilized, The Epic of Gilgamesh questions whether the civilizing process is a wholly good one because it highlights the losses that humans suffer when they lose touch with nature. Consequently, the epic suggests that valuing nature, and natural life, is also a necessary part of civilized life.
Through repeated images, especially in the short lyrcial poems, where emotions evoke memories lost to rational recollection Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection, the play stresses the importance of emotions as a way to knowledge. Consequently, the rasas in each act function as lessons on how to use gut feelings as a way to deepen self-knowledge and awareness.
Two similar arguments using these templates, posed a few different ways:
Through displaying Jason’s ability to break oaths with no legal consequences, and Medea’s resulting use of violence outside the law to get revenge, the play argues for the injustice of mistreating women and “underclass” people as well as showing the consequences of this mistreatment. Consequently, the play highlights the need for legal recourse for even the non-citizens of Athens, as a way to avoid non-citizens resorting to more disturbing extrajudicial measures.
Through stressing the utter brutality of Medea’s actions, and by making her take the most extreme and shocking action—killing not only the princess, but her own children, the play emphasizes the consequences of dismissing, mistreating, and offering no legal recourse to women and other non-citizens of Athens.
The incessant focus on cities in The Epic of Gilgamesh reveals....