17 Developing an Original Argument

What is an Original Argument?

In a skit that first aired in 1972, on the show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, writers John Cleese and Graham Chapman present a hilarious definition of what an argument is. Take a moment to watch the skit:

Years later, the skit is still performed and still makes audiences laugh. One reason it holds up is because John Cleese, the actor playing the arguer-for-hire, uses ridiculous tactics to engage in debate—tactics that we often see people using today—while the man in search of an argument, actor Michael Palin, tries desperately to engage in an entirely different kind of argument. Palin insists that “An argument is a collective series of statements to establish a definite proposition” (02:12-02:14), whereas Cleese merely disagrees with everything Palin says, no matter how absurd the disagreement. Like much of Monty Python’s humor, the skit is funny and smart: it conflates two radically different but equally valid definitions of what it means to argue.

It’s true that, when we argue with our family, or debate someone on a political issue that we feel strongly about, or disagree vehemently with someone at work, we might engage in the same kind of “gainsaying” depicted in “Argument Clinic.” Certainly we can find examples of ugly disagreements on social media, on radio and TV, at protests. But in an academic setting, the word argument means something different, and like the Michael Palin character in the Monty Python skit, many of us actually want to engage in these kinds of arguments.

In an academic argument, the point is not to win the debate or prove “the other side” wrong. Rather, academic arguments build upon what is already known about a topic by providing a new perspective, a new theory, a call to action. An academic argument recognizes the complexity of the topic, explores it thoroughly and carefully, and presents plenty of evidence in support of each of the claims offered. When you’re asked to write an argument for a college class, therefore, your goal is not to defend highly opinionated views or to find fault with opinions that differ from yours. The goal is to add to what’s already understood about a topic by presenting a proposition or a thesis that readers will not readily accept and by doing all you can to help them accept that proposition–or at least appreciate the careful thinking that led your conclusions.

To write a good academic paper, you have to think carefully throughout the research and writing process so that you can present an original argument. Even if they don’t say so, original arguments are what most professors expect when they ask you to write an essay. While professors don’t expect students (especially students in a first-year class) to come up with entirely original theories or profound new discoveries about a topic, they want to see that a student can go beyond simply summarizing a bunch of ideas or re-hashing the pros and cons surrounding an issue. They want you to avoid an “information dump” by doing something original with the evidence you gather.

How can you know when you’re going beyond an information dump and offering something original? Here are some common strategies:

Conduct field research to corroborate what you’ve discovered in the sources you’ve read.

Field research is when you go “out in the field” to observe something related to your topic. If you’re researching chimpanzees, you could go to the local zoo and observe them. Or maybe you’re researching why so many teachers are leaving the profession; you could interview some former teachers.

Combine research findings from multiple sources to make a prediction.

You might review sources that explore various factors shaping voting behavior to argue that a particular voting-reform proposal will likely have positive impacts. Or you might research the effects of legalizing marijuana in certain states and predict that legalizing it in another state would have similar effects.

Use your own experiences to corroborate what you discover in research.

Maybe you have researched how social media negatively affects teens’ mental health. Instead of presenting only what you discovered in sources, you can include your own personal examples and use that evidence alongside the evidence from research. Be careful, though: some professors don’t want you to use personal experiences in an essay.

Apply research findings to a specific situation.

If you’re researching the effects of mindfulness and meditation and discover that they are primarily positive, you could argue that your college or university should offer a class in mindfulness. You might discover that a vegan diet is associated with numerous health benefits and apply those findings to a proposal to include more vegan options in your child’s elementary school cafeteria.

Find unusual sources.

If you’re writing an essay about gun violence, you’ll find thousands of articles about gun violence, but you may also look for sources that discusses teen violence in general and see if you can apply the evidence from those sources to your argument. Or maybe you could compare the limitations we place on the First Amendment, as discussed in a source about the First Amendment, to limitations that could be applied to the Second Amendment.

Identify underlying areas of disagreement.

You may find that the controversies surrounding educational reform—and its debates about accountability, curricula, and school funding—ultimately stem from different assumptions about the role of schools in society. Your essay could focus on this underlying assumption and could include sources that address the role of public education.

Identify underlying areas of agreement

In your research into school vouchers, you might find that those in favor and those opposed to them share a common concern or agree on what schools should offer students. Your essay could argue for a compromise, or help the opposing sides of the debate recognize common ground.

Identify unanswered questions.

Perhaps you review studies of the genetic and behavioral contributors to diabetes in order to highlight unknown factors and argue for more in-depth research on the role of the environment. Or maybe your research into self-driving cars reveals that little research exists related to the effects of self-driving cars on the oil industry, so your essay argues for more research into that.

There are certainly other ways authors use sources to build theses, but these examples illustrate how original thinking in academic writing involves making connections with and between a strategically chosen set of sources. You synthesize source information to create something original.

Gathering Evidence: Secondary Sources

Depending on what it is you’re arguing, you may find evidence in secondary sources, primary sources, or both. Secondary sources include articles from periodicals (magazines, journals, newspapers), books, websites, and dissertations, and they are typically the first sources we consult when we’re planning an argument. These sources can be found in libraries and on the web, and they vary in terms of quality.

Before using a secondary source, therefore, you need to make sure it passes the “CRAAP” test. The acronym, which stands for Current, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose, is a way of remembering what to consider when deciding whether to use a source. Watch this short video from Weller Library:

Two types of source that almost always pass the CRAAP test are articles in a scholarly or “peer reviewed” journals and university press books. Scholarly journals contain articles written by experts for experts, and the articles undergo a great deal of scrutiny before being published (see the “Literature Review” chapter in this text). Like scholarly articles, books published by university presses are typically written by people with a doctorate degree (experts), and they often contain original research. Unlike commercial magazines and books, scholarly journals and books published by university presses do not exist to make a profit; rather, they are the means by which scholars share their original research and add to the growing body of knowledge within their discipline. Unlike magazines, which rely on revenue from advertising to make a profit, scholarly journals are often financially supported by universities or scholarly organizations. You won’t find glossy ads in a scholarly journal.

You will find original research and a lot of jargon in scholarly journals. Because they are written for experts, these secondary sources often include jargon and tend to be quite long, making them difficult for first-year writing students to comprehend. Nonetheless, professors teaching upper-level classes expect students to consult journal articles and university press books, so many professors teaching first-year writing classes will require that students use journal articles.

Gathering Evidence: Primary Sources

Many scholarly articles and books grow out of primary research. Primary research occurs when the researcher develops a method of collecting data rather than reading someone’s analysis, evaluation, or discussion of data. Primary research is often based on the principles of the scientific method, a theory of investigation first developed by John Stuart Mill in the 19th century in his book Philosophy of the Scientific Method. Although the application of the scientific method varies from field to field, the general principles of the scientific method allow researchers to learn more about the world through observable phenomena. Using the scientific method, researchers develop questions or hypotheses and then collect data on events, objects, or people, measurable, observable, and replicable data. The ultimate goal in conducting primary research is to learn about something new that can be confirmed by others and to eliminate our own biases in the process.

Primary research grows out of an examination of what has already been discovered about a topic–in other words, researchers “listen to sources” and identify a question or issue raised in the sources; then, researchers develop a plan to conduct primary research. Primary research includes

• Surveys. Asking participants about their opinions and behaviors through a short questionnaire.
• Interviews. Asking participants questions in a one-on-one or small group setting.
• Observations. Observing and measuring the world around you, including observations of people and other measurable events.
• Data/Text Analysis. Analysis of an existing collection of data or texts.
• Case Study. In-depth analysis of a person or group of people over a period of time.
• Focus Group. Planned small-group discussions around a particular topic.
• Clinical Trials. Study of a medical approach, device, or treatment.

In a first-year writing class, you’re not likely to conduct case studies, clinical trials, or focus groups, but you may be asked to analyze a work of literature or another text, or you may want to conduct surveys, interviews, or observations as part of your research. How do you choose between a survey, an interview, or an observation? It depends on what kind of information you are looking for. You should use surveys if you want to learn about a general trend in people’s opinions, experiences, and behavior. Surveys are particularly useful to find small amounts of information from a wider selection of people in the hopes of making a general claim. Interviews are best used when you want to learn detailed information from a few specific people. Interviews are also particularly useful if you want to interview experts about their opinions. Observations are useful for gathering data about actual human behavior by recording it as it occurs. In sum, then, use surveys to learn general patterns from many people, interviews to gain details from a few people, and observations to determine how people behave or act.

You may also combine two or more of these primary research methods for a project. For example, an elementary education major who is exploring the impact of technology on reading abilities might observe the classroom where she has been placed by her program in addition to interviewing the teacher about the students’ use of technology. Alternatively, a business major who is researching college students’ knowledge of student loans might survey students to gauge their levels of knowledge and interview a professor who is an expert in that field.

Using Personal Experiences as Evidence

Our own personal experiences and/or observations can also serve as good evidence if those experiences and observations are good representative examples, if they create emotional and ethical appeals, and/or if they enlighten the reader to a different perspective. Your own experiences and observations will be uniquely yours and will therefore contribute to your argument’s originality.

Using first person runs contrary to what many of us have been taught in past English classes, but Kate McKinney Maddalena in her article, “I Need You to Say ‘I’: Why First Person is Important in College Writing,” explains why using first person can result in powerful academic essays. Take a moment to read her important article:

https://writingspaces.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/I-need-you-to-say-I.pdf

Conclusion

An original argument requires that you add to what you’ve learned from studying about a topic. The essay you write should demonstrate that learning, offer original ideas about the topic, and show readers your careful thinking process and the evidence that lead to your ideas. No matter what the writing assignment, the process of demonstrating your thinking and knowledge is similar: you assert an original idea (the thesis) about your topic and show the careful thinking and evidence that led you to form your idea. Your professors will judge your essays on clarity, correctness, and organization, but they also want your essay to demonstrate a solid understanding of what you’ve learned through research, insightful ideas that grow out of what you’ve learned, and good evidence to back up your insights.

In short, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that an argument means you “take a side” and rehash arguments made by others. Instead, think about how you can contribute something new to what you’ve been studying. What unique insight can you offer, based on the evidence from your own life, your primary research, and/or your secondary research? What can an educated audience learn from you?