Katy Kahla - "They Say, I Say"

There are many different ways of constructing an argument paper. In the "They Say, I Say" reading, they offer a few different effective ways of construction a credible argument. They do this by encouraging writers to state what their opposition thinks on the topic and what you think about the topic and why. As the reading shows, one of the most effective ways of showing that you know what you are talking about is stating what the critics of your topic think too. This allows for your audience to know that you not only researched what you believe about it but what you opposition believes about it as well, giving more weight to your opinion. By doing this, it allows you to return to what the critics say and refute it throughout your argument with your own examples on why it isn't true. Using this idea, it allows for you to be able to persuade your readers into thinking as you wish them to think.

As the reading points out though, you can't just state what the opposition thinks. You must also stat your opinion clearly and concisely. You can't leave your audience guessing about how you feel. As the reading says, you can do this by agreeing with a stance, disagreeing, or agreeing but disagreeing as well. By stating your own opinions, you are allowing for your audience to understand how you feel about a topic. For argument papers this is very important because if you don't take a stance that is clear and upfront, you aren't really arguing anything. Instead you are just giving facts about an issues which can lead to the question for the audience "why should we even care about this?"

This reading offers some insights as how I might structure my own paper. I believe that it will be most effective to, as the reading suggests, state my opinion in the opening paragraph and then immediately afterwards, state how my opposition feels about this topic. This allows for me to argue throughout my paper about why the opposition is wrong and what should be done about it. I also think that this will lead to a stronger argument because I will be able to prove my points by disproving what some in my audience may already believe.