Skyler Harris Reading Response 6

Argumentative papers seem to be the most challenging for me to write. The main reason for that is I sometimes have a difficult time keeping my biased view out of the picture. Yes it is important to take a stance, as well as very necessary. Because unless a stance is taken then an argumentative paper will look more like a week attempt to make a point. In the reading it discuses the point of arguing in academia, which is to challenge knowledge as we have it. I would purpose that arguing not only will challenge knowledge but also the status quo. Unless we use our minds and come up with our own conclusions on how life is then nothing would ever change for the better. Thus argumentative writing is an essential part of academia.

Now I mentioned how I have a difficult time keeping my bias out of my work. The way that I feel that this can be overcome is by simply showing all sides of the subject. Now i’m not implying that I should argue all the sides, because if I did then it would be weak to say the least. However showing both sides is a good thing for the author. The reason behind this is a person can use the info that could support a different view and use it to support their own view. This can be difficult if the writer is not careful. If the view is positioned in a way that the author ends up mocking the view or out right calling it stupid, I feel it will discredit the rest of their paper. Basically it will make the author look foolish and like a bad writer. This is why I hope to polish my techniques when I look at other points to my argument.

Moving on to the op-ed portion of the assignment, this is the most exciting for me. I have never argued the opposed position in one of my own papers before. I feel that with my subject I really could argue ether side because of this the op-ed gives me an opportunity to give my input on both fronts. I have to say sometimes I enjoy playing the Devils advocate, so it will be exciting to see how it plays out. What is very interesting to me is the lack of sources. I know if I were to send in on op-ed to the local news paper I would include at least one source even if it was the name of the article or person I was quoting. So that aspect of the paper if very different to me. As I have began my argumentative paper I have also started to think about what I will formulate in my op-ed, It will be a nice way to end the writing process for the class.