ELSAC Workout: Academic Writing 1, The Two-Sided Essay

ELSAC Workout: Academic Writing 1, The Two-Sided Essay
(EN/A/0402.008)
Get Writing Fit!

review the basic formats of an argumentative/discursive essay
consider hedging devices

Level: Foundation
Time: approx. 30 mins
Suggested next workout: Academic Writing 2, Forming Paragraphs

Extra support: https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Persuasive-Essay

Work through the practice activities in order, by clicking on the tabs at the top of the next page. After completing all practices, the Result tab will summarize your workout. Record your results as proof of independent learning and as motivation to repeat the workout and beat your score. Practice makes you fitter!

Material developed by Hebe Wong, D. Gaylord, Alison Wood.

Strengthen knowledge

Stretch usage

Energize practice

*** All ELSAC Workouts ***

Practice 1 Practice 2 & 2.1 Practice 3 Practice 4 Result

1. Warm up for the workout

Writing an essay which considers two sides of an argument or discussion, is a common task for students of academic writing. Depending on the task, you may have to simply explain the two sides of an argument; you may have to add your own opinion too. Perhaps more difficult, the purpose may be to persuade your reader to agree with one side of the argument against the other.

Before you begin writing, you should do some research. Below is a list of information that you should look for. But why is all this information important? Match the reasons for searching for each type of information by dragging and dropping them next to the appropriate type. One has been completed as an example.

You should research...	in order to...
1. ...how much your readers already know about the topic
2. ...whether your readers agree with one side of the argument
3. ...the context - academic journal? online blog? magazine article? promotional leaflet?
4. ...information to support the 'pro' side of the argument (in agreement)	d. develop a strong argument.
5. ...information to support the 'con' side of the argument (against)
6. ...information to refute the 'con'

a. show that you have considered it carefully but still disagree with it.

b. persuade the reader to support the 'pro' side of the argument.

c. choose an appropriate level of formality and number of words.

e. decide which pro's/cons to emphasize.

f. help you choose content that's relevant to them.

2. Organising information

Let's imagine that you have been tasked with writing an argumentative essay about the following issue: Whether full-time university students should have a part-time job. Below is some information on this topic. Organise the information by categorising it as a pro or a con. After you have checked your answers, some refutations will appear.

Whether full-time university students should have a part-time job

Pro arguments (for)	Con arguments (against)

Students will learn soft skills, such as communicating clearly	Students will not have enough time to make friends
Part-time jobs are often very boring and low-paid	Employers prefer to hire people with work experience
Increases stress levels of students	Students will learn how to manage their time better
Students can gain valuable experience in their field of study/work	Students will get tired, which will affect their health
Some students need to supplement the money they get from family	Some students want financial independence
Students will not have enough time to complete their assignments/exams, which will affect their grades	Students will have little time to join university clubs and societies

Practice 2.1

Now match these refutations to the pro's and cons they refute.

1. Some students need to supplement the money they get from family

2. Students will learn soft skills, such as communicating clearly

3. Some students will gain valuable experience in their field of study/work

4. Increases stress levels of students

5. Part-time jobs are often very boring and low-paid

6. Students will not have enough time to make friends

7. Students will not have enough time to complete their assignments/exams, which will affect their grades

a. Managing stress is an important life skill

b. Some part-time jobs are well-paid and interesting, such as private tutoring

c. Students can arrange time off their jobs at exam time.

d. Some part-time jobs do not involve working with people, such as packing / delivery jobs

e. Very few fields offer part-time positions to students, e.g. engineering, medicine

f. Financial support is available from the government

g. Students who work may make new friends with their colleagues

3. Flexible planning

It is very important to plan your essay as this will help you to decide what the most persuasive way to organize the information is. It's better to plan before you start writing, rather than later - you may have to move everything around (though this often happens in practice).

Here are three plans commonly used in argumentative essays. Although each one mentions three pro arguments, you can include more if appropriate. However, any less than three is unlikely to be very persuasive. You should choose the plan that the information you researched is best suited to.

Plan A
1. Introduction (background and thesis statement)
2. Pro argument 1 and supporting details
3. Pro argument 2 and supporting details
4. Pro argument 3 and supporting details
5. Con arguments and refutations
6. Conclusion (summary and thesis statement)

Plan B
1. Introduction (background and thesis statement)
2. Con arguments and refutations
3. Pro argument 1 and supporting details
4. Pro argument 2 and supporting details
5. Pro argument 3 and supporting details
6. Conclusion (summary and thesis statement)

Plan C
1. Introduction (background and thesis statement)
2. Con argument 1 and refutation/pro argument
3. Con argument 2 and refutation/pro
4. Con argument 3 and refutation/pro argument
5. Conclusion (summary and thesis statement)

Read this paragraph, taken from an essay arguing that university students should seek part-time work. Decide which of the above plans (A, B or C) it comes from, and which number paragraph it is. Click on the appropriate line in the appropriate plan to find out whether you are right.

Finally, some may argue that students who are engaged in part-time work could suffer emotionally and physically. The added pressure of completing work tasks on top of full study schedules might result in increased levels of stress and lower levels of energy, eventually affecting students' grades in a negative way. However, many part-time jobs are not mentally challenging (such as being a sales assistant), and the hours students work can be limited to avoid physical exhaustion. Besides, being able to manage stress is an important life skill, and employers are more likely to be interested in graduates who have experience of doing so.

4. Strengthen your argument by hedging

Perhaps surprisingly, strong words are not always effective when arguing a point. If you are not 100% sure about something, it can be counterproductive to pretend that you are. Your reader may know that it's impossible to be so sure about something, so they are less likely to believe your argument. For example, compare these two sentences:

A: Everybody knows that women always have to work harder than men.

B: Some people argue that women may have to work harder than men sometimes.

Sentence B is more convincing, because it is more balanced than sentence A. It's impossible to prove that the statement in sentence A is true, so it's credibility is low. The strong words in sentence A will reduce your readers' level of agreement with your argument.

Writers use hedging devices to make their statements more truthful, and therefore more persuasive, such as modal verbs and less extreme adverbs.

Read the paragraph from Practice 2 again (below) and click on any hedging devices that you find.

Finally, some may argue that students who are engaged in part-time work could suffer emotionally and physically. The added pressure of completing work tasks on top of full study schedules might result in increased levels of stress and lower levels of energy, eventually affecting students' grades in a negative way. However, many part-time jobs are not mentally challenging (such as being a sales assistant), and the hours students work can be limited to avoid physical exhaustion. Besides, being able to manage stress is an important life skill, and employers are more likely to be interested in graduates who have experience of doing so.

For some more very useful examples of hedging devices, check out:
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/using-cautious-language/

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed this workout and improved your writing fitness. Your results are below. Record your results as proof of independent learning. Take a rest, then repeat this workout to beat your personal best, or try a different one.

Suggested next workout: Academic Writing 2, Forming Paragraphs

Student's Name (Type in):

Final Result of Writing 1

Date:

Activity	Correct	Maximum	Percentage
Practice 1	0		0%
Practice 2	0		0%
Practice 2.1	0		0%
Practice 3	0		0%
Practice 4	0		0%
Total Score	0		0%

Time Taken: