You must now construct your own argument. Follow the 5 steps provided presented in this lesson.
1. State the issue 2. Develop a list of premises 3. Get rid of weak premises 4. Organize your premises and form a conclusion 5. Choose an argument and finish organizing it
You may choose your own issue, but if you’re having trouble choosing one, here are a few options:
- Should college campuses ban alcohol on campus?
- Should U.S. citizens be eating meat?
- Should the driving age be raised to 21?
After you choose an issue, list at least ten different premises that relate to the issue.
Next, eliminate some weak premises. Choose two premises you eliminated and explain why you eliminated them. Your explanation should be a few sentences long.
Then construct three different arguments that pertain to the issue, each a paragraph long. It will be easy to come up with one argument for and one against the issue of your choice, but you must also come up with a third argument.
Finally, choose the argument you think represents the best critical thinking and give a paragraph explanation of why you chose it. At this point you will be done. You don’t need to worry about stylizing your argument or giving it all the flesh it would have once in an essay or speech.