Analysis of Argument

Paragraph 1
I always start begin with a broad statement about the issue at hand. For instance in an argument
essay about whether it was necessary to conserve energy, I would begin with:

Energy conservation has become a hot topic in the United States as of late. There are those who
debate climate change and those who affirm it, those who assert that humans are depleting the
world's natural resources, including fossil fuels, and those who believe that humans are barely making
a dent in consuming the resources the earth has to offer.

This sets up a fluid introduction to my essay, and by starting with an introductory sentence, I felt I
would set myself apart from the majority of other test takers who begin "I agree" or "I disagree" --
remember, you want to distinguish yourself from other essay writers (in a good way) right from the
start.

I always continue by saying, "In the preceding statement, the author claims that (paraphrase of the
author's argument)." This shows that I understand the author's argument. I continue with my
disagreement (and, as has been often said, ALWAYS disagree with the author's reasoning, and I pretty
much always used the same thesis statement, something like:

Though his claim may well have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument, based on
several questionable premises and assumptions, and based solely on the evidence the author offers,
we cannot accept his argument as valid.

I can use that statement for pretty much any argument essay I encounter. The beginning shows that I
see the issue as nuanced, rather than black and white, and I recognize that though the author may
have arrived at the correct answer, his reasoning is flawed. I also use "we" but I try to avoid using "I".
Take that as you will.

Paragraph 2
For me, paragraph two always attacks the premises of the author's argument. I usually jot down a
couple of premises on my board -- these are things that show up in the author's argument, usually
without any evidence provided. So 99% of the time, I attack the lack of evidence that the author
bases his premises on. I usually begin with some version of:

The primary issue with the author's reasoning lies in his unsubstantiated premises.

I like "primary" and "secondary" as transitional tools because they are more complex than "first" and
"second". Throughout the first paragraph, I show flaws in the author's premises by pointing out his
lack of evidentiary support (they pretty much always lack evidentiary support) and where they are
open to holes or alternate explanations. I usually have two or three, but one would be fine if it it was
strong. I generally end with something like:

The author's premises, the basis for his argument, lack any legitimate evidentiary support and render
his conclusion unacceptable.

Paragraph 3
In the third paragraph, I always attack the assumptions - again, I jot down a couple assumptions on
my notepad while reading the prompt. Generally, the issue with assumptions is that they need to be
clearly explicated - the author is asking the reader to make a jump with them, but the reader may
well veer off course if the author doesn't explicitly state his arguments. I usually begin with some
variation of:

In addition, the author makes several assumptions that remain unproven.

Again, I begin with a transitional phrase that the e-grader can pick up on. As with the premises, I
spend this paragraph attacking a couple of the author's assumptions. The easiest way to do this is to
find an alternate explanation -- ie, what if the assumption wasn't true? I usually have two or three,
again. My assumption paragraph ends with something like:

The author weakens his argument by making assumptions and failing to provide explication of the
links between X and Y he assumes exists.

Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4 is where I talk about how the author could strengthen his argument -- that is, I go back
to my claim that his argument could have some validity, but not as it stands. I usually begin this
paragraph with something like:

While the author does have several key issues in his argument's premises and assumptions, that is
not to say that the entire argument is without base.

Then I provide some concrete ways the author could strengthen his argument. The easiest way to do
this is to give examples of what kind of evidence the author could provide, and discuss how he can fill
the holes in his assumptions. I generally end with something like:

Though there are several issues with the author's reasoning at present, with research and
clarification, he could improve his argument significantly.

Paragraph 5
This is my conclusion paragraph. I pretty much always conclude with the same sentence:

In sum, the author's illogical argument is based on unsupported premises and unsubstantiated
assumptions that render his conclusion invalid.

I usually use "in sum" because it's considered better stylistically than "in conclusion" but signals to the
e-grader that you're at your conclusion. I usually add a couple sentences of fluff in between and then I
end with:

If the author truly hopes to change his readers' minds on the issue, he would have to largely
restructure his argument, fix the flaws in his logic, clearly explicate his assumptions, and provide
evidentiary support. Without these things, his poorly reasoned argument will likely convince few
people.

...And that's pretty much it.

So the cliff notes:

P1- Intro with generic thesis statement that works for 99.9% of argument essays.
P2 - Attack the premises of the argument.
P3 - Attack the assumptions of the argument.
P4 - Discuss what type of evidence or reasoning would strengthen the argument.
P5 - Conclusion.
P1 - Intro and a thesis
P2 - Example 1 (usually in depth)
P3 - Example 2 (in depth)
P4 - Exploring the nuances of the question -- ie, why the opposing position is not entirely wrong. This
shows I understand that the issue is not black and white.
P5 - Conclusion

I'm sorry, I really structured issues essays loosely and didn't go as in depth with them as I did with
arguments. I've attached an issue essay below and hopefully that might help some of you guys? If you
have specific questions let me know.

Question:
"Despite the convenience of distance learning and online educational programs, they will never replace
in-class instruction."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the position stated above. Support your
viewpoint using reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Essay:
With an increasingly globalized world, and the advent of ever-improving technology that allows people
to go as far as to project a holograph of themselves sitting in a chair in Tokyo from their office in San
Jose, California, we are starting to reexamine the ways we structure learning. Gone are the days on
the one-room schoolhouse, where all learning is completed between eight and three p.m. More and
more often, schools are utilizing the significant technological tools that have been developed in order
to redefine the way we teach and the way we learn. Indeed, we can now learn math from an online
recorded voice while we sit on the couch in our pajamas. In the statement above, the author claims
that though distance learning and online educational programs offer convenience, in-class instruction
is irreplaceable. Though, distance learning and online educational tools can provide fantastic
aids to traditional classroom learning and a great deal of benefit to certain students, as the
author claims, they cannot entirely take the place of in-class instruction.

The main reason that distance learning cannot take the place of traditional in-class instruction is that
the primary benefit that in-class instruction provides is spontaneity. Students can learn from the
questions another student asks, which can make them realize that they do not understand a subject
as well as they thought they did. In debates with other students surrounding, perhaps, the Cold War,
students can learn from each other based on their give-and-take, something impossible to duplicate in
online educational programs. Many programs through reputable universities, such as Johns Hopkins'
CTY program or Stanford's EPGY program provide distance learning to secondary school students. In
such programs, students complete assignments, email them back and forth with their teachers,
receiving comments each time, learn primarily from books or prewritten tools, and only hear their
teacher speak through phone or web based tools. Studies show that humans communicate over 90%
of their emotion through body language, yet this interaction is nonexistent in distance learning. CTY
students cannot see the imperceptible body shift or raised eyebrow that let them know they are
moving off track. Because they can only communicate with other students (generally) through
discussion boards or chat rooms, they are not as spontaneous in their student-to-student interaction.
By writing down what they say, they have time to read it over, think about it, before posting it. In a
typical classroom, however, students bounce ideas off each other, and often, the exchange of ideas is
far more free than if they are given the chance to self-censor. Because distance learning lacks the
spontaneity of conversation that in-person teaching provides, by definition, it cannot perform the
exact same function.
Another issue with the replacement of in-class instruction with distance/online learning is that the two
serve often drastically different populations. In-class instruction generally caters to students in a
specific geographical area, whereas distance learning allows for interactions with students around the
world. In-class instruction might utilize specific community examples such as a proposed city
ordinance to teach a concept, while distance learning, by definition, must include more universal
examples that are easily understood by people with a variety of backgrounds. This lack of
personalization and tailoring of teaching to specific students makes distance learning fundamentally
different than in-class instruction, and therefore, beneficial to different people. MIT recently launched
an open courseware system where lecture notes, Power Point slides, essay questions, and
assessments are provided to anyone with an Internet connection. Yet the act of attending MIT is
substantially different than the act of using the courseware to take the same classes MIT students
take. The students one would interact with at MIT are generally at the top of their high school classes,
have been preselected by the university as able to do the work, whereas though the MIT courseware
allows for online discussion of the material, any person can log in and utilize it - a significantly
different population than the population that attends MIT. Because the two modes of teaching by
definition must serve different populations, they cannot act (fully) as substitutes for one another.

Though distance/online learning may not replace in-class instruction, we cannot go so far to say it is
not valuable or that a student cannot learn a great deal from them. Many colleges, particularly
community colleges, have launched distance learning and online educational systems to better serve
their largely commuter population. The student who takes, for example, Calculus I through distance
learning will likely leave with a similar understanding of the mathematical principles as the student
who takes Calculus I through a traditional, in-class teaching system. The key point, however, is that
their experiences will not be the same. Distance learning/online education and in-class instructions
provide substantially different experiences to the students (and teacher) involved, and different
students will prefer different methods of course instruction. Distance learning has value, can teach a
student a great deal, but not all students learn best in such an environment. Distance learning will
never replace in-class instruction, since many students learn better through in-class instruction than
through distance learning (and vice versa), but that is not to say it will not continue to expand and
provide value for the students who utilize it.

In sum, distance learning and in class instruction provide different modes of learning, and neither can
exist as a substitute for the other. Neither can replicate the other so completely as to say they are the
same, and thus, neither can replace the other. While distance learning will likely to continue to
expand, better serving populations that likely otherwise would not have access to the types of
information the courses disseminate, in-class instruction will remain, primarily because it offers
benefits that distance learning does not. Distance learning provides convenience and an ever wider net
of people willing to be educated, but in-class instruction provides a spontaneity of interaction that
distance learning cannot duplicate. Therefore, distance learning will never truly replace in-class
instruction worldwide, though it will surely continue as a supplement to such instruction and beneficial
program on its own merit.