Language permeates our lives: it is essential to nearly everything we do. Language organizes the world into manageable units or bricks that can be manipulated and understood. There are four modes of discourse. Discourse is any manifestation of language in living communication. They are: exposition, narration, description, and argument (persuasion). It is the writer’s primary purpose what determines the primary mode of discourse. There are those authors who draw a line between argument and persuasion. Argument employs logical reasoning to get the reader to accept the assertion, and persuasion uses a combination of logic and emotion. For my illustration here, I will use the term argument to cover both denotations.
Personally, I know that the act of composing an argumentative essay brings a mass of oppressive doubts that haunts so persistently the beginner writer. Sure, the beginner writer needs to learn some strategies to construct an argument. It seems to me that it’s relevant to focus on the form. Thomas Aquinas is regarded as the greatest of medieval philosophers. Aquinas has a really competent knowledge of philosophical reasoning. It’s so amazing to follow what’s going to happen when you read Aquinas’ ideas.
Thomas Aquinas’ argument obeys the following order:
1. Aquinas enumerates the weighty arguments against his view. Then he proceeds to refute them.
2. He presents a reason for the point of view that he thinks is the correct one.
3. Then the real reasons for his position are presented at the central part of the text
4. Finally, he raises serious objections to the doctrine which he is arguing against. He answers to the objections presented at the introduction.
The argument structure is as follows:
1. Theme/Question.
2. Objection 1: It seems like,…
3. Objection 2: Moreover,…
4. INSTEAD OF THIS,…
5. I ANSWER THAT:… (brief affirmation, example, and conclusion).
6. The reply to objection 1.
7. The reply to objection 2.
However, it is not my claim that all arguments should be written like that. The writer needs to decide on what type of structure she will construct her argument. It is important to the novice writer to pay attention to the structural relationships that make content possible. The reason for this is that only the details are different for each composition. Fortunately for the beginner, the various types of argumentative essays follow a similar scheme. Writing your pieces following a plan is efficient since you get something down that indicates where the gaps in your thinking are. Think on that.