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outlines is the most promising for development into a paragraph. Make sure your supporting points are
logical by asking yourself in each case, Does this item truly support my topic sentence?
c. Do some prewriting. Prepare a list of all the details you can think of that might actually
support your point. Don t limit yourself; include more details than you can actually use. Here, for
example, are details generated by the writer of Living Alone :
Deal with power failures Noisy neighbors Nasty landlords Develop courage
Scary noises at night Do all the cooking Spiders Home repairs Bill collectors
Obscene phone calls Frightening storms Loneliness
d. Decide which details you will use to develop your paragraph. Number the details in the
order in which you will present them. Because presenting the strongest reason last (emphatic order) is the
most effective way to organize an argument paragraph, be sure to save your most powerful reason for last.
Here is how the author of Living Alone made decisions about details:
e. Write the first draft of your paragraph. As you write, develop each reason with specific
details. For example, in Living Alone, notice how the writer makes the experience of living alone come
alive with phrases like That weird thump in the night or little moments of sudden loneliness can send
shivers through the heart.
Revising
Put your paragraph away for a day or so. Then look over the checklist that follows.
Continue revising your work until you can answer yes to all these questions.
Write a paragraph in which you take a stand on one of the controversial points below. Support the point
with three reasons.
Students should not be required to attend high school.
All handguns should be banned.
The death penalty should exist for certain crimes.
Abortion should be legal.
Federal prisons should be coed, and prisoners should be allowed to marry.
The government should set up centers where sick or aged persons can go
voluntarily to commit suicide.
Parents should never hit their children.
Prostitution should be legalized.
Prewriting
a. As a useful exercise to help you begin developing your argument, your instructor might
give class members a chance to stand up for what they believe in. One side of the front of the room
should be designated strong agreement and the other side strong disagreement, with an imaginary line
representing varying degrees of agreement or disagreement in between. The instructor will read one value
statement at a time from the list above, and students will move to the appropriate spot, depending on their
degree of agreement or disagreement. Some time will be allowed for students, first, to discuss with those
near them the reasons they are standing where they are; and, second, to state to those at the other end of
the scale the reasons for their position.
b. Begin your paragraph by writing a sentence that expresses your attitude toward one of the
value statements above, for example, I feel that prostitution should be legalized.
c. Outline the reason or reasons you hold the opinion that you do. Your support may be
based on your own experience, the experience of someone you know, or logic. For example, an outline of
a paragraph based on one student s logic looked like this:
I feel that prostitution should be legalized for the following reasons:
1 Prostitutes would then have to pay their fair share of income tax.
2 Government health centers would administer regular checkups. This would help
prevent the spread of AIDS and venereal disease.
3 Prostitutes would be able to work openly and independently and would not be
controlled by pimps and gangsters.
4. Most of all, prostitutes would be less looked down on an
attitude that is psychologically damaging to those who
may already have emotional problems.
d. Write a first draft of your paragraph, providing specific details to back up each
point in your outline.
Revising
Put your paragraph away for at least a day. Ask a friend whose judgment you trust to read
and critique it. Your friend should consider each of these questions:
Continue revising your work until you and your reader can answer yes to all these questions.
Where do you think it is best to bring up children in the country, the suburbs, or the city? Write a
paragraph in which you argue that one of those three environments is best for families with young
children. Your argument should cover two types of reasons: (1) the advantages of living in the
environment you ve chosen and (2) the disadvantages of living in the other places. Use the following, or
something much like it, for your topic sentence:
For families with young children, (the country, a suburb, or the city)
is the best place to live.
For each reason you advance, include at least one persuasive example. For instance, if you argue that
the cultural life in the city is one important reason to live there, you should explain in detail just how
going to a science museum is interesting and helpful to children. After deciding on your points of support,
arrange them in a brief outline, saving your strongest point for last. In your paragraph, introduce each of
your reasons with an addition transition, such as first of all, another, also, and fi nally.
Write a paper in which you use research findings to help support one of the following points:
Cigarettes should be illegal.
Mandatory retirement ages should be abolished.
Any person convicted of drunken driving should be required to spend
time in jail.
Drivers should not be permitted to use cell phones.
Everyone should own a pet.
High schools should (or should not) pass out birth-control devices and
information to students.
Homosexuals should (or should not) be allowed in the armed forces.
Schools should be open all year round.
Advertising should not be permitted on young children s TV shows.
Chapter 19, Using the Library and the Internet (pages 357 373), will show you how to use
keywords and search engines to think about your topic and do research. See if you can organize your
paper in the form of three separate and distinct reasons that support the topic. Put these reasons into a
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