Strategies for Developing Support
for Argument/Persuasion Essays

1)  Make sure that each paragraph presents ONE reason in support of the position.

            e.g.  I support _______ because ________________________ .

            e.g.  I support continuing funding for the space program because it helps our economy.

2)  Examine closely what each Primary Support (REASON) is asking you to support.  Then list your Secondary Supports.

e.g.  Primary Support:  I support continuing funding for the space program because it helps the economy.

You ask:  What support do I have for the assertion that space exploration helps our economy?  What evidence is there in support of the assertion that space exploration helps the economy.  In what ways does it help the economy?

                        Ways this is true--  (Secondary Supports)

                                    1) it provides jobs

                                    2) it stimulates innovation  in products

                                    3) it helps America be a leader in exporting technology around the world

3) For each Secondary Support you list, find some specific, detailed support to back it up.        
Sometimes it helps to prompt this "downshifting" to detail with these transition words:  for instance, for example, specifically, one example comes from, in fact.

            e.g. Secondary support with detail:

One way the space program helps the economy is by providing jobs.  For instance, NASA alone employs thousands of workers in Texas and Florida, and this does not even count all the jobs provided by space contractors all over the country.

Strategy for Collecting Data to Develop an Essay's Support

Before beginning this strategy, you should have a good sense of your Subject, Essay Question, and Thesis (or your answer to the essay question). You should also have a good idea of the Primary Supports or Reasons you will use to support your Thesis. See the other guides on Arriving at a Thesis and Brainstorming to Define Reasons for help getting to this point.

Get out five to ten scratch pieces of paper and devote a page for each part of your essay:

At the top of paper #1: write the Essay Question

At the top of paper #2: write your Answer or Thesis

Use these two sheets as work spaces for troubleshooting, refining, adjusting your ideas

At the top of paper #3: write your Thesis + your first Reason/Support

At the top of paper #4: write your Thesis + your second Reason/Support

--repeat this step for as many Reasons or Primary Supports you will develop in your paper

After you have these sheets ready related to each Reason/Support, spend time gathering data that will back up each one.

Ask of each Reason: What evidence or support is this reason calling on me to find and supply.

Find the quotes or facts or examples that will provide the concrete basis and support for your reason.
--list this data in any order
--collect as much as you can

When you are ready to write, you can use each data sheet as the raw material as you develop each body paragraph devoted to the different Reasons. You'll find that by gathering data you have done most all the heavy lifting for writing your paper. Donald Murray says that writers should write from an abundance of information, and these data sheets are a strategy you can use for gathering this information.

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