Chapter 12 of the Bedford Researcher, another brief chapter for today, continues the conclusion from the prior chapter and discusses "Developing Your Argument". The first question, "How can I support my thesis statement?" is answered in three steps. Step one, "choose reasons", which sounds easy enough, but can vary on the audience, medium, and topic you're on. Step two, "select evidence to support your reasons", also sounds obvious, but once again depends upon what kind of paper you're creating, be it audible, text, or in motion. Step three, "decide how to appeal to your readers", has various end goals to choose from: such as authority, emotion, principles / values / beliefs, character, and logic. The second question, "How can I assess the integrity of my argument?" Isn't answered in steps, but a set of guidelines to check on before proceeding. You should be checking "for fallacies based on distraction", like "a red herring" "ad hominem attacks", and "irrelevant history". You should also "look for fallacies based on questionable assumptions", like "sweeping generalizations, straw-man attacks", "citing inappropriate authorities", and "jumping on a bandwagon". Finally, it's important to "locate fallacies based on careless reasoning".
The information provided will be used when I start constructing the first draft of my research paper, and sorting out which sources may or may not be trustworthy.
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