Taken from: Hillocks, George, Jr. (2011).

Teaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning . Heinemann. (pp. xvxxvi, edited).

Preface: Teaching Argument for Critical Thinking

Literacy education lies at the center of achieving our stated goals of fostering critical thought, critical dialogue, and a circumspect and vigilant American citizenry...[and] has particular value and potential in a culture increasingly unable to distinguish fact from fiction, truth from lies. Alsup et al. 2005, 281

[1] This book is about the teaching of argument, the core of critical thinking. Argument is not simply a dispute, as when people disagree with one another or yell at each other. Argument is about making a case in support of a claim in everyday affairsin science, in policy making, in courtrooms, and so forth. As such, this book is intended for teachers at any level who wish to help students become critical thinkers. [2] Not only do students need to learn to write strong arguments, but they also must learn to evaluate the arguments of others, arguments that they hear every daya skill critical to participating in a democratic society. Aristotle divides substantive arguments into three kinds: forensic, epideictic, and deliberative. I have found it useful to designate these as arguments of fact, judgment, and policy and approach them in that order, moving students from simple to more complex. If we begin with arguments of fact, students will be able to use the knowledge they already possess to derive warrants and to use the evidence they perceive to develop basic arguments about the facts of a case. In this way, they will learn the structure of arguments in general and how to draw conclusions that are defensible.

What Is the Difference between Persuasive Writing and Writing Argument?

[3] The most advanced secondary textbooks for English do not teach students to think critically or to write argument. Rather, they opt for vague discussions of persuasive writing. One significant text of over 1,100 pages devotes 45 pages to persuasive writing and only 1.5 pages to logical appeals (Kinneavy & Warriner 1993), which are the essence of argument. Kinneavy & Warriner tell us that in a persuasive essay, you can select the most favorable evidence, appeal to emotions, and use style to persuade your readers. Your single purpose is to be convincing (305). The same might be said of propaganda and advertising. Argument, on the other hand, is mainly about logical appeals and involves claims, evidence, warrants, backing, and rebuttals. Argument is at the heart of critical thinking and academic discourse; it is the kind of writing students need to know for success in college and in lifethe kind of writing that the Common Core State Standards puts first.

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

What Students Need to Know for Success in College

[4] Those of us who know the needs of college writers and who are familiar with the new ACT and SAT writing samples know that persuasive writing will not suffice. For college and career one needs to know how to make an effective case, to make a good argument. Gerald Graff was recently cited in Education Week as giving the following advice to college students: Recognize that knowing a lot of stuff wont do you much good, he wrote, unless you can do something with what you know by turning it into an argument. [5] In 2009, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers put a document on the Internet titled College and Career Ready: Standards for Reading, Writing, and Communication. It says this of writing argument:
The ability to frame and defend an argument is particularly important to students readiness for college and careers. The goal of making an argument is to convince an audience of the rightness of the claims being made using logical reasoning and relevant evidence. In some cases, a student will make an argument to gain access to college or to a job, laying out their qualifications or experience. In college, students might defend an interpretation of a work of literature or of history and, in the workplace, an employee might write to recommend a course of action. Students must frame the debate over a claim, presenting the evidence for the argument and acknowledging and addressing its limitations. This approach allows readers to test the veracity of the claims being made and the reasoning being offered in their defense. (p. 2B)

This statement has been adopted in the Common Core Standards which, at this writing have been adopted by more than 39 states and the District of Columbia.

What Kind of Logic Can We Teach?

[6] There is currently a widespread notion that we cannot know anything with certainty. Given this, the question we must ask is: What can count as logic in arguments? If argument demands logic, and if we are going to teach it, then we must have an answer. [7] The kind of logic taught in schools since the time of Aristotle and through the early 20th century focuses on the syllogism, thought to be the most important, if not the only path to truth (See Aristotle 2007).

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

[8] The syllogism derives a conclusion from a set of statements called premises, which are thought to be true and which have a common term in each. For example, Major premise: All men are mortal. Minor premise: Socrates is a man. Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal. [9] In most disciplines (with the exceptions of mathematics and sometimes physics) and in most everyday problems and disputes, we do not have premises that we know to be absolutely true. We have to deal with statements that may be true or that we believe are probably truebut not absolutely true. [10] Even Aristotle recognized that the syllogism was not appropriate for the problems that he saw being debated in the senate and elsewhere. There were arguments of probability, arguments that were not amenable to syllogistic reasoning. His response to that problem was his Rhetoric, the work long recognized as one of the most important text in the subject that deals with arguments of probability of three kinds: forensic, epideictic, and deliberative, or, as noted earlier, what I like to call arguments of fact, judgment, and policy. [11] In the past two or three decades, colleges and universities have turned to a newer treatment of arguments of probability, that Stephen Toulmin in The Uses of Argument.

The Elements of Argument

[12] Toulmins basic conception of argument includes several elements: a claim based on evidence of some sort a warrant that explains how the evidence supports the claim backing supporting the warrants qualifications and rebuttals or counter arguments that refute competing claims.

Claims [13] Every day we are inundated in electronic and print media with claims about products and what they can do for us, how they can make us happy, healthy, attractive, productive, or popular. Almost without exception, these claims are never substantiated. Yet we are being asked to spend our earnings to obtain the product purported to make us happy or productive. And people do spend, usually without questioning the claims. [14] In my experience and in my research, teenagers, including college freshmen, see no

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

reason to question or substantiate claims in any context. In testing situations, the prompts for persuasive essays usually call explicitly for support. For example, the 199394 Texas writing assessment offered the following prompt for its persuasive task:
Some people believe that all teenagers should be required to perform one year of unpaid service for their community right after they graduate from high school. This community service might include helping to clean up parks, delivering food to the elderly, or working in a hospital. What is your position concerning this issue? Write a letter to your senator in which you state your position and support it with convincing reasons. Be sure to explain your reasons fully. (Texas Education Agency 1993, G5)

The students has as much time as they wished during a school day to respond. [15] Here is a response that the scoring guide included as an example of passing level:
As a teenager about to graduate from high school, I think it is rather unfair to do these services without being paid for it. Therefore, I believe we shouldnt have to do these services right when we get out of high school. First of all, when people graduate from high school, a majority of the people will either go to a junior college or college. During the summer break, most of them will get jobs to help pay for college. Another reason is, it takes money to drive around town and do these services. Personally, I think you all should use all of the unemployed people that receive unemployment checks because theyre the ones that have nothing to do. These are the reasons why I think we shouldnt have to do these services. (G14a)

This response is made up entirely of claims. The first and second sentences are the governing claims of the argument. The second paragraph provides two reasons in support of the main claims, but both are sub-claims that remain unsubstantiated. What evidence, for example, is there that a majority of people will either go to a junior college or college? The third paragraph states an alternative to the drafting of teenagers, but it too is unsubstantiated. [16] Heres the scoring guides commentary on the paper:
This controlled response takes a clear position against requiring community service. The section discussing the necessity of working for pay is somewhat elaborated while the solution adds elaboration by offering a ready alternative (the unemployed) to employing high school graduates. In total, a minimally sufficient amount of evidence is provided, and the response demonstrates minimal success

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

with the persuasive task. (G14, italics added)

This commentary suggests that the test makers do not know what constitutes evidence any more than our students do. In fact, there was no evidence presented at all.

Evidence [17] Although many teachers begin to teach some version of argument with the writing of a thesis statement (a claim), in reality, good argument begins with looking at the data that are likely to become the evidence in an argument and which gives rise to a thesis statement or major claim. That is, the thesis statement arises from a question, which in turn rises from the examination of information of some sort. [18] This year, I had an opportunity to examine a set of lesson plans that began with the writing of thesis statements. There was no mention of data of any kind. Students were supposed to find problems somewhere and make some claim about them. However, without analysis of any data (verbal and nonverbal texts, materials, surveys and samples), any thesis is likely to be no more than a preconception or assumption or clichd popular belief that is unwarranted and, at worst, totally indefensible. [19] For that reason, my graduate students and I have approached the teaching of argument from the examination of data, as a first step. We have tried to find data sets that require some interpretation and give rise to questions and genuine thinking. Attempts to answer these questions become hypotheses, possible future thesis statements that we may eventually write about after further investigation. That is to say, the process of working through an argument is the process of inquiry. At its very beginning is the examination of data, not the invention of a thesis statement in a vacuum. [20] Once we have examined data to produce a question and have reexamined the data to try to produce an answer to the question, we may have a claim or thesis worthy of arguing. If the data support our answer to the question, it becomes evidence in support of the claim we make. Laid out step by step, it looks like this: 1. Examine data 2. Ask questions based on data 3. Reexamine data 4. Try to answer the question 5. Data that support our answer = Evidence [21] Evidence, to be useful, must be relevant and verifiable. In some disciplines and fields of work, such as science and criminal justice, special procedures must be followed

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

so that evidence will not be impeached. But basic to any kind of argument is the verifiability of the evidence. A literary critic must cite the works discussed and quote from the texts to prove a claim. A historian must carefully note the artifactual or documentary evidence basic to the argument being made. A scientist must explain the nature of observations or experiments, the collection of data, the conditions, so that the study can be replicated. [22] Occasionally, our readers or listeners are willing to simply accept our data as appropriate support for our answers to the question posed, but, more often, especially in serious arguments, readers will want explanations of why the data we produce support the claims we make and are trying to demonstrate. This is the job of the warrant.

Warrants [23] Warrants may be simply common sense rules that people accept as generally true, laws, scientific principles or studies, and thoughtfully argued definitions. In contemporary crime scene investigation programs on TV, considerable time is devoted to establishing warrants. Most viewers of such programs are likely to be fully aware, for example, that fingerprints at a crime scene may lead to an arrest of these person to whom those prints belong because any given persons prints are unique, and therefore indicate the presence of that person at the scene. [24] Similarly, we also know that pistols and rifles leave distinct markings on bullets fired from them. Thus, a bullet found in a victim or at a crime scene may become the evidence that links a gun owner to the shooting of the gun and the commission of the related crime. The prints and the markings on bullets are the evidence that indicate the identity of the perpetrators by way of warrants concerning their uniqueness.

Backing [25] Anyone familiar with the criminal investigation programs on TV will know that warrants may be challenged. In Toulmins terms, the backing is the support for the warrants. In the case of fingerprints and ballistics, there have been many studies that can be cited in the support of the warrants as to the uniqueness of fingerprints and bullet markings. However, in the TV shows themselves, sometimes considerable time is devoted to developing the backing for warrants. One frequently visited kind of backing in one program has to do with studies of the development of beetles in corpses. This is used as the backing for warrants for assertions of claims concerning the length of time a person has been dead. Sometimes we see the criminalist studying the development of the insect though its various stages. This study will be the backing for the warrant for claims

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

about how long a person has been deceased. [26] When serious arguments of judgment are challenged, the warrants will likely need to be backed by extended definitions of the abstract qualities involved. For example, my own studies have shown that students have widely diverse ideas of what constitutes a courageous action. Boys tend to believe that bank robbers are acting courageously when they try to rob a heavily guarded bank; girls tend to think they are not. Some believe that just putting on a fire fighters uniform and going to a fire is a courageous act; others believe that the determination of courage depends on the dangers a fire presents. The warrant in such arguments will be backed by some criterion based on an extended definition of the nature of courageous action. [27] Arguments of policy involve warrants about what is permissible and appropriate in certain circumstances. These also involve extended definitions as backing. For example, court cases often turn on definitions of the principles underlying the right to freedom of speech or the right to privacy. [28] In more complex arguments of judgment and policy, the most crucial arguments pertain to the warrants and their backing. Platonic dialogues often deal with the backing for warrants. For example, in the Euthyphro, Socrates questions Euthyphro concerning his claim that he is justified in prosecuting his own father for the death of a slave. The United States Supreme Courts discussion of cases are debates about the warrants used in lower court cases that have been appealed. In Harris v. Scott, for example, the argument concerns whether a police officer may use lethal force to stop a driver doing an average 90 mph on a two-lane road and crossing the double yellow line even in the fact of oncoming traffic. Harris claimed that the officers ramming of his car was a violation of his Fourth Amendment right protecting him against unjust seizure. Arguments over backing underlie the most important principles of our democracy.

Qualifications and Counter Arguments [29] In addition, because these are arguments of probability, two other elements are necessary: qualifications and counter arguments. Simply because we are dealing with statements that cannot be demonstrated to be absolutely true, qualifications are necessary in stating both claims and warrants. For claims, I like to encourage the use of words such as probably, very likely, almost certainly, and so forth. Some instructors refer to these as hedge terms. But they are not. [30] Because arguments deal with probabilities, they must be qualified. Medical, agricultural, educational, and social science research use statistical procedures to

HillocksTeaching argument writing, grades 612: Supporting claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning

determine the probabilities of a certain claims being true in fairly precise terms. When statistical procedures are not appropriate or possible, the qualifications take the form of statements such as probably, in all likelihood, as a rule, beyond reasonable doubt, and so forth. [31] The very idea that we are dealing with arguments of probability suggests that differing claims are likely to exist. For example, for over a hundred years, available evidence has shown that the teaching of traditional school grammar does not contribute to increasing the quality of student writing. Despite what I regard as massive evidence, many teachers and writers continue to argue for the teaching of traditional school grammar, the teaching of the parts of speech, parts of sentences, and concepts of grammar such as gerunds, appositives, and introductory adverbial clauses through the exercises presented in grammar books such as Kinneavy & Warriner. If I wished to make an argument as to the folly of teaching grammar again, I would have to make a counter argument. Because arguments deal with probabilities, they must be qualified.