Argumentation

Your professor has told you that you need to "build an argument". Presumably, that doesn’t mean that you’re supposed to get two or more people into a lively debate, so what are you supposed to do? In academic writing, building an argument refers to using rhetorical tools to create a persuasive example that proves a point. In other words, you need to find ways to support your thesis and topic statements that prove your understanding of the topic; to assist you with this quest, please see the resources provided below on critical thinking and building arguments.

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Critical Thinking

Critical or analytical thinking "is that mode of thinking - about any subject, content, or problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them." (Source:...

Building an Argument

An argument is "a coherent set of sentences leading from a premise to a conclusion" (Source: Merriam-Webster online dictionary). Please see below for more information on building an argument in your academic...