Argument Writing Vocabulary
Analyze: to examine, closely study, and evaluate a text by breaking down and examining its elements to comprehend its meaning.
Argument: the reasons that support your claim.
Bias: general tendency or leaning in one direction; partiality toward one view over another.
Claim: a statement that clearly introduces an idea or belief that is supported by evidence.
Counterclaim: an argument that negates the writers claim.
Evidence: information that leads to a claim.
Formal Writing Style: writing that is free of slang, trite, expressions, abbreviations, symbols, email shortcut language, contractions, and the use of the personal pronoun "I." The writer does not speaking directly to the reader by using the word you. Formal style ensures that readers are able to read and understand what is written.
Organization: patterns are structures that show the relationship between ideas. Types of organizational patterns include Cause and Effect and Problem/Solution.
Peripheral Information: text information that is not of central importance.
Primary Source: an original source, such as someone's diary or journal, a survey or interview, letters, autobiographies, and observation.
Secondary Source: material that other people have gathered and interpreted, extended, analyzed, or evaluated, such as newspaper articles, a documentary on television, a website, a science text, and an encyclopedia entry.
Synthesize: to examine, closely study, and evaluate how individual text elements work together as a whole by combining the knowledge of one text element to the analysis of an additional element.
Tone: an author's attitude toward a subject.