To write a narrative argument, you first have to create two separate compositions—an argument essay and a narrative. You will need to complete the steps of the writing process for both before combining the pieces into a narrative argument. What form you begin with is up to you, but we recommend completing your argument essay first since it will form the basis of your final paper. If you wish to start with your narrative, skip ahead to the "Prewriting for Narratives" lesson and circle back to this one after you've completed your narrative.

The prewriting activities in this lesson will help you plan your argument essay—identifying a controversial topic, researching the issue, developing a position about it, and gathering reasons, evidence, and responses to objections.

Prewriting to Consider Controversies

Effective argument essays focus on controversial issues. A controversy is a subject about which people disagree. Facts don't leave much room for disagreement because they can be directly proven. Controversial topics involve the following:

Opinions are personal preferences such as the best U.S. president or the most important qualities of a video game. One person states an opinion and provides reasons to support it, but someone else can have an opposing opinion.
Proposals are suggestions about what should be done in the future. Since no one knows for certain the future outcome of any action taken now, proposals cannot be directly proven until after they have consequences.
Hypotheses are explanations for how something might be working. They are "educated guesses" about what is going on. Arguments and experiments can provide reasonable support for them, but hypotheses only become scientific theories or laws after extensive experimentation.

You can think about controversies locally, at your school and in your community, or more broadly, in your country and around the world. What do people feel about the controversies? What opinions, proposals, or hypotheses are most commonly linked to them? One student jotted down the following controversial positions that he encountered at school, read about in local and national newspapers, and discovered on Google News.

Controversies

	Opinions (I think . . .)	Proposals (We should . . .)	Hypotheses (Something is happening because . . .)
School Controversies	I think our school's Web filters are too restrictive.	More should be done to support gender equality in high schools.	Students have short attention spans in class because of social media.
Community Controversies	I think the riverfront space is underutilized.	The common council should pass the measure to build a skate park.	Academic performance differs at the two local high schools because of zoning policies.
National Controversies	I think we need to do a better job of securing our borders.	Our government should provide universal healthcare.	Our economy suffers because of overzealous environmental protection policies.
Global Controversies	I think we need to make drastic changes to stop climate change.	All countries should denuclearize.	Nationalism is on the rise because people distrust mainstream media.

Write down one controversial position that interests you:

"More should be done to support gender equality in high schools." I've definitely been on the receiving end of gender bias at school.

What reasons do people give to support this position?

Athletic teams get treated differently based on gender. Girls aren't supported in STEM classes. Girls don't feel comfortable speaking up about sexual harassment.

Do you agree or disagree with this position? What reasons do you have?

I'm inclined to agree. I've spoken out about the unequal treatment of girls' and boys' sports at my school, and all it did was make me a social outcast. I'll have to do some more research on sexual harassment. I know it goes on, but I'm not sure how serious it is in high school.

Research controversies.

Search news sources to find out what opinions, proposals, and hypotheses people have about controversial topics from your school, community, nation, and world. Fill in the gathering grid with what you find. (It’s okay if you don’t necessarily agree with the responses you discover.) Finally, answer the questions below the grid.

Prewriting to Research the Topic

After you've selected a controversy that interests you, you need to research the topic to understand it fully. Consider all sides of the issue. Then state your own position and list reasons for and against it. Review the following pro-con chart, which gathers reasons for and against a controversial position on making high schools more gender equitable:

Controversial Position

High schools should make greater efforts to support gender equality.

PRO
(Reasons For)

CON
(Reasons Against)

Ensuring gender equality empowers both sexes.
Unfair gender expectations restrict the classes and activities students engage in.
Teachers and students need help to recognize and avoid perpetuating gender bias.
High schools should do a better job of addressing and eliminating sexual harassment.
Students need instruction to understand what constitutes sexual harassment.
Female athletic programs should receive equal treatment to male athletic programs.
Challenging gender assumptions will improve the overall school culture.

Enforcing gender equality unduly harms male students.
Female students already outperform male students in most classes.
Efforts to enforce gender equality support a liberal political agenda.
High schools shouldn't get involved in social-justice issues.
Discussions about sexual harrassment make students uncomfortable.
Male sports teams generate more income for schools than female ones.
We should focus first on improving school safety rather than ensuring gender equality.

Research pros and cons.

Research your controversial topic and state an initial opinion about it. Then use this pro/con chart to gather reasons for and against your opinion.

Teaching Tip

To write a compelling narrative argument, students need to wade deeply into their controversial topic. Before moving ahead to the next prewriting and writing activities, make sure to reserve plenty of time for students to explore books, articles, videos, podcasts, and other media about all sides their topic.

Prewriting to Organize Your Argument

So by this point, you've identified a topic, taken a position on it, and researched reasons to support it as well as reasons to oppose it. Now you need to select the strongest reasons for your position and gather evidence that supports those reasons. You'll want to research reputable sources for relevant facts, statistics, examples, explanations, and quotations. Lastly, you'll want to pick out the strongest arguments from your pro/con chart against your claim and decide how to respond to them. Here are the two main strategies for answering objections to your position:

Concede the objection: Admit the value of the opposing viewpoint, but explain why your position is stronger.

It's true that learning about sexual harassment will make students uncomfortable. That's a good thing! The entire point is to make students more aware of how they treat the opposite sex.

Counter the objection: Explain why the opposing viewpoint is illogical, unfair, or untrue.

Many people conflate gender-equality efforts with man-hating, but actually gender equality benefits guys as well as girls. Here's why . . .

Outline your argument.

Outline your main claim, supporting reasons, evidence, and responses to objections.

Teaching Tip

Let students know that it is perfectly okay to change their minds about a controversial issue. Learning all sides of an argument allows students to take an informed position. It also helps them reason with those who have an opposing view.

Lesson Downloads (Word)

WritingNarrativeArguments_ResearchingControversies_0.docx (22.27 KB)

Lesson Plan Google Links

Researching Controveries

Researching Pros and Cons

Outlining Your Argument

Templates

Template Name

Researching Controveries

Template Content

Name:

Date:

Search news sources to find controversial topics from your school, community, nation, and world. Fill in the gathering grid with opinions, proposals, and hypotheses about them. Note: It’s okay if you don’t necessarily agree with the responses you fill in. Then answer the questions below the grid.

	Opinions (I think . . .)	Proposals (We should . . .)	Hypotheses (Something is happening because . . .)
School Controversies
Community Controversies
National Controversies
Global Controversies

Write down one controversial position that interests you:

What reasons do people give to support this position?

Do you agree or disagree with this position? What reasons do you have?

Template Name

Researching Pros and Cons

Template Content

Name:

Date:

Research your controversial topic and state an initial opinion about it. Then use this pro/con chart to gather reasons for and against your opinion.

Opinion:

PRO
(Reasons For)

CON
(Reasons Against)

Template Name

Outlining Your Argument

Template Content

Name:

Date:

Outline your position statement, supporting reasons, evidence, and responses to objections. Add elements to the outline as needed.

Position Statement:

Reason 1:

Evidence:
Evidence:
Evidence:

Reason 2:

Evidence:
Evidence:
Evidence:

Reason 3:

Evidence:
Evidence:
Evidence:

Counterargument 1:

Response to objection:

Counterargument 2:

Response to objection:

Unit Container Label

Writing Narrative Arguments

Unit Container D7 ID

Writing Narrative Arguments

Lesson Weight