English 104: Arguments of Fact

Presentation delivered to the English 104 class at Victor Valley College.

1. English 104
Arguments of Fact

2. Understanding Arguments of Fact
•Factual arguments try to establish whether
something is true.
•For example:
▫Are the claims of a scientist accurate?
▫Is a historical legend real?
▫Has a crime occurred?

3. Understanding Arguments of Fact
•People don’t usually argue undisputed facts
▫Examples:
The earth orbits the sun
George Washington was USA’s first president
•Facts are used to support controversial
arguments that challenge people’s lifestyles and
beliefs
▫Such as controversies about childhood obesity,
endangered species, gay rights, gender roles

4. Developing a Factual Argument
•Step 1: Identify an issue
▫Choose a suitable topic of interest
▫Do quick preliminary research and reading in
order to arrive at a hypothesis, i.e. a tentative
statement of your main claim/thesis statement
Examples of hypotheses:
“Having a dog is good for your health.”
“Americans really did land on the moon, despite what
some people think.”

5. Developing a Factual Argument
•Step 2: Research your hypothesis
▫Libraries and the internet can provide you with many
resources
Find and use the best sources for your paper
Check your facts
▫Example: www.politifact.com and www.factcheck.org
investigate the truths behind political claims
Use primary sources whenever possible
▫If obtaining a quote indirectly from a secondary source, there’s
a chance the quote has been taken out of context or misquoted
Determine which sources are the best fit for your essay and
for your audience
▫Some reputable sources may be too technical for a general
audience. However, some accessible sources may not be
factually accurate or may be inappropriate for an academic
audience.

6. Developing a Factual Argument
•Step 3: Refine your main claim/thesis
▫As you learn more about your topic through research,
you can revise your hypothesis accordingly, making it
more specific.
Example:
Hypothesis: Americans really did land on the moon, despite
what some people think.
▫Revision: Since 1969, when the Eagle supposedly landed on
the moon, some people have been unjustifiably skeptical about
the success of the United States’ Apollo program.
▫Final: Despite plentiful hard evidence to the contrary – from
Saturn V launches witnessed by thousands to actual moon
rocks tested by independent labs worldwide – some people
persist in believing falsely that NASA’s moon landings were
actually filmed on deserts in the American Southwest as part
of a massive propaganda fraud. (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, and
Walters 161)

7. Developing a Factual Argument
•Step 4: Develop your main claim/thesis statement
in-depth within the body of your essay.
▫Do not simply list the evidence without discussing
precisely how each piece of evidence supports your
thesis statement
▫Example:
Thesis statement: Despite plentiful hard evidence to the
contrary – from Saturn V launches witnessed by
thousands to actual moon rocks tested by independent
labs worldwide – some people persist in believing falsely
that NASA’s moon landings were actually filmed on
deserts in the American Southwest as part of a massive
propaganda fraud.
Body of the paper then goes into in-depth discussion of the
Saturn V launches, moon rocks, and the claims of conspiracy
theorists

8. Works Cited
Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewicz, and Keith
Walters. Everything’s an Argument with Readings.
New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.