Reference no: EM133490390
Assignment: English the Five Best Action Movies of the 1980s Essay
The Analytical Argument Essay
Primary Purpose: Persuasion
What is it? You are posing a contention, in this case "The five best (or some other debatable characterization) _____ are ______ ...." Your contention must be supported by five well-considered and fully explained criteria.
Examples:
The five best catchers in MLB history are Bill Dickey, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, and Ivan Rodriguez.
The criteria could be All Star Selections, Defensive Metrics as measured by Defensive Runs Saved, OPS, Team Winning % in the Players' Prime, and Legacy (ways in which the player influenced the standard understanding of how to play the position).
The five best action pictures of the 1980s are Terminator, To Live and Die in LA, Predator, Lethal Weapon, and Diehard.
The criteria could be Franchising, Visual Innovation, Efficient Editing, Subsequent Success of the Cast, and Legacy (how many movies made since were obviously inspired by this film?).
Notice how you can determine the scope of the frame. You can do something like "of all time," or you can limit the focus to a particular era, region, type, or genre. You only have to explain the reason for the specific narrowing of focus. For instance, I'm uncomfortable making pronouncements about "all time" in baseball history because prior to the early 1960s, MLB was not fully integrated. I feel strongly that the exclusion of many talented players in earlier decades directly affected the quality of play to an extent that it could be argued it was a different sport altogether. So I prefer to divide baseball into two large halves: prior to 1962 (when both leagues were expanded to something like modern size and featured a large number of black and Latino players), and after. I only need to explain to my readers why I've done this.
The structure is tripartite: exposition, body, and conclusion.
In the exposition, you will need a beginning strategy (either an apt quotation or an anecdote), transitional material (where you explain the relevance of your strategy and fully announce your topic), and your thesis ("The five best are...").
The body will begin with a full listing and explanation of the criteria for selection. It will then proceed through the five in order from least to greatest. Treat each of the five as an individual conversation in which you discuss the criteria. Discuss strengths first and relative weaknesses last. Bolster the conversation with trivia or incidental facts.
The conclusion should mirror the introduction (re-establish thesis, speculate about future developments or otherwise make "small talk," then finish with another strategy.