Argumentation: More than Simply 'Pro' and 'Con'

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Argumentative essays. We've all written them. In fact, they seem to be the most common of the numeral essay structures English teachers expect us to utilize. Common knowledge of the basic structure of an argument essay is giving pros and cons, the good and bad, to support a thesis argument. Understanding Rhetoric by Elizabeth Losh, Jonathan Alexander, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon brings the basics and some of the finer details of argumentative essays to life with a spunky graphic novel based on informing the reader of rhetoric.

Due to argumentative essays being a popular, basic essay, most of this comic is a review of already known details and important information. The style of the writing and art made educating myself on argument essays rather enjoyable, more enjoyable than it has ever previously been. The issue on argument consists of digging deeper about the concepts of pro's and con's in an essay through everyday situations. It shows arguments, counter arguments, and thought provoking ideas. This issue challenges the reader to go further than simply right or wrong: this issue stresses that there is middle ground between two issues since they are never starkly black and white. The authors even went as far as to use a simile and a visual image of that simile to describe the different pieces of an argument essay and how they fit together.

Image Courtesy of James Arnold

Unfortunately, all of this information is not new news. Although, the emphasis of importance this issue put on common ground between two opposing points is refreshing. To a student who doesn't know the first thing about argumentative essays, this engaging, funny, fast paced visual based interpretation would be a great introduction to the basics and more important aspects of an argumentative essay.

By Sierra Baumann