Tonight I have to write a rough draft to 6-page Aristotelian argument. I’ve never had to write a paper with such format before (other than sometimes with specific headings that were easy to follow and fill in the blanks). This essay is probably going to be one of my most challenging ever organization-wise. I’m looking forward to the challenge, but I wish I had started during the weekend (not that I really was in a mental state over the weekend to work on this). An Aristotelian argument has the following seven parts (copied from Dr. Tolar Burton’s handout, which draws from Rhetoric in the Classical Tradition by Winifred Bryan Horner, St. Martin’s, 1988):
1. The exordium or introduction: gains the reader’s attention and interest
2. The narratio or statement of facts or circumstances that need to be known about the subject of the discourse: provides the facts or history of the situation
3. The explicatio or definition of issues: defines terms and explains issues
4. The partitio or thesis: states the proposition or particular issue that is to be proven
5. The confirmatio or proof of the case: supports and develops the thesis
6. The refutatio or answering of the opposing views
7. The peroratio or conclusion: summarizes the arguments and sometimes urges the audience to action.
you just saved my ass! thanks soooo much