At the heart of all academic writing is the concept of the academic argument. Most of us don’t like to argue, so when the concept of an argument is raised, we think of parents and teenagers clashing over homework or husbands and wives quarrelling over money, we become uncomfortable and want to avoid this writing process. An academic argument is not brawl, but it is instead an effort to persuade a reader through logic and reasoned thought to a writers’ point of view. An academic argument is “an … attempt[s] to convince or persuade others through reason, logic, and evidence to do what the writer wants or believe as the writer wishes,” (Dialogues, p. 15) At the core of the academic argument, is the idea that someone else might hold an opposing
