How your topic can be developed into an argument.

It is how you can show the reader what you are thinking, what your views are and how you have engaged critically with the topic being discussed. You can do this by building an effective and persuasive argument for your reader. If you don’t use your voice you give information that have already been established instead of proving that you critically engage with the write sources and foundation.

How do you make an argument? By being critical, questioning and understand how to have a balanced view of the opposite arguments, you have to prove to your audience that you have the ability to be understanding and to have previously looked at different parameters to establish what you are saying.

Each paragraph has to follow a structure to guide your reader in a logical way; try to answer and prevent what the reader might ask and write it in the Thesis.

–The key elements of an argument include the following:–

Statement of problem–

Literature review

–Precise focus of your research stated as a hypothesis, question, aim, or objective

–Method and methodology–

Results/evidence

–Discussion and conclusion (including implications for future research)

(For the literature review conclusion restate the question and how the literature and the sources you are going to use will bring you to a conclusion, showing that there are accepted ideas that you are using and that you have a potential to question them or reinforce them)

–Include your own voice in your writing. Your voice will emerge through your discussion, interpretation, and evaluation of the sources.– Make your unattributed (not referenced) assertion at the start of paragraphs followed by evidence, findings, arguments from your sources.

–Consider areas of professional and academic development that motivates your study. –Feel empowered that your contemporary experience and position for inquiry can add to existing research possibly challenge and even contest established canons.–The solution beyond all others is subject knowledge through extensive reading, sourcing and testing where necessary. –Feel confident that the motivation, critique and objective for the research is achievable.

What are the steps to developing an academic argument?

Make sure you have a premise a reason for you argument and evidence to support it.

–Clearly state your contention (the main point an argument is trying to prove, usually a belief outlined in the thesis statement of an introduction) in a thesis statement within your introduction.– Identify the important reasons/premises of your argument.  A reason is evidence given to support the contention. Every reason has premises, and each must be true for the reason to support the contention.– Identify possible objections (a ‘reason’ that a contention is false; evidence against a contention) to your argument.  –Research evidence that supports your reasons and/or reduces objections.– Structure your argument so your points logically lead to your conclusion.– Clearly state your conclusion (the proven contention) bringing together your thesis statement and the supporting points.

In the literature review engage in the research and establish new research, by identify the limitations of other resources. Find strands of other phenomena to add to them (Psychology, mental health…).

One of the ways to generate an argument to discuss in a thesis is critical thinking: how can I critically look at an idea from an impartial perspective? This process starts with questioning the information you get, find evidence to investigate them, cross examine the witnesses, sum up and consider theory and finally reach an informed verdict. All this is possible through systematic thinking and reading and sources to support your argument or go against it.

Descriptive writing is necessary when we are looking at a critical review, it tells us what the author has done, giving a summary of a piece of literature; it often overshadow telling us the truth, it should be balanced with critical writing two different perspective with which you inform the reader. descriptive is data, facts, measurements, a clear understanding, information in an objective way.

Critical writing gives a balance ed account of pros and cons of ideas; it allows you to create assertions something true through quotes, it gives evidence and arguments and backs up arguments with facts and always avoid simplistic conclusions.

Any subject matter should go through this process to be defined as critical thinking:

•Good critical thinking is systematic (like a criminal investigation); you need to: 

• Investigate the problem thoroughly
• Prosecute and defend the ideas
• Cross examine the witnesses (literature)

• Sum up and consider theory 

•Reach an informed verdict
– In the light of this evidence, it seems that…. 

Critical writing does not only report the information it adds to them: take their learning and find yourself contributing and adding supporting their argument providing a good discussion

Descriptions are also needed in the literature review descriptive of how you are going to use the sources

Strategies for being critical can be to be suspicious even for technical jargon to make sure you understand them and also try to express those ideas using your own language.

Model to generate critical thinking:

Topic –

Description , what, where, who, when-

Analysis, how, why, what if

Evaluation, what if, so what, what next

Literature review

Define your research scope explore materials and resources research your topic options

A list of keywords related to that thesis you can use to streamline your source-gathering process

Reason to choose the source and how it is going to help the research topic (methodology descriptive writing) and it also inform what the thesis is for?

Literature review purpose is to establish and present the sources you have used in your research which includes: relevant research methodology – explaining the type of research you conducted, and how you conducted it, the reason for choosing the sources you chose and how you analysed the data you collected; theoretical framework you established- mapping your research showing where you started, which concepts you chose to focus on and where following those concepts brought you; where your work fits into the bigger picture – explain how your findings connect to the existing body of research on your topic and how it related to other pieces of research, any debates to which it contributes.

Structuring a literature review:

states the research question and explains how you tackled it

body paragraphs that explains the research in further detail

end with a conclusion section that reiterated the research question while summarising the insight you had through your research.

personal analysis in present tense scholarly work past tense

find potential sources through the key words and read the abstract to determine how relevant they are within the research’s scope.

Take notes of the theme present in them and ask:

Do the different authors agree, where do they disagree, how does each author support their position.

Literature review outline

Key words for my thesis

Anthropomorphism, Anthropomorphising, Animation, Animals, anthropomorphism in animation, Ecological Sensibility, Anthropocentrism

Find a list of relevant resources and how each source you consult contributes to the knowledge

The Animated Bestiary by Paul Wells:

Critically evaluates the depiction of animals in cartoons and animation more generally. Paul Wells argues that artists use animals to engage with issues that would be more difficult to address directly because of political, religious, or social taboos. Consequently, and principally through anthropomorphism, animation uses animals to play out a performance of gender, sex and sexuality, racial and national traits, and shifting identity, often challenging how we think about ourselves.

Popular Media and Animals By Claire Molloy:

Claire Molloy argues that animal narratives and imagery are economically significant for popular media industries which, in turn, play an important role in shaping the limits and norms of public discourses on animals and animal issues. The author explores some of the myriad ways in which media discourses sustain a range of constructions of animals that are connected, appropriated or co-opted by other systems of production and so play a role in the normalisation of particular practices.

The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation (From Snow White to WALL-E) By David Whitley

As Whitley has shown, and Disney’s newest films continue to demonstrate, the messages animated films convey about the natural world are of crucial importance to their child viewers. Beginning with Snow White, Whitley examines a wide range of Disney’s feature animations, in which images of wild nature are central to the narrative. 

Article: Ecological Sensibility Versus Anthropomorphism: an analysis of film Ratauille

This paper analyzes the animated film Ratatouille as a social document to inspire humans to improve ecological sensibilities.

‘I’m Not a Real Boy, I’m a Puppet’: Computer-Animated Films and Anthropomorphic Subjectivity Christopher Holliday