In order to gain the hearts of your readers, it is important to possess strong arguments. What is a strong argument? Usually, it is the one which is convincing enough and is presented in the clearest manner possible. In order to create convincing argument, one should take into consideration one of the most significant convincing argument’s elements – evidence.
In general, one uses evidence in order to:
- Plan the debate.
- Point out where his argument is incorporated in the debate.
In particular, evidence can be used in several ways:
- To show the difference between several opinions.
- To build up cause-effect relation.
- To disprove the opinion of an opponent.
- For confirmation of one’s claims and logic.
- To compare different things that will be the stimulation for some further argument.
It is essential to use quotations in order to make your position differ from the other ones in this argument’s spectrum. You can do it in different manners. For example, you can summarize the argument of some person and mention her/his name. In this case, there should be a reference to the source so that your reader could have an opportunity to check it.
One can also use short quotations in order to sum up the argument. In this case, you have to provide your readers with the author’s exact words and proper citation.
Sometimes, the position of writer can be very important and capture the main idea very well. In such cases, you can use some long quotation. It can turn out to be very effective, especially if it is a springboard for your future study. If the quotation you use to support your argument is, for example, longer than 30 words, you can decrease the margins. If the quotation is indented, there’s no need to use quotation marks. For further information on quotations’ formatting style you can view specific citation style manuals.