Essay logic and structure: structure and logic (3)

This worksheet is set at a difficult level and aims to test essay logic and
structure. After the completion of this worksheet students should have
a far better understanding of the logic of ideas and arguments as well as the structure of
displaying these ideas and argument.

Academic argument structure

In general, constructing an argument is done in an academically structured way. Be it
Political Science, History or Anthropology, argumentation and structure have the same basic
logical sequence.
As you know, essays are structure as follows (See the UCT Writing Centre for more
information):
 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
In addition, a paragraph is usually structured as follows:
1) Thesis statement/argument/claim for the paragraph (remember, each paragraph in
an essay should discuss only one idea/claim).
2) Substantiate your argument: give evidence, scholarly arguments and numerical data
to illustrate and substantiate your argument/claim.
3) Conclusion: conclude what the thesis statement means and its relevance.
Activity 1

Look at the sentence/s below and match them with their corresponding function.
Example:

1. Thesis statement/argument a. Xenophobia itself is not a new

phenomenon to South Africa, rather
and as argued by Carter, xenophobia
and violence against foreigners has
become common place in post-
Apartheid South Africa.

2. Substantiating evidence (1) b. Probably the most devastating

instance of xenophobia was in 2008
when South Africa witnessed mass
xenophobic violence against foreign
nationals.

3. Substantiating evidence (2) c. While violence against foreign

nationals has not reached similar
levels in the six years since 2008,
there is still large-scale resentment
towards foreigners living and
working in South Africa.
4. Concluding remarks d. During this time, mobs of angry

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 South Africans murdered 62 people,
most of them foreign nationals.
Moreover, thousands of homes were
destroyed, property was looted and
some 100 000 people fled their
homes.

Look at the sentence/s below and match them with their corresponding function.

1. Thesis statement/argument a. Australia’s Tourism Commissioner

states that 87% of tourists (2000-2004)
cited extraordinary natural phenomena
as a significant motivating reason for
their visit to Australia (RET, 2009).
2. Substantiating evidence (1) b. Unique geological features and
ecology create landforms which are key
components of Australia’s appeal to
tourists.
3. Substantiating evidence (2) c. Australia’s unique geological and
ecological features make it a particularly
attractive tourist location
4. Concluding remarks d. Favourite destinations included: Uluru,
beaches and tropical rainforests. Uluru is
the world’s largest monolith (RET, 2009).
This formation is so rare that the Uluru-
Kata Tjuta National Park is one of the few
World Heritage properties listed for both
its natural and cultural values (Georgiou,
2007, 21). Australia has over 10,000
miles of white sandy beaches, some of
the world’s best surfing conditions and a
climate that allows comfortable
swimming throughout the year (RET,
2009). Australia’s tropical north offers
some of the most pristine wilderness left
in the world. For example, The Cape York
Peninsula is approximately the size of
England, Scotland and Wales (137,000
km²), but has only 18,000 residents
(Georgiou, 25).
Source: Available at:
http://studywell.library.qut.edu.au/pdf_files/WRITING_WritingStructureOverview.pdf

Look at the sentence/s below and match them with their corresponding function

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1. Thesis statement/argument a. To illustrate this importance,
development aid has become the
single biggest source of finance for
the majority of the African states.
2. Evidence (1) b. As a result, development aid is Africa
is very important as it accounts for a
large share of Africa’s total income.
3. Evidence (2) c. Furthermore, and again illustrating
the importance of development aid
in Africa, is the fact that sub-Saharan
Africa receives more aid than any
other region in the world. According
to the Development Initiative, in
2010, SSA received a total of $45
billion in foreign aid, roughly a third
of total global foreign aid. This figure
averages to around $97 per person as
compared to the $41 per person in
Asia.
4. Concluding remarks d. Development aid is a very important
tool for Africa’s development as
Africa receives large amounts of
assistance from the West.

Look at the sentence/s below and match them with their corresponding function

1. Thesis Statement/argument a. According to Afrobarometer’s 2012

country survey, around 35% of
participants stated that they were
likely or very likely to take action
against foreigners.
2. Evidence (3) b. Moreover, while trust levels in South
Africa are generally quite low, a
massive 65% of those interviewed
stated that they do not trust
foreigners ‘at all’. The survey
evidence indicates that a large share
of South African’s are suspicious, if
not outright hostile towards
foreigners living and working in the
country.
3. Evidence (2) c. The 2008 xenophobic attacks drew
attention to deep seeded xenophobic
attitudes in South Africa.
4. Concluding remarks d. As a result, South Africa is often
thought to be a highly xenophobic

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 country.

Activity 2

You are free to write a wide range of possible thesis statements, so long as the evidence and
the sentences below correspond with the thesis statement.

Look at the sentences/evidence and write a thesis statement/argument/claim that the

evidence would support.

1. According to Prezworski and Limongi, the relationship between regime type and
levels of wealth is strong. From the evidence, states which are wealthy (measured by
GDP per capita) tend to be democratic while those which are poorer are more likely
to be authoritarian. Evidence of this can be seen in Europe where states are
generally wealthy as well as democratic. However, the 3 rd wave of democracy has
brought democracies to poor countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. As
a result, the relationship between regime type and levels of wealth is perhaps not a
strong indicator of democracies world-wide.
Source: Prezworski, A & Limongi, F. 1997. Modernization: Theories and facts. World
Politics, Vol. 49, No, 02.

2. According to Bellin, while the number of global democracies has doubled from 1972,
the number of total democracies has declined in the Middle East. Today, only two
out of twenty one Middle Eastern countries are considered electoral democracies. In
other world, the overwhelming majority of regimes in the Middle East region are
authoritarian monarchies, dictatorships, or religious oligarchies. The evidence thus
suggests that the Middle East is not democratic in nature.
Source: Bellin, E. 2004.The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle-East:
Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective. Comparative politics, Vol. 36, No. 02

3. Immigration to Australia roughly began in 1976, when the first boats carrying
Indochinese men arrived. Over the next five years there were 2059 Vietnamese boat
arrivals. In the first wave of immigration to Australia the majority of asylum seekers
were from Indochina. From 1999, increasing amounts of asylum seekers began
arriving from the Middle East. The diversification of asylum seekers has greatly
increased the numbers of immigrants and refugees entering or attempting enter
Australia, placing substantial pressure on the government.

Source: Parliament of Australia. Boat Arrivals since 1976. Available at:

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliame
ntary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1314/BoatArrivals.

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4. Africa’s GDP growth rate in 2013 was 5.7% while Latin America recorded a growth of
3.9%, North Africa and the Middle East, 3.8%, and Asia, 7.9%, Furthermore, Africa
accounts for 7 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world; namely, Ethiopia,
Tanzania, Mozambique, Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria. Over the
next 5 years, Africa is expected to become the fastest growing region in the world,
overtaking Asia.

Source: The Economist. 2011. Africa’s Impressive Growth. Available at:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/01/daily_chart.