#  Develop an Argument 

 



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##  Common Ways to Develop an Argument

###  General Writing 

 [HarvardWrites](https://www.harvardwrites.com/) provides the following suggestions:

1. Challenge an initial impression or surface-level reading.
2. Challenge a published view.
3. Explain an inconsistency, gap, or ambiguity.
4. Explain unexpected conclusions.
5. Intervene in a scholarly debate.
6. Point out how a piece of evidence encapsulates a larger issue.
7. Point out how an insignificant moment is actually critical.
8. Point out the limits of the existing literature.
9. Point out a problem others don’t usually see.

###  Classics Writing

 The important point is that you’re using the evidence to say something new. In Classics, good examples of theses may include:

1. Taking a side in a historiographical debate.
2. Offering a new interpretation of a historical or literary source.
3. Arguing against another scholar’s theory.
4. Clarifying an ambiguity.
5. Applying a new methodology to a source.
6. Bringing new or not usually compared sources into the conversation.

 Make sure you check out [examples](/examples) of a range of thesis statements, with comments and feedback