Stand and Structure of an Essay

Is violence ever justified?

Position: violence is not justified

Stand 1: Stand 2:
Generally, I believe that violent behaviour is not Generally, I believe that one should not resort to
to be condoned due to reasons 1, 2 and 3. The violence. This is because… (reason 1, 2 and 3).
exception, in my opinion is when violence in the
form of self-protection is imperative to preserve
one’s life or the lives of innocent people.

Intro Intro
A1 A1
A2 A2
A3 A3
Exception 1 (could also be a CA1 (reason why others who disagree with my
limitation/condition/degree (extent) etc stand would say violence is acceptable)
depending on the qn) R1 (you can concede a bit to the CA to recognize
Conclusion there is some truth to it but overall, you need to
show that the view held by these others are
invalid/limited/wrong etc and why your own
reason is still more valid)
Conclusion

So how you craft your stand is important. Cos it can determine the shape /
structure of your essay and affect the strength of your argumentation, eg how
you do balance in Paper 1.
Note: Although there is no fixed number of body paragraphs that a student should
have, usually most tend to aim for 4-5 well-written body paragraphs that include
balance.
Quick Re-cap on Balance:
Balance can be in the form of CA-R or balancing paragraph method [eg the extent,
limitation(s), exception(s), condition(s), concession(s) etc].
If the CA is very strong, at the beginning of the R, you can start off with a mini
concession, ie point out why there is a grain of truth/some validity in the CA
because… (state reason). However, you need to point out why your point/idea is
still stronger/more valid. Eg there is some truth in the CA as in the short term,
foreign aid can help a nation with immediate crises, but this is not a long term
solution as I believe that over time, it may develop over-reliance of a nation on
foreign aid…
Pls refer to last year’s lectures for specific examples.
Signposting is therefore very important. Don’t confuse the reader. For example, if
your stand is violence cannot be justified, don’t suddenly switch your line of
argumentation to why it can be justified.