So, did Oedipus deserve what he got in the end? It'd be mighty easy to take a side and just try and outshout anyone who disagreed with you, but creating logical arguments might work better. So, let's talk setting up arguments.

A number of different persuasive techniques can help you make your point, so let's talk logic.

Deductive reasoning means you can prove a conclusion.

All girls are human
Karla is a girl
Therefore, Karla is human.

This is a bullet-proof sort of reasoning, but it's not very practical in writing where issues aren't black and white. So, you're going to have to use Inductive reasoning, meaning making a conclusion based on facts, examples or analogies.

Inductive reasoning means you can show something is likely to be true. Let's start with four forms of support for inductive arguments.

1. Observation. If you've seen something, it makes it pretty likely to be true. So, if you went to school at a grade school that required uniforms, you can describe your observations about whether or not uniforms work. So, your observation of Oedipus' behavior backed by quote fragments are legitimate arguments.

2. Cause and Effect. You can explain the logical consequences of some action. So, if the school you went to started using uniforms and kids got into fewer fights, that's a logical argument. If you can logically convince me that a cause and effect happened in one place, you can argue that the same cause will create the same effect again. So, when you're looking at what Oedipus' behavior caused versus what other people caused, make sure you have a true cause and effect.

3. Expert Testimony. You can quote an expert in the field. So, if you can find a principal or a researcher who supports your position, you can quote them. Can you find professors who've written papers on Oedipus and punishment?

4. Comparison. Compare two similar items and you can prove one by proving the other. So, if you're trying to prove uniforms won't work at our school, you might show how similar Greenway is to another school where uniforms failed. Prove that two things are similar in most ways, you can convince me that you are similar in other ways. Can you compare what Oedipus did to something in modern terms? Can you compare his punishments to other literature or the news?

You're going to write a clear paragraph presenting an argument about why Oedipus does or does not deserve what happens in the end. So, you need to include

1. Clear topic sentence that takes a position.

2 Specific examples with embedded quotes.

3. At least two of the argument strategies listed above. The samples below uses observation and comparison.

4.A rough draft with style analysis marks.

Audience: Your teacher
Format: Handwritten (no typing allowed): Rough and Final Drafts Required (Final stapled on top)
Style: Basic analysis required
Length: One page maximum
Presentation: Neat, in pen, one side of the paper

Oedipus Online
Logical Evidence and Fallacies
Ms. Cannaday's Grammar Page
Style Analysis
Purdue OWL on grammar, punctuation, and spelling
Grammar Slammer

Prompt: Are the women in The Odyssey weak or powerless?

. . . . .Many women in The Odyssey wield far more power than the average character. At first, Penelope may seem like a simple housewife, but she is a woman running a kingdom all alone. Her husband is missing, her son is too young for anyone to take him seriously, and her father-in-law spends so much time "nurs[ing] his sorrow" that he does not help her at all. Despite the lack of male leadership, the wineskins keep appearing, the suitors are supplied with "bread and flesh," there are "goat's bellies" of "puddings" by the fire, and all of the encroaching suitors are fed. A woman leads this well-run kingdom, and she does it while actively tricking the men who want to marry her. Even more significantly, the goddesses hold far more power over Odyessus' life than the gods. Mythology places Zeus and Poseidon at the top of the food chain as far as gods are concerned; however, Poseidon's anger can't overcome Athena's protection of Odysseus as her favored hero. She gets him home. And in the end, when all the families of the slain suitors come to seek their revenge, Athena appears and simply orders them to "hold [their] hands from fierce fighting," and they obey. Despite the belief that women are weak, she has all the power of the police to end the conflict and all the power of a king to set rules and require people to follow her edicts. Clearly, women do have power.