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| Sorting
arguments into topics and paragraphs |
On this page
you will start working on a longer text made up of 3 paragraphs. These
paragraphs will be pargraphs 2, 3 and 4 from an argumentative essay
on the issue: Should marine mammals be kept in captivity in marine
parks?. Marine mammals are warm-blooded sea animals such as whales,
dolphins and seals. Marine parks are places where these animals are
kept in pools and perform in shows for the public to see. An example
of a marine park in Australia is "Seaworld" on the Gold Coast
in Queensland.
Earlier in this unit we saw that each paragraph in
an argumentative essay discusses a different topic related to the issue
of the essay. Therefore, you need to sort your arguments into different
topics when you preparing to write your essay. On this page you will
practice sorting arguments into topics.
Below are the beginning sections of three paragraphs on the
issue, Should marine mammals be kept in captivity in
marine parks? Because they are the beginnings of the
paragraphs they each present and problematise opposing
arguments on the issue. Describe the topic of each paragraph
in four words or less and write the description in the
margin next to each paragraph. (You will need to print the
page out - the blank lines are there for you to write on in
Task 3 below).
Before you complete this task you might want to look back
at the work on describing paragraph
topics that you completed earlier in this unit.
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Main conclusion: We should not keep
marine mammals in captivity |
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It has been argued that dolphin parks provide
the only opportunity for much of the public to see
marine mammals (Smith, 1992). Most Australians, so
this argument goes, live in cities and never get to
see these animals. It is further claimed that
marine parks allow the average Australian to
appreciate our marine wildlife.
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Dr Alison Lane, the director of the Cairns
Marine Science Institute, contends that we need
marine parks for scientific research (The Age,
19.2.93). She argues that much of our knowledge of
marine mammals comes from studies which were
undertaken at marine parks. The knowledge which is
obtained at marine parks, so this argument goes,
can be useful for planning for the conservation of
marine mammal species.
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It is the contention of the Marine Park Owners
Association that marine parks attract a lot of
foreign tourists (The Sun-Herald 12.4.93). This
position goes on to assert that these tourists
spend a lot of money, increasing our foreign
exchange earnings and assisting our national
balance of payments.
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Below is a list of arguments that support the writer's main
conclusion. Later (in Task 3) you will add them to the essay
above. However, first they need to be sorted into the
different topics that are covered by each paragraph so
that you know which paragraph they can be added to.
The following abbreviations represent the different
topics you identified in Task 1:
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= Public access to animals |
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= Scientific research |
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= Economic Benefits from tourism |
Sort the following supporting arguments into the three
topics by writing the correct abreviation in the boxes:
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Arguments that support the author's main
conclusion |
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However, as Smith states, dolphins, whales and
seals can be be viewed in the wild at a number of
places on the Australian coast. |
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Moreover, dolphin and whale biology changes in
marine park conditions. |
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Furthermore, we should be promoting our
beautiful natural environment to tourists and not
the ugly concrete marine park venues. |
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Tourists come here to see our native wildlife in
its natural environment and not to see it in cages
and cement pools. |
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In addition, marine mammals in dolphin parks are
trained and this means that their patterns of
social behaviour are changed. |
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In fact, there are more places where they can be
seen in the wild than places where they can be seen
in captivity. |
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In addition, places where there are wild marine
mammals do not charge an exorbitant entry fee -
they are free. |
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Surveys of overseas tourists show that they come
here for a variety of other reasons and not to
visit places like Seaworld (The Age, Good Weekend
16.8.93). |
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Therefore research undertaken at marine parks is
generally not reliable. |
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However, foreign tourists would still come to
Australia if the parks were closed down. |
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They can usually see animals in those conditions
in their own countries. |
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However, as Jones (1991) explains, park research
is only useful for understanding captive animals
and is not useful for learning about animals in the
wild. |
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Their diets are different, they have
significantly lower life spans and they are more
prone to disease. |
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Moreover, most Australians would have to travel
less to get to these locations than they would to
get to the marine parks on the Gold Coast. |
Now the supporting arguments are sorted into the same topics
as the pargraphs in the text in Task 1.
You are ready to add them to the text. Add them to the text
now. (If you haven't yet printed out this page do so
now).
You will need to pay careful attention to the
connectives in each of the supporting statements to complete this
task correctly. You might want to look back at the pages that you
studied earlier in this unit on:
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