ARGUMENTA

TIVE 
WRITING

Chapter 6
WRITING

– Is an act of summarizing, synthesizing, and articulating

one’s thoughts.

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experiences of his life, every quality of his
mind, is written large in his work”
by: Virginia Woolf
Argumentative Writing Defined

– It is a type of writing that requires a writer to set out a

definitive premise or premises and then seeks to
establish the validity and merit of such premise or
premises.

– Syllogism is used not just in logical thinking but also in

argumentative writing.
Example:

Elated that her sister who had been married for five year
was pregnant for the first time, Alma donated Php
100,00.00 to the unborn child. Unfortunately, the baby died
one hour after delivery. May alma recover the Php
100,000.00 that she had donated to said baby before it was
born considering that the baby died? Stated otherwise, is
the donation valid and binding? Explain.
Important reminders to answer 
the problem
 Carefully analyze the facts
 The question being asked
 Relationship of facts to an applicable law
 Importantly, the main issue in the problem.

Note: do not write the answer immediately, instead outline syllogism

in your mind first and then write a draft.
Layout of an answer 

Consider the following categories in answering the problem

 Major Premise
 Minor Premise
 Conclusion
Based on our example

– We may consider the following:

– Art. 37 of CC. Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal
relations, is inherent in every natural person and is lost only through death. Capacity
to act, which is the power to do acts with legal effect, is acquired and may be lost.
– Art. 40 of CC. Birth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be
considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be born later
with the conditions specified in the following article.
– Art 41. of CC. For civil purposes, the fetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it
is completely delivered from the mother’s womb. However, fetus had an intrauterine
life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty four
hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb.
The Syllogistic Pattern in 
Argumentative Writing
– An effective way in answering questions provided in law school and in bar
exams.

– The pattern is: (as indicated in Layout of an answer)

– FIRST CONCLUSION
– SECOND MAJOR PREMISE
– THIRD MINOR PREMISE
– At this point, we must emphasize that deductive
reasoning must be the syllogism we should use. Thus, in
deductive reasoning, the conclusion necessarily follows
the premises.
– On of the most effective way to answer any problem
provided by the professors during term exams.
 Crafted answer based on the 
syllogistic pattern
– Based on our example:
– Conclusion: No, Alma cannot recover the donated Php 100,000.00 because the donation
is valid and binding.
– Major Premise: Under the law, substantially provides that an unborn child is considered born,
that is, a person who can be a donee in a contract of donation provided it is
alive at the time of its delivery from the womb and incase it has an intra-
uterine life of less than seven months, it must not die within twenty four
hours after its deliver.
– Minor Premise: In the case at bar, the child is alive upon its complete delivery from the womb
and there is no indication that it has an intra-uterine life of less than seven
months. The child is therefore considered born, making the donation to it
valid.
Last note

– Remember, that we have accounted the core points of the problem, and have
written a decent deductive “syllogistical” presentation of our answer.

– The most important thing to remember is that all steps must be done as
QUICKLY as possible because EXAMINATIONS ARE TIMED.

– To learn and effectively use this pattern, PRACTICE therefore means everything
in all aspects to achieved each goal.
Another Example

– An accidental fire gutted the JK factory in Caloocan. JKL decided to suspend

operations and requested its employers to stop reporting for work. After six (6)
months, JKL resumed operations but hired a new set of employees. The old set
of employees filed a case for illegal dismissal.

– If you were the Labor Arbiter, how would you decide the case?
Crafted Answer

Using the Pattern:

Conclusion I will rule in favor of the employees. JKL factory merely suspended its
operation as a result of the fire that gutted the factory.
Major Premise Under the law, substantially provides that an employer may bona fide
suspend the operation of its business for a period not exceeding six (6) months. In such
cases, the employer shall reinstate the employee to his former position without loss of
seniority rights if he indicates his desire to resume his work not later than one (1)
month from the resumption of operations of his employer.
Minor Premise In the case at bar, there would be no termination of the employment
of the employee, but only a temporary displacement. Since the suspension of work
lasted more than six months, there is now constructive dismissal.