Using the Lit book, we today studied how to construct an argumentative essay. Carson first studied a prompt and identified the topic or subject of the essay. We then discussed how an essay can serve different purposes : to convince, to encourage, or to challenge a commonly held opinion. Based on two essays on automation studied in class, Carson chose a claim or topic, and then a purpose-to challenge commonly held ideas on the benefits of automation. Last, I discussed the importance of crafting an argument based on the known audience. I noted that for our purposes , we can assume an academic audience whereas for an informative essay we might have an audience of experts or novices on the subject.