A central argument is the backbone of your essay, what you want to persuade your reader is true. It gives your writing a sense of purpose. It does not have to be ‘argumentative’ (see below), but it is normally reducible to a single statement (not a question). If you can’t express it in a single statement, then you may not have a clear enough idea of where your essay is going. It represents the difference between descriptive and analytical writing.
Reducing your central argument to a single statement is 1 method of cracking the essay; it may be frustratingly difficult, but it is an invaluable way to check if you are ready to begin. Here are some examples of what a statement of the central argument might look like:
X’s photographs of disabled and insane subjects can be seen as self-portraits. The most important differences between the Art Deco and Bauhaus styles are X, Y and Z.
The 19th Century Gothic novel allowed women new literary freedoms, in particular X and Y. X is caused by Y.
This artist’s work successfully overcomes the limitations of Z.
The reason rocks A and B are found in formation X is Z.
Fukuyama’s notion of ‘the end of history’ is flawed because it fails to consider X and Y.
The notion of matrixial space raises questions A and B. Notice that all of these statements explicitly answer questions about the true nature of the subject they address: What are X’s photographs about? What were the most important differences between Bauhaus and Art Deco? In what way did the Gothic novel impact on
gender roles? What explanation is there for X? and so on. A central argument should say something important about the topic, and say it clearly. Please note, however, that a central argument can raise questions at the same time as being explicit and clear – as is the case with the last example.
Testing relevance
The examples above each represent a particular argument, or position on the subject material. For this reason, they allow you to judge the relevance of everything in your essay: ‘Does this material support my central argument?’ should be the question that you keep asking yourself. If it doesn’t then you must either find a way of making it relevant (and explicitly showing the reader that it is), or leaving it out. In this way, your central argument is the organising principle of your essay or dissertation. You might want to write down your central argument and stick it above your desk to refer to.
Avoiding questions that are too broad
If you are writing about ‘the way architecture reflects political ideology,’ and you want your first chapter to provide historical background to your essay, you will be faced with an unmanageably vast amount of possible material. This is because you do not have a central argument, only a description of the subject area. But, if you can formulate a central argument on the subject, such as ‘Religious and secular architecture represent ideology in radically different ways’ or ‘Democracies are happy to borrow from the architecture of dictatorships’, then you immediately have an organising principle which will allow you to choose the material for your historical chapter in a much more directed way.