what is argumentative essay slideshare

• My presentations

Auth with social network:

Download presentation

We think you have liked this presentation. If you wish to download it, please recommend it to your friends in any social system. Share buttons are a little bit lower. Thank you!

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Writing an Argumentative Essay

Published by Cordelia Ellis Modified over 8 years ago

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Writing an Argumentative Essay"— Presentation transcript:

Argumentative Writing

Persuasive Essay Writing The art of persuading someone to think like you!

Writing an Argumentative Paragraph

How to write a THESIS STATEMENT A thesis statement answers the question asked of you. (Is Ms. Harper amazing?) A thesis statement is a claim (has to have.

Argumentative Essay.

Expository Writing.

Paragraphs A good paragraph has the following key elements: A main idea expressed in a topic sentence (your reasons) Details supporting the main idea (your.

Essay Outline Poetry Unit.

The Three Parts of an Essay

The “How and Why” of Writing

Let’s Review Some Things, Class Days ‘til KPREP: 19.

Writing the 5 Paragraph Essay. Introduction Three Parts  Attention Grabber  Claim/Argument  3 Reasons your argument is true.

A how-to guide. Introduction: Start with an attention getter. For literary analysis, this should be some background information related to the piece of.

Body Paragraphs Writing body paragraphs is always a T.R.E.A.T. T= Transition R= Reason/point from thesis/claim E= Evidence (quote from the text) A= Answer.

The Argumentative Essay. This just won’t cut it...

Argumentative Essay Standard: ELAGSE6W1

Invention and Arrangement

TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LEARN... HOW TO WRITE AN EXPOSITORY ESSAY !!!!!!

Take out a piece of paper and take notes…

Argumentative Essay Standard: ELACC6W1. What is it? An essay that is used to state and support claims written with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

About project

© 2024 SlidePlayer.com Inc. All rights reserved.

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

9.3: The Argumentative Essay

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 58378
• Lumen Learning

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

Learning Objectives

• Examine types of argumentative essays

Argumentative Essays

You may have heard it said that all writing is an argument of some kind. Even if you’re writing an informative essay, you still have the job of trying to convince your audience that the information is important. However, there are times you’ll be asked to write an essay that is specifically an argumentative piece.

An argumentative essay is one that makes a clear assertion or argument about some topic or issue. When you’re writing an argumentative essay, it’s important to remember that an academic argument is quite different from a regular, emotional argument. Note that sometimes students forget the academic aspect of an argumentative essay and write essays that are much too emotional for an academic audience. It’s important for you to choose a topic you feel passionately about (if you’re allowed to pick your topic), but you have to be sure you aren’t too emotionally attached to a topic. In an academic argument, you’ll have a lot more constraints you have to consider, and you’ll focus much more on logic and reasoning than emotions.

Argumentative essays are quite common in academic writing and are often an important part of writing in all disciplines. You may be asked to take a stand on a social issue in your introduction to writing course, but you could also be asked to take a stand on an issue related to health care in your nursing courses or make a case for solving a local environmental problem in your biology class. And, since argument is such a common essay assignment, it’s important to be aware of some basic elements of a good argumentative essay.

When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about. For example, you may be asked to take a stand on an issue you have been discussing in class. Perhaps, in your education class, you would be asked to write about standardized testing in public schools. Or, in your literature class, you might be asked to argue the effects of protest literature on public policy in the United States.

However, there are times when you’ll be given a choice of topics. You might even be asked to write an argumentative essay on any topic related to your field of study or a topic you feel that is important personally.

Whatever the case, having some knowledge of some basic argumentative techniques or strategies will be helpful as you write. Below are some common types of arguments.

Causal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you argue that something has caused something else. For example, you might explore the causes of the decline of large mammals in the world’s ocean and make a case for your cause.

Evaluation Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make an argumentative evaluation of something as “good” or “bad,” but you need to establish the criteria for “good” or “bad.” For example, you might evaluate a children’s book for your education class, but you would need to establish clear criteria for your evaluation for your audience.

Proposal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you must propose a solution to a problem. First, you must establish a clear problem and then propose a specific solution to that problem. For example, you might argue for a proposal that would increase retention rates at your college.

Narrative Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make your case by telling a story with a clear point related to your argument. For example, you might write a narrative about your experiences with standardized testing in order to make a case for reform.

Rebuttal Arguments

• In a rebuttal argument, you build your case around refuting an idea or ideas that have come before. In other words, your starting point is to challenge the ideas of the past.

Definition Arguments

• In this type of argument, you use a definition as the starting point for making your case. For example, in a definition argument, you might argue that NCAA basketball players should be defined as professional players and, therefore, should be paid.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20277

Essay Examples

• Click here to read an argumentative essay on the consequences of fast fashion . Read it and look at the comments to recognize strategies and techniques the author uses to convey her ideas.
• In this example, you’ll see a sample argumentative paper from a psychology class submitted in APA format. Key parts of the argumentative structure have been noted for you in the sample.

Link to Learning

For more examples of types of argumentative essays, visit the Argumentative Purposes section of the Excelsior OWL .

Contributors and Attributions

• Argumentative Essay. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/rhetorical-styles/argumentative-essay/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of a man with a heart and a brain. Authored by : Mohamed Hassan. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : pixabay.com/illustrations/decision-brain-heart-mind-4083469/. License : Other . License Terms : pixabay.com/service/terms/#license

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay

4-minute read

• 30th April 2022

An argumentative essay is a structured, compelling piece of writing where an author clearly defines their stance on a specific topic. This is a very popular style of writing assigned to students at schools, colleges, and universities. Learn the steps to researching, structuring, and writing an effective argumentative essay below.

Requirements of an Argumentative Essay

To effectively achieve its purpose, an argumentative essay must contain:

●  A concise thesis statement that introduces readers to the central argument of the essay

●  A clear, logical, argument that engages readers

●  Ample research and evidence that supports your argument

Approaches to Use in Your Argumentative Essay

1.   classical.

●  Clearly present the central argument.

●  Outline your opinion.

●  Provide enough evidence to support your theory.

2.   Toulmin

●  State your claim.

●  Supply the evidence for your stance.

●  Explain how these findings support the argument.

●  Include and discuss any limitations of your belief.

3.   Rogerian

●  Explain the opposing stance of your argument.

●  Discuss the problems with adopting this viewpoint.

●  Offer your position on the matter.

●  Provide reasons for why yours is the more beneficial stance.

●  Include a potential compromise for the topic at hand.

Tips for Writing a Well-Written Argumentative Essay

●  Introduce your topic in a bold, direct, and engaging manner to captivate your readers and encourage them to keep reading.

●  Provide sufficient evidence to justify your argument and convince readers to adopt this point of view.

●  Consider, include, and fairly present all sides of the topic.

●  Structure your argument in a clear, logical manner that helps your readers to understand your thought process.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

●  Discuss any counterarguments that might be posed.

●  Use persuasive writing that’s appropriate for your target audience and motivates them to agree with you.

Steps to Write an Argumentative Essay

Follow these basic steps to write a powerful and meaningful argumentative essay :

Step 1: Choose a topic that you’re passionate about

If you’ve already been given a topic to write about, pick a stance that resonates deeply with you. This will shine through in your writing, make the research process easier, and positively influence the outcome of your argument.

Step 2: Conduct ample research to prove the validity of your argument

To write an emotive argumentative essay , finding enough research to support your theory is a must. You’ll need solid evidence to convince readers to agree with your take on the matter. You’ll also need to logically organize the research so that it naturally convinces readers of your viewpoint and leaves no room for questioning.

Step 3: Follow a simple, easy-to-follow structure and compile your essay

A good structure to ensure a well-written and effective argumentative essay includes:

Introduction

●  Introduce your topic.

●  Offer background information on the claim.

●  Discuss the evidence you’ll present to support your argument.

●  State your thesis statement, a one-to-two sentence summary of your claim.

●  This is the section where you’ll develop and expand on your argument.

●  It should be split into three or four coherent paragraphs, with each one presenting its own idea.

●  Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that indicates why readers should adopt your belief or stance.

●  Include your research, statistics, citations, and other supporting evidence.

●  Discuss opposing viewpoints and why they’re invalid.

●  This part typically consists of one paragraph.

●  Summarize your research and the findings that were presented.

●  Emphasize your initial thesis statement.

●  Persuade readers to agree with your stance.

We certainly hope that you feel inspired to use these tips when writing your next argumentative essay . And, if you’re currently elbow-deep in writing one, consider submitting a free sample to us once it’s completed. Our expert team of editors can help ensure that it’s concise, error-free, and effective!

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Got content that needs a quick turnaround? Let us polish your work. Explore our editorial business services.

9-minute read

How to Use Infographics to Boost Your Presentation

Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...

8-minute read

Why Interactive PDFs Are Better for Engagement

Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...

7-minute read

Seven Key Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...

Five Creative Ways to Showcase Your Digital Portfolio

Are you a creative freelancer looking to make a lasting impression on potential clients or...

How to Ace Slack Messaging for Contractors and Freelancers

Effective professional communication is an important skill for contractors and freelancers navigating remote work environments....

3-minute read

How to Insert a Text Box in a Google Doc

Google Docs is a powerful collaborative tool, and mastering its features can significantly enhance your...

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Organizing Your Argument Presentation

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This presentation is designed to introduce your students to the elements of an organized essay, including the introduction, the thesis, body paragraphs, topic sentences, counterarguments, and the conclusion.

Home Collections Education Argumentative Essay PPT Presentation

Argumentative Essay PPT Presentation and Google Slides

Argumentative Essay Presentation Slide

Features of the template.

• 100% customizable slides and easy-to-download
• Slides are available in different nodes & colors.
• The slides contain 16:9 and 4:3 formats.
• It comes with five nodes.
• Easy to change the slide colors quickly.
• It is a well-crafted template with an instant download facility.
• We designed this slide with colorful elements.
• You can use this in Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Argumentative Essay
• Argumentative Essay Writing
• Writing Essay
• Argumentative Essay Plan
• Essay Sequence
• Piece Of Writing
• Argumentative Essay Infographics
• Google Slides

43+ Templates

177+ Templates

1296+ Templates

178+ Templates

Animals and birds

269+ Templates

Country Flags

46+ Templates

415+ Templates

179+ Templates

Galaxy or Space

124+ Templates

30+ Templates

You May Also Like These PowerPoint Templates

Argumentative Essay

Jul 24, 2014

110 likes | 277 Views

Argumentative Essay. What is Argument? . A form of writing that states the writer’s point of view on an issue and supports it by giving evidence. Purpose is to persuade readers to agree with the writer’s point of view or to take action. Analyzing an Argument Paragraph.

Share Presentation

• new battle strategies
• teaching sex
• transition words
• personal experience
• topic sentence

Presentation Transcript

What is Argument? • A form of writing that states the writer’s point of view on an issue and supports it by giving evidence. • Purpose is to persuade readers to agree with the writer’s point of view or to take action.

Analyzing an Argument Paragraph • Women should be allowed to serve in military roles that involve fighting. First of all, war combat does not involve the great strength it once did. Computer technology, smaller electronic devices, and other new battle strategies make war less about strength and more about intelligence. Women are not fighting rifle to rifle. Some people insist that women on average have less upper-body strength than men, making them less suited for combat. However, some women surpass some men in upper-body strength.Although opponents feel that forcing women to fight in the military is an attempt to change people’s attitudes about women, integrating women into the military is actually a reflection of current society. • Underline the topic sentence. • How many reasons does the writer give? List each reason. • Circle the transition words. • Which two opposing arguments does the writer acknowledge? • Which argument is least convincing to you?

Women should be allowed to serve in military roles that involve fighting.First of all, war combat does not involve the great strength it once did. Computer technology, smaller electronic devices, and other new battle strategies make war less about strength and more about intelligence. Women are not fighting rifle to rifle. Some people insist that women on average have less upper-body strength than men, making them less suited for combat. However, some women surpass some men in upper-body strength. Although opponents feel that forcing women to fight in the military is an attempt to change people’s attitudes about women, integrating women into the military is actually a reflection of current society. • Topic sentence • 2 • Transition words • Opposing arguments

Argument paragraph essentials: • Express the writer’s point of view on an issue and support it by giving evidence. • The supporting evidence consists of facts, statistics, examples, personal experience, expert testimony, and consequences. • The supporting evidence is logical, developed, and convincing. • The method of organization is order of importance. • Word choices should be neutral and fair-minded.

Prewriting: • Decide your Topic and Purpose- It should be a topic that can be argued in a paragraph or two and has more than one point of view. • Are these arguable topics? • Making English the official language of the US is ridiculous. • Unsuitable- “ridiculous” cannot be argued • High school graduates should take a year off before entering college. • Suitable • Marijuana should be a medical option. • Unsuitable- too broad • The military should be allowed to recruit in high schools. • Suitable

Develop ideas • Take a position on an issue • Explore both sides • Decide which side of the issue you will argue • Write a topic sentence- include the issue and your position on the issue • Ex: People who move to the US should try to fit into American culture by learning English.

Evaluating topic sentences: • A lawsuit filed by Reynard against NEC blamed his wife’s death from a brain tumor on her cell phone. • States a fact not an argument • Stricter handgun laws should be enacted to save lives. • Good • Teaching sex education in middle school is a good idea. • Does not take a strong stand • Cheating is out of control. • Vague and is too broad

Organizing and drafting the essay • Develop supporting details • The types of evidence you can use are facts, statistics, expert authority, examples, anecdotes, and personal observations. • Organize supporting details and eliminate the details you do not need to use. • Write the first draft • Add connectors or transitional words and expressions to make the essay flow smoothly

• More by User

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY. HOW TO WRITE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS. STAGE 1: CHOOSING A TOPIC AND WRITING THE THESIS STATEMENT D ecide on a controversial topic (debatable and interesting) W rite an argumentative thesis statement. Generate ideas (free writing or brainstorming.

459 views • 19 slides

Argumentative Essay. ESL 015 Wayne Cheek. Help-Wanted Ads. CONSTRUCTION POSITIONS Located in Thurmont, MD Call 555-555-5555 ------------------------------- HIRING FT/PT Blacktop exp. preferred, but not req. Must have valid drivers license. Call 555-5555

1.57k views • 27 slides

Argumentative Essay. Answer the following questions in your notebook in the society section. Title the page “Argumentative Essay” and write in complete sentences. . 1. What topic did you choose?. Love and Marriage Role of Women Role of the Mechanicals.

448 views • 9 slides

Argumentative Essay. Use the power of language to inform and influence others in a logical way. Common Core standards. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics and text, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

430 views • 9 slides

Argumentative Essay. July 27, 2011. Argumentation. What defines a “reasoned argument?” How is this different from a basic argument?. Argumentation. A “reasoned argument” contains convincing reason, plausible support and acknowledges opposing arguments.

350 views • 20 slides

Argumentative Essay. Semester 1 Final Exam: Writing Component

211 views • 4 slides

Argumentative Essay. Feedback on First Draft. Key Areas for Improvement. Use the apostrophe correctly. Link each paragraph of your body section. Refute any arguments you introduce that oppose your stance. Ensure that your essay is between 750 and 1300 words and include a word count .

286 views • 9 slides

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY. ARGUMENTATION. The aim of writing argumentative essays is to convince or persuade the reader. O ne attempts to change the reader’s mind and convince the reader to agree with the point of view or claim of the writer.

1.45k views • 37 slides

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY. The essay should present an argument with the PROS (supporting ideas) and CONS (opposing ideas) of an argumentative issue. We should clearly take our stand and write as if we are trying to persuade an opposing audience to adopt new beliefs or behavior .

665 views • 27 slides

Argumentative Essay. April 26, 2011. Argumentation. What defines a “reasoned argument?” How is this different from a basic argument?. Argumentation. A “reasoned argument” contains convincing reason, plausible support and acknowledges opposing arguments.

338 views • 18 slides

Argumentative Essay. AP Language and Composition Exam. What does the argumentative essay require of you?. Basically, you must do three things: understand the nature of the position taken in the prompt;

1.14k views • 26 slides

Argumentative Essay. Writing & Research Created by: Megan Lowe ULM Reference Librarian. Session Overview. What Is It? Examples Getting Started Research Quotations & Citations Q & A Time. What is an argumentative essay?. Is like a persuasive essay

437 views • 18 slides

Argumentative Essay. How to write a well-crafted argumentative essay. Prior knowledge. What are some every day instances where you would use argumentation? What are some “good” ways of arguing for a point? In other words, what do you think is proper form for arguing?

352 views • 7 slides

Argumentative Essay. A How To Guide. What is an Argumentative Essay? In persuasive or argumentative writing, we try to convince others to agree with our facts, share our values, accept our argument and conclusions, and adopt our way of thinking. Elements of a persuasive/argumentative essay

684 views • 10 slides

Argumentative Essay. Practical Writing. What is an argumentative essay?. The argumentative essay is a writing that requires the student to investigate a topic. C ollect , generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic. Writing The Argumentative Essay.

377 views • 10 slides

Argumentative Essay. To persuade people to think in a certain way. Purpose. Thesis - argument of the paper Supporting arguments- reasons that support your argument Counter argument- reason that opposes your argument and a discrediting of this argument

955 views • 7 slides

Argumentative Essay. argumentative_essay _tc.pptx. Semester 1 Final Exam: Writing Component

466 views • 4 slides

Argumentative Essay. Opening Paragraph. The first sentence has the lead Second and maybe third sentences explain the book The last sentence contains your opinion statement. Opening Paragraph: Outline. Argumentative Essay Outline:

931 views • 20 slides

Argumentative Essay. Argumentative Essay. An argumentative essay is an essay in which you agree or disagree with an issue, using reasons to support your opinion. your goal is to convince your readers that you are right.

151 views • 7 slides

Argumentative Essay. Writing in which the writer makes a claim about a topic and then supports it with logic and evidence. Paragraph # 1. Introductory paragraph “Hook” the reader State your claim The claim is the thesis statement. THESIS STATEMENT.

352 views • 9 slides

617 views • 49 slides

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Elite Colleges Walked Into the Israel Divestment Trap

By Gary Sernovitz

Mr. Sernovitz is a managing director of Lime Rock Management, a private equity firm that invests in oil and gas and clean energy companies and whose investors include colleges and universities.

“ Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest ” is a frequent chant ringing through pro-Palestinian college protests. Of all the actions one could advocate in the war between Israel and Hamas, protesters at Columbia listed, as their first demand, that it divest from companies and institutions that, in their view, “profit from Israeli apartheid.”

Israeli companies aren’t the only target. A proposal Columbia students put forward in December calls for divestment from Microsoft, Airbnb, Amazon and Alphabet, among others. Microsoft is tagged for supplying cloud software services to Israel; Airbnb is targeted for posting rentals in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, listings the platform said it would remove in 2018 . The company reversed this policy months later to settle lawsuits.

Administrators at some universities, including Brown and Northwestern , have agreed to talks with students about divestment as part of agreements to end campus encampments. Other schools have said point blank that they will not accede. The University of Michigan Regents, for one, in March reaffirmed “its longstanding policy to shield the endowment from political pressures and base investment decisions on financial factors such as risk and return.”

“Longstanding” is a debatable term, as it was only three years ago that the regents decided the endowment should stop investing in funds focused on certain fossil fuels (which affected the firm I work at). Before the war in Gaza, it had been pretty easy for universities to make compromises around divestment demands, but those expedient choices are haunting them now. Every investment in elite schools’ endowments is up for debate.

College endowment managers no doubt feel beleaguered that pressing moral questions regularly end up on their desks. For that desk is already covered with spreadsheets on another question: how to generate returns for universities that are nonprofits, unfathomably expensive, and desperate to not be just finishing schools for the rich. Last fiscal year, endowments over $5 billion provided 17.7 percent of their university’s budgets . This school year, Williams College charged $81,200 in tuition and fees . But spending per student was $135,600. The endowment helps make up the difference.

Yet activists view endowments with a sense of ownership. They are part of a community that owns this money. They also go after endowments because they lack better targets. It says something about the authority of ideas in our age that students lobby institutions dedicated to the advancement and propagation of knowledge mainly over what they do with their excess cash.

The mother to all divestment movements was the one that aimed at apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s and ’80s. (In 1981, Barack Obama g ave his first public speech at a divestment rally at Occidental College.) It largely worked: Over 100 colleges in the U.S. eventually agreed to at least partly divest from companies that did business in the country. Years later, many believe divestment played some role in ending apartheid in South Africa.

From 2020 to 2022, as evidence of climate change grew increasingly unavoidable, student demands for divestment from fossil fuels claimed more victories, especially at the Ivy League and other colleges with large endowments — and not coincidentally large groups of activist students telling them what to do with them. Schools’ exposure to oil and gas investments was often less than 5 percent of their endowment, so finding a way to wind down investing, in some form, in the sector was easy to do.

Every divesting institution found its own path, some more logically consistent and sincere than others. I watched some of this unfold firsthand as some schools stopped investing in our oil and gas funds while others invested in our clean energy funds. But almost all the schools succeeded in minimizing real disruption to the endowment and inducing student activists to move on.

Unlike the effects of the South Africa movement, the early impact of oil and gas divestment by colleges and others has been negligible, or even counterproductive: Oil and gas companies have needed little external financial capital , and hostility to the divestment movement has led Republican-led states such as Florida to restrict E.S.G. investing , which focuses on environmental, social and governance factors. (Note that Florida’s State Board of Administration manages almost exactly the same amount of money as the 10 largest private college endowments combined.)

What the fossil fuel divestiture did establish, however, was that university leaders can be made to concede that their endowments will, in certain circumstances, be guided by the school’s collective values, and that current students can shape those values. And by getting endowments to not invest in the sector in some way , the protesters hardened an abstract moral judgment: that the oil and gas business, and the faceless bureaucrats who work for it, are wrong . Divestment champions hope the symbolic removal of an industry’s “social license” can take on its own power, emboldening government policymakers to regulate that industry or dissuading students from seeking jobs in it.

Now the reason for divestment is Israel rather than oil. For many students it’s part of the same conversation , as I saw in a scrawled word salad sign on display at Tulane’s pro-Palestinian encampment: “From the Gulf to the sea, no genocide for oil greed.”

University leaders could follow the same playbook as they did on fossil fuels and find ways to symbolically divest without disrupting their endowments in any notable way. Based on the size of G.D.P., not investing is Israel directly would be like not investing in Colorado. And despite the chants that charge otherwise, many endowments appear to have little to no direct exposure to Israel or to many of the American companies protesters want to blacklist.

But there’s a key difference between avoiding fossil fuels and shunning Israel. The institutions that divested from oil and gas made sure to describe it as financially prudent, albeit sometimes with shallow investment logic. This time, Israel’s social license is the only thing that is on the table. And if Israel is on the table, what other countries should lose their social license? How many years must pass since what some believe to be a country’s settler colonialist period or messy wars that kill innocent civilians to make it investable?

And if divestment against Israel is carried out, when should it end? Oil and gas divesting is meant never to end; oil and gas consumption is meant to end. Divestment from South Africa ended with apartheid. So university leaders will be forced to ask an often heterogeneous group of students what would earn Israel its social license back. A cease-fire? A new Israeli government? A two-state solution? The end of Israel as a Jewish state?

The effort to identify every investment with ties to Israel is also fraught. Columbia activists could find information only on pocket-change-size ownership of certain companies, such as $69,000 of Microsoft stock. So protesters are also demanding that colleges disclose all their investments, presumably so students can research the morality of each one. However, some firms that manage parts of an endowment’s money, particularly hedge funds, don’t report individual holdings to investors: asking them for it is like asking for the secret recipe for Coke.

But even if an endowment could provide a list of every underlying investment, it would likely then be inundated for more calls to divest, for more discovered connections — however small — to Israel, and for reasons related to other offenses discoverable with an online search. Why would there not be a Taiwanese student group demanding divestment from China, to dissuade an invasion? Other students demanding divestment from Big Tech, citing students’ mental health? Others demanding divestment from all of it, the hedge funds and private equity funds whose asset managers are not exactly healing American income inequality?

The answer, of course, is that endowments can’t be in the moral adjudication business — and they should never have headed this way. This does not mean that investing should be a returns-at-any-cost exercise. But it does mean that the real world does not always provide objective answers to how to balance benefits and consequences of companies providing products and services: Carbon emissions are bad, but energy consumption is necessary. Microsoft software for the Israeli government may displease you, but Microsoft saying it won’t sell software to Israel would displease others — and probably get itself banned from working with New York State agencies .

Listen to the protesters on divestment. They will not stop. They will not rest.

But neither will the markets. They open every morning, Monday through Friday, and university budgets’ demands on endowments never go away. Tuitions are rising . Costs always go up . Colleges should debate deep moral issues and discuss the hard compromises to solve the world’s ills. But we should move those efforts to the lecture halls, away from the investment offices. Divesting is an easy chant. Investing is hard enough as it is.

Gary Sernovitz is a managing director of Lime Rock Management, a private equity firm that invests in oil and gas and clean energy companies and whose investors include colleges and universities. He is also the author of “The Counting House,” a novel about the travails of a university chief investment officer.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .