Argumentative Essay - A Complete Writing Guide
Contents
Writing an argumentative essay is in every student’s academic life. No matter which level you are on, writing essays will be part of your life.
So to learn to write good essays is essential if you want to be successful. Students who want to ace their language class often forget that their grades’ massive chunk depends on essay writing.
Also, in their practical life, people should equally know how to draft essays as they are to write them only in a different name as reports.
It is natural that if more than one person is at a place, they are bound to disagree on a specific thing. And disagreement causes an argument. Arguments are part of a person’s day-to-day life.
Writing about these arguments can be tricky, but one should know the art of doing so. This blog focuses on what an argumentative essay is and how it is written.
What is an Argumentative Essay?
An argumentative essay is a piece of writing in which your argument is the most important thing.
An argumentative essay has various other approaches, but they all share the basic idea and purpose. In this essay, a writer is asked to investigate and analyze a topic or a subject. Moreover, the writer chooses which side of the issue he stands on and asks for reasons and evidence for his stance.
Unlike other essay types, this essay is based on the logic and facts that a writer uses to prove his claim.
Although an argumentative essay is based on an argument, this is nothing like a verbal argument between two informal people in a really heated situation. Therefore, the presentation of the argument in this essay is a different thing.
The argument stated in an essay has to be particular, arguable, detailed, and must be carrying a broadness of evidence and supporting information.
The primary goal of this essay is based on a point-counterpoint idea.Thus, the writer presents his argument and the counter-argument and leaves it on the audience to decide which side to support.
Types of Arguments
Generally speaking, there are three types of arguments. These arguments are used in the formation of your argumentative essay. All these types of arguments can be separately used or used in combination in your essay, depending on the topic and how you present it.
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Rogerian Argument Strategy
A Rogerian model is a negotiating strategy in which you identify common ideas or goals. Also, opposing arguments and views are presented objectively to reach an agreement.
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Aristotelian Argument Strategy
According to this strategy, a writer tries to persuade their audience to a specific point of view. This argument is made on ethos, pathos, and logos.
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Toulmin Argument Strategy
This argument strategy breaks down an argument in several parts using logic and facts. This argument style has 6 elements; backing, warrant, claim, quantifier, grounds, and rebuttal.
No matter which argument type you choose, make sure to persuade the audience with powerful reasoning.
How to Start an Argumentative Essay?
A writer can not just jump on to the writing process of an argumentative essay. Before beginning the actual writing process, there is a whole pre-writing procedure that should be considered.
The pre-writing procedure involves drafting a plan according to which the writer will craft his essay. The following are the steps that you should take to plan out your argumentative essay:
- Discover your topic
- Decide on the claim
- Pick your stance
- Conduct research
- Develop an argumentative essay outline
These steps will make the writing procedure easier for you. Each step is discussed in detail in the following section.
- 1. Discover your Topic
To begin your essay, you must have a topic or a subject to write your paper on. A good argumentative essay is based on a strong persuasive topic presented to the reader by a writer.
Choose a topic of interest or the issue that prevails widely in your society to talk and persuade people about it.
There is a criterion while selecting a topic. If your topic answers the following question vividly, then it is “The Topic”.
- Why did that particular event happen?
- The causes
- Significance
- Writer's reaction
- Select a topic that you can think can be proved with logic and facts.
- 2. Decide on the Claim
After you have your topic in hand, develop your claim. Generally, there are five types of claims that are used in the argumentative essay. If not all, try to use some of these claims to give your essay strength.
- 1. Value - Is your topic valuable? Is it meaningful and worthy enough to talk about?
- 2. Authenticity - Is your claim a fact or not?
- 3. Cause and Effect - How it happened and what was the cause of the occurrence of the issue? Its effects?
- 4. Definition - What the particular issue is? Its interpretation, definition, and classification?
- 5. Policy - What are the course of action that should take? How to tackle the specific issue?
Try to use some of these claims to give your essay strength.
- 3. Pick your Stance
Every coin has two sides. When you select your topic of the issue, you know there is another side of it as well. To write an argumentative essay, a writer needs to weigh both sides of the argument and analyze which side is stronger and can be justified by logic and facts.
Unlike a persuasive essay, an argumentative essay presents the argument of an opposing side, letting the audience decide which side to choose.
- 4. Conduct Research
When you choose a topic for your essay, make sure that the information can be easily gathered. You want maximum logic and facts to prove your point.
Opinions will not make a difference in this essay type, so it is important to present authentic and reliable information for the readers.
You can only convince the reader with your point of view that is logically sound and by providing supporting material to your thesis statement. So, first, do research and write the essay.
- 5. Develop an Argumentative Essay Outline
An argumentative essay follows the basic 5 paragraph outline. After brainstorming and gathering your data, it is time to shape your essay so that each piece of information collected is presented in the essay in a structured way.
An outline of an argumentative essay includes:
- Introduction
- Body Paragraph 1
- Body Paragraph 2
- Body Paragraph 3
- Conclusion
A complete argumentative essay outline guide will help you further. After arranging all the gathered information in these sections, grab a pen to start writing your essay.
How to Write an Argumentative Essay?
Once you have a proper plan for your essay, it is time to start drafting it. Keep in mind the outline developed and start writing your argumentative essay in the following order:
- 1. Argumentative Essay Introduction
As the name suggests, the introductory paragraph introduces the topic or the issue that a writer selected for his audience.
In these paragraphs, a hook is written to grab the reader’s attention and motivate them to read your essay. A hook is the opening line of an essay and plays a significant role in your essay.
Another ingredient that is used to make an introduction is the background information about your topic. Here, provide information about the previous works concerning your topic, their findings, etc. Mention the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen topic.
The last and most important part is the thesis statement of your essay. It is the main argument on which your entire essay is based, and also all the information in the content aims to prove this statement by providing evidence and facts.
- 2. Argumentative Essay Body Paragraphs
The body of an argumentative essay contains shreds of evidence and material that support the claim and the major thesis statement.
Each paragraph starts with a topic sentence. Then, all the information in that paragraph talks about a particular idea about the subject.
In the body paragraphs of an argumentative essay, the writer presents his arguments, supporting information that proves the argument is valid and the counter-argument.
All of this information is provided by maintaining the transition. It helps protect the essay’s flow. Together, all the paragraphs aim and lead up to the conclusion.
- 3. Argumentative Essay Conclusion
In the conclusion of an argumentative essay, the writer describes the key ideas, restating the thesis statement. Also, in the concluding paragraphs, the writer put forward the courses of action and gives the final verdict.
Argumentative Essay Examples
Below are some examples of argumentative essays presented for you by the experts.
Follow these examples to get an idea of how a professional argumentative essay is written.
Argumentative Essay Topics
Topics for an argumentative essay can easily take from your day-to-day life. But for your ease, our experts have gathered some good essay topics so that you can write the best essays.
Following is a list of some good topics:
- Are college degrees worth their price?
- Does everyone need to go to college to be successful?
- Why is Shakespeare the greatest poet of all time?
- College students must be providing practical life knowledge as well.
- Are SATs effective for everyone?
- What is the importance of learning multiple languages?
- Do violent video games affect child behavior?
- How does social media lead to isolation?
- How important is the censorship of online content?
- Is fast food really the cause of obesity and other diseases in the United States?
- Is it justified to test animals for beauty products in any way?
- Is mercy killing justified?
- Women can multitask better.
- Electronic voting - What are its pros and cons?
- Should there be an option for Youtubers to edit foul and derogatory comments?
Argumentative essays are types of academic writing that are commonly assigned to college students.
Writing an argumentative paper for high school can be overwhelming, but you can score best in it once you get to know the basics. The argumentative essay requires a good sense of supporting your stance and writing skills.
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FAQs
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1. What are the 3 parts of an argumentative essay?
The three parts of an argumentative essay are:
- Introduction
- Main body paragraphs
- Conclusion
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2. What is the main goal of an argumentative essay?
The main goal of an argumentative essay is to express your position on a particular topic by providing reasons and evidence.
Cathy A.
Literature, Marketing
For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.An Ultimate Essay Writing Guide for Students
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