perfect argumentative essay

Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images Planning Stage For an argument essay to be effective, it must contain certain elements that will persuade the audience to see things from your perspective. For this reason, you must take a few minutes to plan and prepare before you jump into writing an argument essay. Find a Good Topic To find good topic for an argument essay you should consider several issues that will have two conflicting points of view or very different conclusions. As you look over a list of topics you should find one that really sparks your interest. While a strong interest in a topic is important, it's not enough to be interested. You have to consider what position you can back up with reasoning and evidence. It's one thing to have a strong belief, but when shaping an argument you'll have to explain why your belief is reasonable and logical. As you explore the topics, make a mental list of points you could use as evidence for or against an issue. Consider Both Sides of Your Topic and Take a Position Once you have selected a topic you feel strongly about, you should make a list of points for both sides of the argument and pick a side. One of your first objectives in your essay will be to present both sides of your issue with an assessment of each. Of course, you will conclude that one side (your side) is the best conclusion. In the planning stage you will need to consider strong arguments for the other side. Then you'll shoot them down! Gather Evidence When we think of arguments we might picture two red-faced people speaking quite loudly and making dramatic gestures. But that's because face-to-face arguments often become emotional. In fact, the act of arguing involves providing proof to support your claim, with or without emotions. In an argument essay you will have to provide evidence without providing too much drama. You'll explore two sides of a topic.
The Secrets of a Strong Argumentative Essay When you get into debates with friends or family members, do you tend to win or lose? The art of arguing is closely related to your ability to harness compelling facts, statistics, and concepts that support your viewpoint on a topic. When you lose an argument, chances are you only used opinion to support your position. Being able to argue in a logical and reasonable way is a great life skill. It will help you to stand up for what you think is right and to get others to pay attention to your reasoning. In this blog post, I’ll teach you the secrets of a strong argumentative essay. Important Elements of an Argumentative Essay The goal of an argumentative essay is to convince others that your opinion is valid. Usually, an argumentative essay addresses readers who hold an opposing viewpoint on a particular issue. For example, you might argue the virtues of solar power to a group of city leaders invested in coal and oil. There are four important elements to consider when constructing an argumentative essay. 1 Your topic must be debatable. When selecting an issue to argue, you need to choose a topic that has more than one side. For example, there is no way you can argue on the topic of whether humans walk on two legs because it’s a known fact with no attached debate. However, you could argue for days about contentious topics like GMOs, gun control, and even fast food. For example, should the government regulate the sale of sugary beverages? That’s certainly a question up for debate. 2 You must take a strong stance. You can’t possibly argue if you don’t take a stance and write a compelling thesis. Imagine reading an argument about the regulation of sugary beverages that says something like, “I enjoy drinking Pepsi, so I’d like to be able to purchase it as I please, but the government should regulate it because it’s making me gain.
Choose a strong, defendable stance for your thesis statement. The thesis statement is your argument boiled down to one sentence. For a persuasive essay, this statement needs to take a strong, active stance on the issue. Don't try and play both sides and be wishy-washy -- it won't persuade anyone. Good: Affirmative action is not just economically beneficial, it is a moral obligation to heal American racism. Good: Affirmative action relegates minorities to helpless status, keeps the best minds from the best positions, and should be eliminated. Bad: Affirmative action does help many minorities, but it hurts some other groups as well. Note that you can persuade people to be open-minded. Saying affirmative action is a nuanced issue in need or serious overhaul, not to be destroyed or continued completely, still shows you taking a strong, defendable stance. Use clear, directed topics sentences to begin each paragraph. Consider the beginning of each paragraph as a mini-thesis statement. This allows your argument to flow cohesively. You build the argument brick by brick for the reader so there is no confusion. Good: The destruction of the world's rainforests also destroys the incredible potential to find medical and scientific breakthroughs in the diverse, mysterious ecosystem. Good: The rainforest is home to a wide variety of plants and animals that may have medical and scientific benefits -- benefits we lose if we keep destroying it. Bad: Destroying the rainforest is not a good thing. Interweave facts and references to back up your claims. The best rule of thumb is, whenever you make a claim or point that isn't common sense, you need to back it up. One of the best ways to do this, however, is in reverse. Let the evidence lead to your arguments -- bringing the reader with you. Good: A recent poll shows that 51% of young white millennials believe they suffer as much.
Sure, you’re a lover not a fighter. I am too. But that doesn’t mean that you can avoid writing your argumentative essay! Since you have to write an argumentative essay, you might as well learn how to write it well, right? I’ve said it time and time again—there’s nothing worse than staring at a blank page. Putting together an argumentative essay outline is the perfect way to turn your blank document into a ready-to-use template. All you have to do is fill in the blanks! In this blog post, I’m going to share with you how to create an argumentative essay outline. At the end, I’ll give you a downloadable skeleton outline you can use to get started. Structure of the Argumentative Essay Outline If you distill your argumentative essay outline down to its basics, you’ll find that it’s made of four main sections: Intro Developing Your Argument Refuting Opponents’ Arguments Conclusion That’s not so bad! There’s really nothing to be afraid of. Here’s how your argumentative essay outline would look if you turned it into a pretty picture: Each of these four sections requires some important elements. Let’s break those down now. Argumentative Essay Outline Section 1: Your Intro  Your introduction is where you lay the foundation for your impenetrable argument. It’s made up of a hook, background information, and a thesis statement. 1. Hook. Your first sentence is comprised of a “hook.” Don’t know what a hook is? A hook is a sentence that grabs your reader’s attention just like a good Jackie Chan movie grabs the attention of a martial arts fan. Let’s say I’m writing an argumentative essay about why American people should start eating insects. My hook could be, “For those interested in improving their diets and the environment, say ‘goodbye’ to eating chicken, fish, and beef and ‘hello’ to eating silk worms, crickets, and caterpillars.” If you’re having trouble coming up with a good.
Part 1 Understanding the Format Understand the purpose of an argumentative essay. The purpose of this type of essay is to fully investigate an issue or topic. This involves extensive research covering all aspects of the topic and gathering information on all involved points of view. Argumentative essays also provide your audience with a well-rounded summary of the issue at hand, but clearly indicate what your own point of view is and why this view is the best option over others.[1] Understand the methodology of an argumentative essay. To prepare yourself to write an argumentative essay, it is crucial for you to fully immerse yourself in the subject material. The effectiveness of this type of essay depends on the author's ability to parse through the various facets of the topic and lead the reader toward an obvious and logical conclusion. To this end, you must familiarize yourself with all opinions about the topic so that you can also outline the viewpoints that oppose your own view (counterarguments). 3Edit step Understand the desired outcome of an argumentative essay. In the end, the main reason someone chooses to write an argumentative essay (other than the fact that their professor told them to!) is to attempt to sway another person or group of people in their opinion on a subject. Part 2 Selecting a Topic Choose something that fits the format. Remember that an argumentative essay will argue in support of a particular view in a debatable issue. As such, it is important that you do not choose a topic that is not arguable.[2] For example, writing an argumentative essay on the fact that exercise is good for you would be undesirable because it would be difficult to find contradicting views on the topic; everyone agrees that exercise is good for people. 5Edit step Pick an issue that is interesting to you. You'll be spending a lot of time researching and writing this.
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