argumentive essay format

argumentive essay format

The Argumentative Essay: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction to Argumentative Essays

The argumentative essay is, so to speak, a development for the student of his or her speech ability, as well as a kind of preparation for creating a political party program. It is important to remember that in many ways, the success of an argumentative essay depends on the ability of the author for debates. The argumentative essay may include scientific and non-scientific examples of the genre. For instance, a student paper or message on a topic of research can be included among the former and an article in a newspaper or a personal letter to a friend can be included among the latter. On the whole, all essay works have different goals and requirements being unique in their structure and organization.

An argumentative essay is a piece of writing whose primary objective is to prove one’s opinion or hypothesis by argument. Such essays are dedicated to the development of logical thought, our own flair clinic, arguments, and testing them. The student must persuade the reader based on these three fundamental techniques: the university presents his/her position, clearly expresses approval; offers facts, evidence, debate, clear and detailed examples for confirmation or disapproval of the author’s argument.

2. Structuring Your Argument

To win the reader means to get them to consider information for themselves. As a goal, argument persuades the reader to solve problems, and as a reader, goal persuades an opponent that we are a trusting and respectful writer. We can win the reader by developing an understanding of the subject, which is specific to thoughtful argumentation. An understanding of points of view unique to the analysis of the issue, responsible integration of the issues with the position that the writer has taken, and skillful presentation of thoughts on a page with good diction, persuasion, confidence, respect, and logical writing structure will convince the reader to trust in our point of view. An important element is dealing with opposing arguments, other options, and possible criticisms of our argument. With this in mind, structuring the argument is the presenting and qualifying of the writer’s position, as well as consideration of opposing statements and points of view.

So how do we organize an argument? First, we need to choose a point of view and give an argument, and conclude with a judgment about whether an action should be taken. We can tell readers what to think and feel, what actions to take, or maybe just tell them what to do with the information we have provided in an essay. With this in mind, we can define the argumentative essay as having limited subject matter, a limited purpose, and a limited audience. And for our purposes, the entire essay can be goal-focused. In short, the argumentative essay is a biased form. Let us assume we are in favor of one side of an area of discussion, and we are addressing a somewhat hostile audience. The essay would then be goal-directed – it would attempt to get this doubtful audience to be favorable to the writer’s point of view.

3. Supporting Your Claims with Evidence

Where exactly do you find evidence? It’s out there. There’s enough information on the web to support anyone’s claims. The challenge is getting information that is high quality. Your teachers often value academic sources over popular sources, but you can rely on at least a couple of those along with anything else you might scoop up. Your best bet is each of these long-term sources, but use a mix of sources in order to support your claims.

It’s not enough to make claims in your essay. You have to back them up with evidence. The five paragraph formula is a classic way to argue that centers the necessity of evidence in your introduction, then hits your three claim paragraphs in the body with solid evidence, and closes up in the conclusion by discussing your evidence and looking to the future. This is good advice when you’re just learning. But five paragraphs probably won’t sustain your essay from an idea to a speech to a larger academic argument. You must do a lot more work when you claim something than simply stating it. You need to give a good range of diverse evidence in order to make your ideas matter. You do this by using your own ideas from experience and arguments from people who agree and disagree with you, demonstrating the merits of their ideas or breaking them down so you can show the limitations. By weaving both your perspectives in with knowledge from the experts, you will prove that you’re thinking within a complex conversation.

4. Addressing Counterarguments

Feel free to discuss such possible counterarguments with classmates or the instructor; a good class discussion can clarify a thesis statement as suggested earlier in this chapter. Reflective exercise increased receptiveness to criticism can also flush out essay objections that you didn’t think of beforehand or discuss. Further reflection allows you to find out how researchers and critics might view the validity of your paper’s argumentative structure before the paper is finished. It is often easiest to find counterarguments by considering alternative perspectives or situational factors that could invalidate, question, or negate the logic of the thesis statement, even a draft one. Two techniques for this ploy are the “so what?” technique and the “If, but partly incorrect” format. Finally, using a computer’s word processing software, each counterargument can be addressed one-by-one, so that the section dealing with counterarguments can be reinserted into the document either as a part of the existing paragraphs or as separate paragraphs with their own heading.

Perhaps the most persuasive argument must grapple with remarkable counterarguments, and it must do so constructively. This is accomplished by an exercise called “further reflection.” It forces you to confront your topic or thesis from multiple angles. For instance, if your thesis is “democracy is only a form of filth called equality,” one counterargument might be a series of questions. If “democracy, or majority rules, is only a form of the equalizing impulse,” then questions like “Do we really want majorities telling individual minority members how to live, breathe, love, and think?” and “But isn’t liberalism’s rights-based anti-tyranny the good in democracy, while the majority-rules evil is actually a bad byproduct?” challenge the strength of the thesis.

5. Concluding Your Argument

The conclusion is the final point that is left with the reader, so you need to choose your style carefully. The simplest thing to do is restate your thesis. Another popular method is to offer a solution to the problem, but be careful to steer clear of the four forms of invalid logic found in the inpatient essay. If you would like to be really creative, try to come up with an ending that also uses an analogy. Remember that your analogy should be as clear as possible; the essay’s last sentence is not the best place to be vague. Some good connections are signs and billboards or music and musical notation. If you would like to use a broader approach, you can try to ask what is life. Be sure to describe any metaphor or allegory thoroughly. As with any essay, you should strive to use every word to its fullest potential. Do what all good writers do and make every word count. Keep your conclusion down to ten percent or less of the length of your essay. Like poetry, an argumentative essay of any length has three parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. No matter how long your essay is, this is all you have to worry about, and with a bit of practice, this will make your work flow.

The statement that you want to leave the reader with. The conclusion should mirror your thesis and the introduction but remain relevant to the topic. Remember that some action words are stronger than others. Stronger concern: explains; reminds reader; of; appeals to; suggests that. Stronger call for action: must be addressed; should be done; etc.