good argumentive essay topics

good argumentive essay topics

Exploring Controversial Issues: A Guide to Crafting Persuasive Argumentative Essays

1. Introduction to Argumentative Essays

The terms “argumentative” and “persuasive” are often used synonymously when speaking about argumentative essays. “Argumentative” is the term most often used inside of the classroom, and “persuasive” is the term most often used outside of the classroom. Argumentative essays can be one of the most challenging activities in high school when carefully addressed and dissected. In fact, argumentative essays can evoke two emotions: the satisfaction a writer feels when received opinions of the opposing position begin to sway, and the fun of gaining another’s position. Consistently practicing many varieties of argumentative essays is key when it comes to honing the craft of argumentative essay writing.

Young people under the age of 18 do not have a secure and protected legal right to vote in federal, provincial, or municipal elections in Canada. Should the age to vote be lowered to 16 instead of 18? Few current issues are more controversial and timely. It is important to write about current and controversial topics and prepare argumentative essays in a thoughtful and informed manner when considering issues such as voting rights. Argumentative essays require the writer to clearly and convincingly support or refute a specific statement, known as a thesis statement. They are based on logical reasoning, evidence from valid sources, and comments that help illustrate or clarify the points made by the writer.

2. Selecting a Controversial Topic

To earn the highest possible score on a controversial issue essay, students must select a topic about which reasonable people disagree. Chances are, if a person never shares a particular set of beliefs, that same person is not going to produce a thoughtful essay on that particular topic. As a result, students selecting or being assigned a hot topic about which no one disagrees will most often produce a flimsy essay – one that does not comprehensively address the issue at hand, one that fails to anticipate and address reasonable concerns and/or questions. Winning does not earn the auto-pilot A grades. The paper must effectively argue.

All argumentative essays should address either the first moment or third moment aspect of the argument cycle: the problem or claim aspect – the controversial issue or issues where you can earn the highest possible score on a controversial issue essay; the proposal aspect – the change suggested or defended to solve a problem identified in the problem aspect; or the solution aspect – the response recommended or justified as an improvement over the existing one identified in the problem aspect. Let’s move on to selecting a controversial topic.

3. Building a Strong Thesis Statement

The demonstrative force of argument suggests a broader function for the “thesis” or the central point of the essay. A thesis statement, about which most current writers have little demonstrable commitment, should be a demonstration, if only in embryonic form. A somewhat imprecise definition of thesis, one providing a perspective more consistent with the inherent tension of persuasive argument, is “an argument about a proposition. That is, it is a claim with reasons.”

In persuasive or argumentative writing, we try to convince others to agree with our facts or accept our argument. Argument is, however, much more than a juxtaposition of contrasting points of view. Neither is argument solely a contest. Argument does not always imply conflict. Rather we assert that argument is a demonstration–a demonstration of how a position is exclusively acceptable given the facts, the values implicit or held by the audience, and the logos of the argument itself. The body of such an essay is all demonstration. The conclusion, a paragraph of its own, is a summary of this argument demonstrating that the assertions in the introduction were indeed demonstrated by the body of the essay, and that the position has, therefore, been proven.

One of the reasons so many students shy away from the challenge of writing a good argumentative essay is their lack of commitment to the writing process. The danger for student writers, of course, is in writing a thesis statement that is a compound sentence containing two or more arguments. If their arguments are centrally contradictory, reader confusion and writer frustration ensue. This situation, typical of many students’ attempts to deal with argumentative writing, can be avoided by rethinking the process and, in doing so, rethinking the concept of argument.

4. Research and Evidence Gathering

To aid students as they complete research projects, you may want to hand out this guide: Using Primary and Secondary Sources during Research. In general, the guide discusses the advantages of both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are usually more valuable than secondary sources due to their first-hand nature. Although secondary sources are popular and helpful, students should be cautious of the “stripping process” that may occur when a journalist or professional writes about a primary source. Some sources are stripped while maintaining validity. At other times important context is lost in the process. Data in stripped material changes in ways that should be identified and acknowledged by a responsible researcher.

By far, students locate insufficient evidence as their greatest source of difficulty when completing research projects. If they read insufficient sources, they are unable to create the depth and breadth required for an academic essay. Students have a tendency to find immediate relevancy in sources that they have encountered. Thus, a specific thesis in mind might prompt students to skim through materials or bypass key documents because they do not seem to yield the desired evidence. As a result, they often overlook substantive information that could change their original claims. To address this problem, it is best to have students engage in wide-ranging research prior to developing a thesis. This approach also has the added benefit of exciting students about the learning process.

5. Structuring and Writing the Essay

It is likely to be difficult to come up with other orders or components of an argumentative essay. Writing will take some time, but with the above structure, the main task is to work away methodically using good sources and good critical thinking. As Francis Bacon, the founder of the scientific method, used to say, “Give me the facts and I will give you the laws.” First, however, he said, and you may add the words “good” while peering at our list, “classifying the facts.” Will that be all? Not quite. Other than the time it may take, you may wish to take the prewriting lists that you’ve completed and weave that information and data into your essay notes, and outline or idea map, as well before attempting to set down your initial, second, or the final draft of the essay. These activities, in turn, should make the draft essays go much more quickly and painlessly.

A carefully crafted thesis based on an arguable and defendable position or claim that, in one or at most two carefully defined sentences, gets to the heart of the controversial issue and presents the argument that will be advanced in the rest of the essay. Supporting and balanced reasons that in a logical sequence and with evidence developed and ordered in a way that all arguable points of the essay are laid out one by one, presenting clearly defined and logically ordered points such that the reader cannot escape understanding the thesis, all the parts of the argument to be advanced on behalf of the thesis, as well as the stated counterarguments and points of agreement with the counterarguments made by the other side or others on the opposite side of the issue. A brief restatement of the reasons mentioned above or of some aspect of the introduction to make it quite clear what the conclusion is that you are driving at.