Argument essays are one of the most common types of writing assignments among college students. There are many kinds of argument essays, however, all of them have something in common: They require you to investigate a certain issue, describing your point of view and using evidence to support it. This article at writers-house.com blog will show you how to write an excellent argument essay.
Most students understand what arguing is, but argumentative essays require you to provide a different sort of argument than a regular verbal argument. Your argument should be reasonable, specific, detailed, and supported by evidence. The main difference between argument essays and the verbal argument is that verbal arguments often are aimed to determine who is right. On the other hand, an argument essay must consider a specific issue and be logical.
Crucial Elements of a Good Argument Essay
- Provide a clear and debatable thesis. A strong thesis statement is an important part of any essay, however, it’s especially important for argument essays. Your readers should understand what exactly your paper is about and why your argument is important, they shouldn’t be confused.
- Provide your audience with the necessary background information. Although argument essays are different from research papers, you still have to provide the necessary background information so that your readers can understand your argument better. For example, if your point is that the government should make some amendments to the state constitution, you should describe what changes these amendments can make, and how people can benefit from them.
- Focus on transitions and the structure. Transitions are also very important when writing argument essays. The thing is that your argument essay will describe many different reasons and different types of evidence in order to support your main thesis. Most often, you also have to consider counter-arguments in order to refute them.
You can organize your essay in different ways. No matter what type of structure you choose, the whole essay should describe several reasons why your point is correct and address the opposing arguments, in order to prove them irrelevant or wrong. You will certainly benefit from creating an outline before you start writing, especially if your essay should be long. - Research your topic. Most often, argumentative essays require you to carefully research your topic. You should be able to provide all the necessary information, including important details and the historical background. You should also familiarize yourself with credible sources that can be used to get evidence. You should have enough sources to choose from, in order to build your argument on a solid basis.
- Use logos, pathos, and ethos. These are three types of rhetorical methods, and you should use them to persuade your readers that your point is valid. Logos is a method associated with logic. Therefore, we suggest that you use logos as a primary means of persuasion. However, you can make your claims more persuasive if you also use pathos, which appeals to your readers’ emotions. Pathos can help you make your audience more involved in the discussion and so open to your ideas. Another important method of persuasion is ethos — ethos is all about credibility. For example, ethos implies using quotes from credible sources and authoritative authors. Obviously, a reasonable point of view will also make your essay more persuasive than an extreme one.
Choosing a Topic
One of the main secrets of good argument essay is a good topic. You should choose a debatable topic which is relevant to the current issues in society. It should also be manageable and researchable. We suggest that you don’t choose moral topics because it will be hard for you to prove your point logically.
Find a relevant topic. However, it shouldn’t be over debated. Most professors and readers are tired of topics that have been already discussed by thousands of students, such as the death penalty, abortion, etc.
Your topic should also be debatable, which means that it must have different viewpoints. Thus, you have to choose a controversial issue. For example, if you decide to write about child abuse and its negative impact on society, nobody will disagree with your thesis, so it’s not the best choice. On the other hand, if you try to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing punishments for child abusers, you will get a debatable topic.
Your topic should be manageable, which means that you should be able to successfully fulfill all the given requirements. If you choose a global problem, it will be hard for you to address it in just a few pages. Fortunately, the solution is simple: You can choose a broad topic and then narrow it down to a specific subject. For example, if you want to argue for or against a certain bill passed by the government, you should understand that such documents can be more than 1,000 pages long. In this case, it makes sense to choose a certain part of the law and focus on it.
As we’ve already mentioned above, your argument essay should be well-researched, which means that you should choose a researchable topic. Make sure you have access to many sources that can provide you with evidence.
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