Along with evidence directly supporting your argument, your body paragraphs can also present evidence that refutes counter arguments or conflicting points of view. An argumentative essay is a writing piece meant to persuade someone to think the way you do. Though it’s usually organized as an essay, Myrtle’s letter to her parents is also a type of argumentative writing. To help Myrtle write her essay, let’s take a closer look at the elements and format of an argumentative essay. Although similar to persuasive essays, argumentative essays are in some ways the exact opposite. While persuasive essays appeal to the reader’s emotions, argumentative essays appeal to the reader’s reason. Your second, third, and fourth paragraphs are your body, where you present your arguments and evidence, as well as refute opposing arguments.

This will make your essay much stronger compared to only relying on your own opinions to support your argument. Using the Rogerian model can be tricky because oftentimes you don’t explicitly state your argument until the end of the paper.

POINTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE WRITING YOUR ESSAY

Examples of credible evidence include examples, quotes, facts, and statistics. It is important to give credit to the author whose work is used as evidence.

• If you are making an argument concerning, for example, the characteristics of an exceptional sandwich, you might want to see what some of these people have to say.
• Qualitative content analysis was used to investigate students’ texts.
• Typically, these essays included critique , commentary or reflective sections (examples 13–14), and first-person expressions (examples 15–16).
• Spencer holds a bachelor’s of literature and a bachelor’s of environmental studies from the University of California Santa Cruz.

Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only available if the library has a physical location. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered, benefits tablets can’t offer nearly as well or as easily. The third model by Carl Rogers has different perspectives having proof to support and a conclusion based on all the available perspectives. Its structure comprises an introduction with a thesis, the opposite point of view and claim, a middle-ground for both or more perspectives, and a conclusion.

Body Paragraphs

The vague thesis-statements complicated distinguishing between an essay with and without a thesis. While the writer of the example 10 is vague in their response, the writer in example 11 does not explicate the factors that are influencing the life expectancy, but instead refers to the rest of the essay, the evidence. After the time is up, students can share their opinions with the class.

• This allows you to spot areas of difficulty and gaps in learning – all valuable information that will be priceless for effective future lesson planning.
• Although you do not want to spend too much time supporting the opposing views, you must explain each idea briefly.
• Imagine if you were a five foot umpire trying to reason with a 6’9” angry baseball player – your resistant audience is that baseball player!
• Before you begin writing your essay, research what the other side believes, and what their strongest points are.
• It even checks your tone and clarity to make sure your true argument always shines through and comes across as intended.

See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Your college admissions essay may end up being one of the most important essays you write. Follow our step-by-step guide on writing a personal statement to have an essay that’ll impress colleges. Now that you’ve seen examples of what good argumentative essay samples look like, follow these three tips when crafting your own essay. Both sides of the argument are well developed, with multiple reasons why people agree with each side.

Writing Worksheets and Other Writing Resources

The thesis itself should be the one takeaway you want your readers to leave with. What are you trying to convince them of, or what do you want them to remember after reading?

For more examples of types of argumentative essays, visit the Argumentative Purposes section of the Excelsior OWL. When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about. For example, you may be asked to take a stand on an issue you have been discussing in class. Perhaps, in your education class, you would be asked to write about standardized testing in public schools.

How to write an Argumentative Essay

Revisit the research sources to ensure all the facts you state in the essay are accurate. Revising—arrange the facts and arguments in the appropriate order, cut any irrelevant sections, and optimize your word choice to ensure your readers understand your point. Preparing—once again, do some research to find all the facts that you will include in your essay and write an outline. In order to make it clear that the counterarguments are not your arguments, you need to problematize them.

• They are not yet integrated in their study program or academic writing community (Swales, 1990; Donald, 2002).
• You can often use more than one type of evidence within a paper, but make sure that within each section you are providing the reader with evidence appropriate to each claim.
• The argumentative essay’s introduction should also contextualize the subject being discussed.
• Some of the points made aren’t completely accurate, particularly the one about digital books being cheaper.

These features were integrated in the analysis criteria in phase four. Argumentative essays are organized in many different ways, but one popular format is the five paragraph essay, which includes an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction includes an explanation of the issue, background information, and the author’s position.

Argumentative Essay Format & Structure

In order to convince her parents, then, Myrtle also needs to include reasons, or why the author believes the way he or she does. For example, Myrtle could support her position by offering reasons like the fact that she’s responsible, she’s older than she used to be, and that a later curfew will allow her to study at the library for longer.

Once you have thought up some counterarguments, consider how you will respond to them—will you concede that your opponent has a point but explain why your audience should nonetheless accept your argument? Will you reject the counterargument and explain why it is mistaken?

ARGUMENTS: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY DO WE WRITE THEM?

For example, say you wanted to write an argumentative essay stating that Charleston, SC is a great destination what is an argumentative writing for families. You couldn’t just say that it’s a great place because you took your family there and enjoyed it.

Research on generic skills often focuses on clusters of skills, their importance, and students’ experiences of them (e.g., Barrie, 2006; Tuononen et al., 2019; Virtanen and Tynjälä, 2019). However, such an approach offers few practical insights for higher education teachers who often what is commentary in an essay struggle between teaching discipline-specific knowledge and supporting students in their generic skills. Instead, gaining a more detailed understanding of students’ strengths and weaknesses in each generic skill, such as argumentation, will help in developing tools for teachers.

Arguments are everywhere

People who argue against the idea of paying college athletes believe the practice could be disastrous for college sports. By paying athletes, they argue, they’d turn college sports into a bidding war, where only the richest schools could afford top athletes, and the majority of schools would be shut out from developing a talented team .

Another important thing to remember is that this type of essay doesn’t have an obvious or simple thesis. That’s because the writer needs to discuss several points of view on the given topic, including contradicting ones. However, the key is to invalidate or disapprove of the opposing theories so that the reader thinks your thesis is the most logical and accurate. An argumentative essay is a type of writing that expresses an extended argument for a specific thesis.

When Writing Rogerian Arguments, you:

By going more into detail of what she believes should be done, the author would be making a stronger argument. The thesis appears early, is stated clearly, and is supported throughout the rest of the essay. This makes the argument clear for readers to understand and follow throughout the essay. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using.