3 Ways to Make an Argumentative Essay - WikiHow

8/10/2019 3 Ways to Make an Argumentative Essay - WikiHow

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How to Make an ArgumentativeEssayEdited by TheSirius17, Maniac, Teresa, Milind and 11 others

Three Methods: Sample Outlines Creating Your Argument Writing Your Paper

Want to make an argumentative essay but don't knowwhere tostart? Ordo you want to improve

your argumentative essay? With some thought and the right guide (like the one below), you'll be

getting that A in no time.

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Sample Argumentative

Research Paper Outline


Analysis Paper Outline


Essay Outline

1 Research your topic.Once you've got a vague idea of what you'd like to write about,you'll need to research your topic. This is a vital step for writing an argumentative

essa . You will need to be ver well informed about our to ic and the ar uments

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Sample Outlines

Method 1 of 2: Creating Your Argument

Method 2 of 2: Writing Your Paper

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3 Ways to Make an Argumentative Essay - wikiHow 7/29/2014

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surrounding it, in order to be able to make a strong, coherent argument. You can find books

in a library, search the internet for reliable sources, and read back issues of newspapers

and similar media to get information about what you're arguing. If you can, find an actual

expert on the subject and ask them if they would be willing to do an interview.

During the course of your research, you will want to collect as much evidence as

possible. Statistics, charts, data, and empirical evidence will help you make your

argument but also give you fodder for criticism of the other side. How to use this

evidence will be discussed below.

Develop your thesis statement.This is a statement that sums up your answer to

the question. It is your main argument. Every piece of evidence and every paragraph

should tie back to supporting this single idea. This sentence should be clear and

identifiable. The stronger a statement it is, the more clear i t will be to your audience.

This may not necessarily be the side you agree with most. There is nothing wrong

with arguing something you do not believe. This is called "playing the devil's

advocate" and is a common way to encourage arguments about a topic.

Once you choose a side to argue, you will need to logically stick to and defend that

side through your whole paper. If you change your mind, you will need to rewrite

earlier sections.

An example thesis statement might be: "The death penalty should be federally

outlawed because it disproportionately punishes minorities."

Make sure to be clear about your focus.Your entire paper should make it clearwhat part of an issue you're focusing on, and you will want a fairly narrow focus. Make

everything, as much as you can, about your thesis but certainly never stray from the specific

part of a topic you're arguing. For example, you would want to focus on gender equality in

child custody cases, rather than jumping around different arguments regarding men's or

women's rights.

Consider your audience.With your argument chosen, determine who your

audience will be. This is important as it will inform the type of arguments that you

make.[1]Are you writing for an academic audience? Write your argument using strong

logical appeals. Are you writing for common people? You may have better luck with

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emotional appeals. Are you writing for your peers? You may want to consider using a tone

befitting the language of that age or social group.

1 Have a strong introduction.In an introduction, you begin with giving your reader avague explanation of the topic you will be writing about. Tell them what it is...and then

tell them where the problem is. Once youve done that, youre going to tell them your solution

to the problem: state your thesis sentence, as discussed above. Wrap up the introduction

by telling them that your idea is right and maybe (if you want to) a brief explanation of how

you are going to make your argument or the type of evidence you will use.

Depending on the length of a paper, the introduction can range from a single

paragraph in length to an entire page or more.

A sample introduction would look like this: "The death penalty is a form of

punishment used on the most violent and unforgivable criminals. However, the

death penalty is used in a very inconsistent manner. Because the system can

and does not use the death penalty equally, and minorities are

disproportionately affected, the practice should be federally outlawed. We will

examine statistics and real life examples to show how minorities are unfairly

punished in this broken system."


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Make your argument.Split each argument into its own paragraph or section of the

paper. These paragraphs are your "body" paragraphs. You should make it very clear

when you move from one argument to another. The beginning sentence of each paragraph

should hint at what that paragraph will be about and the final sentence should act as both a

conclusion to that paragraph (wrapping up the argument) and a logical segue into the next.

There are many different types of arguments and you can use more than one type in a given

paper. Here are a few[2]:

Try using an inductive reasoning argument. This type of argument uses a series of

specific examples to draw a broad conclusion.

Try using a deductive reasoning argument. This type of argument uses a series of

broad ideas to draw conclusions about specific situations.

You can argue that systems which do not function under the best conditions cannot

possible function under the worst. This is called an argument a fortiori.

You can also appeal to your audiences concerns for the future. Point out the

possible consequences of an action or series of actions and show how taking that

path would be irresponsible.

It is also possible to argue for or against something by showing that the common

view of the situation is wrong or more complex than previously thought. The lets

not do this until we know more about it argument, if you will.

Check your paragraph transitions.Use smooth transitions that move logically from

one argument to the next. This will help your audience follow your train of thought.

Keeping them on your same line of thinking will help them more easily come to your same

conclusions.

An example of a good transition would be a paragraph ending "Because of this

data, we clearly see that a disproportionate number of minorities receive the

death penalty."And the first sentence of the next paragraph being, "But this is not

enough evidence on its own. Maybe minorities simply commit more violent

crimes. However, there is also extensive data to show that minorities receive

harsher penalties than their white counterparts, even within the same regions

and districts."

Use extensive evidence.Simply using an argumentative style or appealing to

someones logic or emotions wont be enough. To write a good argumentative essay,

youll need to provide lots of evidence. For each argument that you make, you will want to

have evidence to back it up (hopefully, multiple examples for each argument).

You can use statistics, data, expert opinions, scholarly articles, respected texts,

quality journalistic reporting, and other evidence woven into the text of your paper.


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Cite your sources.Citing credible sources for your evidence will always make your

arguments look stronger. You can use footnotes or endnotes, but you can also make

some mentions within the text (such as quoting experts by name) to make your argument

look stronger.

Always introduce an idea first and then quote your expert, as it makes it appear as

if they agree with your ideas, rather than the other way around.

Be able to refute the other side.You will need to be very well acquainted with the

evidence and arguments for the other side of the argument you are making. This is an

important part of an argumentative essay, because you will need at least a few paragraphs

where you address problems with your side and then show why those problems are no big

deal or otherwise wrong interpretations of the situation. This should usually be at the end ofa paper, right before the conclusion.

Have a convincing conclusion.Your conclusion should revisit each argument you

made in favor of your thesis and show how all of the arguments and evidence fit

together. It should quickly note that you address and solve all problems brought up by the

other side. It should also end in a strong way by telling someone why they should care about

the issue you have brought up.[3]

Always write your conclusion last. Oftentimes you might not know exactly what

youre saying until youve said it. Save the conclusion for last and save yourself the

trouble of having to rewrite it later.




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Check for logical fallacies.When youre done, go back over your own arguments as

well as the arguments for the other side and check for logical fallacies. These are

ways in which your thinking or theirs is incorrect. Make sure you dont have any and if you

find some in arguments for the other side, you may want to point them out.[4]

Look for errors in cause and effect. Maybe someone asserts that one thing causes

another, when in fact they have nothing to do with each other.

Look for hasty conclusions, which are those drawn when not examining all of the

evidence or when making generalizations about an entire group of things based on

limited evidence.

Look for slippery slope arguments, which assert that one thing will lead to another

when in reality there is no reason or evidence to back that up.

Look for weak analogies. These arguments use evidence from a si tuation that they

assert is the same, when really the si tuations are too different to draw conclusions

from.

Look for false dichotomies, which is when someone argues that there are only two

possible directions so theirs must be correct, despite the fact that many options

exist in the middle which may better solve the problem.

Edit your paper.Proper editing is very important. If your paper is riddled with

grammar or spelling errors, no one will take your arguments seriously, no matter how

good they are. Use a spell checker on your computer, try reading your paper out loud to

yourself, and have a friend or parent look it over.

Tinderbox

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Add your own method

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Add your steps using an ordered list. For example:1. Step one2. Step two3. Step three

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To write effectively, try to make a sentence that contains more than one information.

Conjunctions really help here to link two or more sentence. Use formal languages. Also,

don't make any repetitions, unless it is needed to stress an argument or a fact.

Keep the scope of your essay limited. You have to focus on one problem.

The best verifiable source is book. Spend your times in the library, reading a book that is

relevant to the topic you want to discuss. Alternatively, you can watch documentary films

about the topic or using documentations of trustful interviews.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating and that is not allowed. Originality is the main point

here.

1. http://web.clark.edu/martpe/writing_strong_argument_papers.htm

2. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/kingch/How_to_Think.htm

3. http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/conclusions/

4. http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fallacies/

Categories: Essays

Recent edits by: Grahamster, Mmishima, Brendan

In other languages:

Italiano: Come Scrivere una Tesina Argomentativa, Espaol: Cmo escribir un ensayo

argumentativo, Portugus: Como Escrever uma Dissertao

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