argumentative essay

1. In an argumentative essay,
your job is make the reader
agree with your opinion
about a controversial topic.

2. You have to (1) state your opinion, (2) give
reasons to support your opinion, and (3) argue
against the opposite opinion. Overall, you must
convince the audience that your side of the
argument is correct. To convince the audience,
your essay must be balanced—it must include
your viewpoint and the opposing viewpoint, or
counterargument.

3. Even though you are arguing only one side of
an issue, you must think about what the
other side would say about your opinion.
After you give the counterargument, you
must refute it by showing that it is wrong. If
your essay is balanced, a reader is more
likely to agree with

4. Thesis Statement
This is part of your first paragraph. It is a
concise, one-sentence summary of your
main point and claim. It’s the most
important part of your argumentative
essay. To write a thesis statement, be
guided by the following
steps.

5. ● Turn the topic into a question and answer it.
Set up a big question in the title of your essay
or within the first few sentences. Then,
build up to answering that question in your
thesis statement.
● State an argument and then refute it.
Introduce an idea that contrasts with your
belief and immediately explain why you
disagree with it.
● Briefly outline your main points. Introduce
your main points and explain how you’ll back
it up.

6. 2. Body paragraphs. A typical argumentative
essay comprises three or more paragraphs
that explain the reasons why you support the
thesis. Each body paragraph should cover a
different idea or piece of evidence and
contain a topic sentence that clearly and
concisely explains why the reader should
agree with your position.

7. Body paragraphs are where you back up
your claims with examples, research,
statistics, studies, and text citations. Address
opposing points
of view and disprove them or explain why you disagree
with them. Presenting facts and considering a topic from
everyangle add credibility and will help you gain a
reader’s trust.

8. back up your claims with examples,
research, statistics, studies, and text
citations. Address opposing points
of view and disprove them or explain why you disagree
with them. Presenting facts and considering a topic from
every angle add credibility and will help you gain a
reader’s trust.

9. 3. Conclusion. It is a one paragraph that
restates your thesis and summarizes all of
the arguments made in your body
paragraphs. Rather than introducing new
facts or more arguments, a good conclusion
will appeal to reader’s emotions. In some
cases, you will use a personal anecdote
explaining how the topic personally affects
you.

10. What Is an Argumentative Essay?
Argument essays seek to state a position
on an issue and give several reasons,
supported by evidence, for agreeing with
that position.

11. How to Write a Thesis Statement
What Is a Thesis Statement?
A thesis statement is one sentence in
your introductory paragraph that
concisely summarizes your main point(s)
and claim(s) and presents your stance on
the topic.

12. It's worth spending some time crafting a
strong thesis statement since it lets the
reader know what the essay will be about
and determine whether they want to read
it.

13. Three Ways to Write a Thesis Statement
(With Examples)
1. Question/Answer Format: The easiest
way to write a thesis statement is to turn
the topic or prompt into a question, and
then answer that question. In order to
write a clear answer, you need to
understand the kind of question you are
asking.

14. Most types of questions fall into one of 5
categories: fact, definition, cause, value,
or proposing a solution. Most topics can
actually create questions in all of these
categories, for example:

15. Does divorce cause serious problems
for the children? (Fact)
What is "domestic violence?" (Definition)
What are the causes of divorce? (Cause)
How important is it for couples to avoid
divorce? (Value)
What can you do to make your marriage
divorce-proof? (Proposal)

16. Example: Question (used for title): What
is the best way to make your marriage
divorce-proof?
Answer: The most important way to make
your marriage divorce-proof is to make
sure you have carefully prepared for that
commitment.

17. In answering the question, you can also
tell the reader the focus of your paper, in
this example, you let the reader know
you are focusing on the preparation for
marriage in order to prevent divorce.

18. Refute Objections: Another way to craft a
thesis statement is to state one side of
the argument and present a refuting
statement.

19. Example: While some people think there
is no way to divorce-proof your marriage,
studies have shown that there are fewer
divorces when people carefully prepare
for that commitment.

20. In this example, you state one side of the
argument—"there is no way to divorce-
proof your marriage"—and refute it by
saying "there are fewer divorces when
people carefully prepare for that
commitment." What makes this
statement stronger (and more appealing)
is the reference to studies that will back
up your argument.

21. Identify what is described in each
statement. Write the letter of your answer
from the given choices inside the
parentheses.
1. A claim that has logic and facts (A.
counter argument B. refutation C.
argument)

22. 2 . A sentence that gets the reader’s
attention (A. thesis statement B. hook C.
background information)
3 . An argument that is contrary to, or the
opposite of the writer’s opinion (A.
conclusion B. counter argument C. claim)

23. 4 . Paragraph where the claim/thesis
appears (A. first paragraph B. second
paragraph C. last paragraph)
5. Sentence that tells the main idea of
the paragraph (A. topic sentence B.
supporting sentences C. thesis
statement)