Top 4 Tips of Writing an Argumentative Essay

Defining an Argumentative Essay

In an argumentative essay, the student is required to:

• investigate the selected topic thoroughly;
• collect and evaluate the necessary evidence in order to support the argument;
• establish a firm and unshakable position.

It’s necessary to note that sometimes students mix up expository and argumentative essays. Although these types of essay are similar, an argumentative essay is different from an expository one in regard to the amount of pre-writing activities and research involved. It should be stressed that an argumentative essay requires conducting detailed and thorough research unlike an expository one, which involves less research and is short. Doing research for an argumentative essay typically includes collecting data through observations, interviews, experiments or surveys. In-depth research like this allows the students to immerse in the studied material and understand different, often conflicting points of view. Irrespective of the amount of research that the students perform, an argumentative essay should follow the sound reasoning and establish a clear thesis.

4 Tips to Follow

When working on an argumentative essay, make sure to follow these 4 tips:

• Write a Clear Thesis Statement. In the first essay paragraph, you should explain the significance of the chosen topic and why the readers should be interested in it. This reasoning should be followed by the thesis statement that should stick to the guidelines listed in the assignment and be strong, clear and concise.
• Make Smooth Transitions between Different Parts of the Essay. Transitional phrases and words do not allow any essay to fall apart. While completing an essay, you should present the logical thought progression, gradually keeping to the key argument of the essay. Transitional words and phrases should continue the key idea of the previous paragraph and transfer it on to the next one.
• Evidential Support should be Included in all Body Paragraphs. Discussing one general idea in each paragraph will give your essay the sense of direction and clarity. Each paragraph of the body should have a logical link to the thesis statement mentioned in the introductory paragraph. Use as many solid pieces of evidence as you can, and also state how and why the evidence that you have collected supports the thesis statement. Evidence can be statistical, logical, anecdotal or factual. It’s important that you don’t fall into a trap of narrowed-thinking and defend only your point of view. Argumentative essays should also consider researching and analyzing conflicting opinions. Some or all of the conflicting points may be refuted by the evidence gathered by the author of the essay. While it’s unethical to point out how this or that position is wrong, the author can explain that conflicting positions are outdated or not well informed.
• Conclusion, Read Dressed in the Light of Provided Evidence. The conclusion is what will leave the readers with the final impression, therefore it should be written very well. When working on the conclusion, don’t just restate the facts from your essay but readdress thesis statement in the light of the evidence provided throughout the essay.