An argumentative essay is one that the student collects a topic, comes up with an evidence from that particular topic and finally, has a ground from the topic that the audience can relate with. Such kinds of essays may require more than enough time for an extensive research. This is because of the confusion that may arise during the period of presentation, and therefore the student needs to have clear evidence that supports the topic. Since it is an argumentative essay, the student may need different opinions before coming up with a conclusion. Such opinions may come from sources such as interviews and surveys.
What then consists of a good argumentative essay?
- Have a good introduction.
The introduction of your argumentative essay is what captures the attention of your audience. Like the introduction of any book or movie, how you have it as a student is very important. The introduction will either entice your audience to want to read more or may have them not want to read much. In an argumentative essay, we call this a hook. This is the very first statement of your introduction. It should be catchy and should create the need to read.
- Explain in detail, the topic in your background section.
This is still part of your introduction. The background explains a little about the topic you chose to work with, to your audience. You may choose to answer questions like, why you chose the topic, who the topic would be relevant to, and why you think that it would be an important subject of study. For example, you can come up with a topic mentioning why same sex marriages would be a disadvantage. As many would choose to have it, it would bring some kind of argument. With your evidence however, you should be able to support your topic.
- Have a thesis statement.
This also is part of your introduction in your argumentative essay. It is marked as the last sentence that states a solution to the problem that may have been brought out in your topic. For example, you could choose to say that same sex marriages are a disadvantage, because they reduce the chances of marriage between people of the opposite sex, as it should be.
The second part of your argumentative essay should be the body. This is where more than enough information should be given. It should be the section where you support your argument on the topic you chose to work with. The first part should show support for your argument and is divided in two sections. These include:
- Have a claim.
A claim is that statement you make to support your argument. For example, you have chosen to work with why same sex marriages is a disadvantage. Your argument is that, it has reduced the chances of opposite sex marriages happening and that is where the disadvantage comes in.
- Support your claim.
In this part of your argumentative essay, you need to have an evidence that supports your claim. At the beginning of your claim, you mentioned that same sex marriages are a disadvantage and gave a reason. However, that didn’t mean that everyone would believe and support your claim with you. Giving a supporting evidence however is bound to capture the attention of your audience. For example, you can choose to say that the reason it is a disadvantage is because only 18% of opposite sex couples choose to get married and have children the natural way.
If you feel that this evidence is enough to support your argument or claim, you can move on to the next part of the argumentative essay. This is the part where you disagree with the opponent’s argument.
In your topic for example, the opponent may choose to say that the reason same sex marriages should not serve as a disadvantage is because, not everyone wishes to commit in opposite sex marriages.
Here, you can argue their claim out by saying that, with same sex marriages, chances are couples needing children will need to go through strenuous procedures of adopting children. This will be caused by a great rise in same sex marriages as the natural act of conceiving cannot take place, therefore lading to the need of adopting children.
You need to ensure that your comeback on the opponent is strong enough to support your argument. Otherwise, you may be required to provide more supporting information before getting into the conclusion of your argumentative essay. If your claim refuting their statement is strong enough, then you can move to the last part of your essay which is the conclusion.
Just like the second part of your argumentative essay which is the body, your conclusion should have two sections or parts. These two sections include:
- Stating once again the importance of your topic.
If you chose to work with this topic, you thought it was critical. Probably because you have experienced the bad side of same sex marriages and the disadvantages. In your essay, it is importance once again to mention why it is an important topic. The importance of restating your topic is because it leaves your audience wanting to know more about it.
- Conclude your argumentative essay
Just like the introduction is important in every essay, it is very important that you have a conclusion for your argumentative essay. A conclusion in most cases helps to bring together the entire essay under one simplified point. The conclusion of your argumentative essay should be structured in a way that the audience understands. That is, leave no questions unanswered, considering you had the chance to prove your point regarding your essay.
Before submitting your essay for marking, a student needs to check if everything has been done correctly. This is called proofreading. Errors in this case are corrected to avoid confusing the reader or altering the meaning of certain statements. Proof reading is the best way to ensure that you submit an error free essay.
CHECK AGAIN!
Looking at all the above points in structuring an argumentative essay, you will realize that it is a kind of essay that needs more than enough time for research. However, a few cases may be a hindrance to achieving a successful argumentative essay that a student needs to be weary of.
- Too much distractions during writing.
As you write, there are certain things that may distract you. The distraction could occur during the period of research, or during that time of writing. Such distractions may include social media and too much phone usage. It is important therefore to ensure that you have all these far from you so that all attention is focused on writing.
- Laziness resulting to poor research.
As it is, no student wants to sit around in front of a computer doing research and writing an essay all day. It may be due to laziness as they prefer to use this time in other activities. When you have a lazy attitude, very little time is spent researching on your argumentative essay. This weakens your paper as it is not convincing enough to your audience. Students need to well prepare for essays such as these that need a lot of time for research.
- Plagiarism and copied work.
This is almost similar to the previous point on laziness. When you are in too much hurry to complete an essay, you will want to use the easiest and shortest way possible. You allow yourself copy work from the internet and make it look like your own. This is illegal in essay writing and is called plagiarism. Plagiarism results in hefty penalties and dismissal of already done work.
- Use of multiple resources not researched on prior.
Not everything available on the internet is correct. Before getting information, it is important to also check its reviews. Many people have wanted to be called researchers and their information is all over the internet. Remember, one quality in essay writing is originality and uniqueness. Ensure to use a source that will lead you to write your own essays uniquely.
In conclusion, we can say that this is a kind of essay that requires a lot of time for research. A well-researched essay is a well-structured essay. It is in this way that the student can lay down points correctly for the readers to relate with them. The student also needs to work with a topic they know they can work with. As seen above in the body of the essay, coming up with a claim and supporting it is not an easy task.
The good thing is that students who are not conversant with writing argumentative essays can always look up samples from the internet and familiarize themselves with them. There are also available online tutors and online companies willing to help students having difficulty in essay writing. Students can work with them at the beginning and learn to write these essays on themselves later. For argumentative essays, the student needs to know that there has to be the topic, and an evidence to support the topic because of the opponents.