6 Useful Suggestions On How To Write An Argumentative Essay

There are dozens of different kinds of essays, and chances are you’ll have to learn to write almost all of them during your years in school. An argumentative essay is pretty much what it sounds like: it is paper where you try to argue a point, or get the reader to see things a certain way.

Use these 6 suggestions to write a great argumentative essay:

1. Choose a topic with two sides

You may or may not be assigned a broad topic by your teacher for the assignment. Even if you are, you’ll probably still have to narrow it down to something more specific. When doing so, its best to choose a topic that has two clear sides—essentially a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answer to the same question. This makes crafting an argumentative essay much simpler than dealing with a topic that has many possible answers.

2. Craft a concise thesis statement

Next you’ll need to choose a side to argue, and come up with a set of points you’ll use to argue it. These should be put together in a concise manner to form your thesis statement. An easy way to think about a thesis statement is that someone should be able to understand your paper in a nutshell from it.

3. Organize your paper well

A basic strategy for organizing your paper is to have each of the body paragraphs deal with one of your main points. In that paragraph you will provide evidence to convince the reader that your point is correct or compelling. Then, in your conclusions paragraph, you should show how these points fit together to support your larger argument. That is, however, just one strategy. There may be another organization that makes more sense for your topic.

4. Include rebuttals

Rebuttals are where you show the argument that the other side would likely make against your point, then provide a counter argument. It is important to include them because they make your argument stronger, and show that it is well thought out and comprehensive.

5. Use persuasive language

If the point of the paper is to be persuasive, then you should be using persuasive language. Nothing kills an argument faster than dull, boring language.

6. Proofread it carefully

As with any essay, you should proofread your paper carefully to make sure that there are no careless mistakes or typos in it. It can also be helpful to have a friend, family member, or classmate proofread it too.