How to Write a Good Argumentative Essay Effortlessly

Having tasks on writing is sometimes overwhelming, especially for students who are facing it for the first time. Mainly, writing an argumentative essay requires understanding the purpose of the text and managing it efficiently. If you need to write this kind of task, we recommend sticking to EssayBulls’ tips on how to make your argumentative essay outstanding. Read more and find solutions for the topics, outline, and format.

What an Argumentative Essay Is

An argumentative essay is a task of which the purpose is to take a position on an issue and give several reasons, supported with evidence, to convince the reader to agree with that position. It is also called a persuasive or opinion essay.

How to Write an Argumentative Essay: Step-by-Step Guide

Sticking to a logical plan for writing will save your time and nerves. Try to consider the main points depicted in this chapter to move on to detailed information about writing an argumentative essay.

Step 1: analyze the topic

When a teacher assigns you an argumentative essay, you need to brainstorm your topic. It will help you manage the following steps and understand what to write about easily.

• Understand what you have to do.
• Explore different perspectives of the topic.
• Look for the clues and limitations.

Let’s consider one of the most popular argumentative essay topics as an example: “Why reading is important.” Here, “why” is the purpose of your argumentative essay, and “reading is important” is an asking opinion. This should help students to analyze the topic and decide what to do.

Step 2: choose your position

When students don’t know which viewpoint to stand for, it is hard to understand how to write a good argumentative essay and research effectively. Before deciding on your final position, brainstorm both sides of the arguments: for and against. Lining out the essay’s main idea, you will easily understand what you want to say to your reader.

• Ask questions to yourself about the topic.

Try to get from five to seven points on both sides, then choose the three best points for each argument.

• Write down your ideas on paper.

Look back at the list of arguments you wrote for each side in your brainstorm. Depict which side has the most potent argument you think you can support best with argumentative essay examples and evidence.

• Separate all the positive and negative points.

Remember, your teacher is assessing your writing, not your opinion. Work with the most interesting and contrasting positions while writing an argumentative essay.

• Pick two “for” and one “against” points.

After having a short plan with a robust outlook, you can work on the first draft. Let’s have a look at how, based on these points, you can create an argumentative essay template for future writing.

Step 3: plan the essay

Creating an argumentative essay outline is one of the most vital parts of writing this task. As a result, many students skip it. Still, if you put in the effort at this stage, writing will be much easier. Remember that an argumentative essay normally consists of five paragraphs:

• Introduction.
• First body paragraph with supporting argument.
• Second body paragraph with supporting argument.
• Third body paragraph with opposing argument.
• Conclusion.

Planning can help you describe your essay’s content brightly and deliver your viewpoint efficiently to the reader. Having a better understanding of what chapters your essay should consist of, you as an author can provide better research and organize the collected information properly.

Step 4: start writing

To concentrate on writing an argumentative essay, you need to have a general picture of the process. When you have enough evidence from external sources such as books, videos, podcasts, documents, artworks, articles, and interviews, then you can move on to writing.

• Get started with a clear introduction.
• Give a brief about your arguments in the thesis statement.
• Present two supporting arguments in two body paragraphs.
• Talk about the opposing arguments in the third body paragraph.
• Wrap up the arguments in the conclusion.

Include all knowledge about the specific topic in a strict and concise essay. It doesn’t matter how many pages you are assigned to write. Still, it is essential to gain the reader’s attention on the current issue and your unique viewpoint towards it.

Argumentative Essay Outline in Details

 – Plan a good introduction.

Hook

If you start your argumentative essay well, the rest will follow. An introduction includes an attention grabber or hook. This is the information that engages the reader in your work. So, writing an argumentative essay, you should make the audience want to continue reading.

Background

An introduction includes several sentences that explain the context of your research. Consider that your reader is not familiar with the story, so you need to update them with additional material.

Thesis statement

This part of the introduction shows readers what you are going to discuss in further items of the essay. Clearly outline the main idea but don’t explain it in-depth. That will be for your essay’s body.

 – Create rich body paragraphs

Every argumentative essay’s body consists of three key arguments. The first two sections uncover the two arguments where the author stands for their positions, and the last paragraphs are where the author stands against it.

Claim

The first body paragraph is a perfect place to claim for supporting your thesis. Whatever topic you are writing about, you can tell how bad it could be for a social group, environment, or specific process. Avoid just saying it, but prove it with evidence.

Evidence

This paragraph can consist of reliable sources such as newspaper articles, book citations, blog posts, or videos. Present how these materials support your viewpoint and why the audience should consider it essential. Good argumentative essay examples from scientific researches with statistic figures will strengthen your work and convince readers to agree with your opinion.

Contrast

This part opposes your viewpoint and stands for someone’s else idea. In this section, you need to demonstrate how weak this position could be and beat it with a strong argument. This should be a polite response, not forcing text, where the audience gets a sense of everything you’ve said earlier.

 – Conclude your work

Remind readers of the essay’s original idea. Explain one more time what you are arguing about and how the world would change if you didn’t raise this question. Wrap up all aspects that help the general reader to come to a rational interpretation of a specific topic.

How to Cope With Argumentative Essay Format

There are two main formats every student should consider while writing an argumentative essay: the Toulmin or the Rogerian models.

1) Toulmin’s method of creating an argument consists of a claim, grounds, and warrant. The warrant is the reasoning that connects the grounds and claims in an argumentative essay to let readers accept the author’s position.

2) The Rogerian method of creating an argument includes a detailed description of the problem, contexts in which the other side can be rational, contexts in which the author’s side is accurate, and benefits to the other side if the author’s side is adopted.

50 Ideas for Argumentative Essay Topics

Education

1. Distance education is an option to replace face-to-face learning.
2. Should sex ed be taught in elementary schools more comprehensively?
3. Should education be free for everyone?
4. Should schools save uniforms?
5. Is PE important enough to affect a student’s grade?

Health and science

1. Should vaccination be obligatory for students who attend public schools?
2. Is GMO helpful or harmful for people?
3. Should the government allow fracking on a legal basis?
4. Should euthanasia be legal??
5. Can doctors promote medicines, or is it out of the rules?

Culture and arts

1. Is graffiti an art or act of vandalism?
2. Does sharing music and pictures online not violate copyrights?
3. Should censorship affect poetry?
4. Is it important to regulate YouTube content more strictly?
5. Should art education be obligatory in all schools?

Economics

1. Is it legal not to pay for internships?
2. Should companies develop lower and higher tax rates?
3. Should corporations stimulate employees by increasing wages?
4. Why is a monopoly a horrible idea for the fast-growing business world?
5. Should governments decline a universal basic income for better economic development?

Government and politics

1. Should people be allowed to elect Supreme Court justices?
2. Is it reasonable to implement automatic voter registration?
3. Should people in prison be allowed to vote?
4. Why should governments consider political education in high school seriously?
5. Why is the electoral college system the most effective for the USA today?

Religion

1. Why should clergy be permitted to marry?
2. Should “all people under God” take an oath of loyalty?
3. Why should religious organizations have to pay taxes?
4. Why is religion a vital class in schools?
5. Should schools implement religious clubs inside their community?

Technology

1. Why is it inappropriate for social media to collect data about users?
2. Does the internet have a more positive or negative effect on society?
3. Should human labor be replaced with automation?
4. Are self-driving cars a legal and safe affair?
5. Why should government apply strict measures for drivers who use cell phones while driving?

Ethics

1. Is drug possession not criminal enough to put the person in jail?
2. Why is animal testing an ineffective and cruel phenomenon?
3. Should the death penalty be legally eliminated?
4. Should Columbus Day be changed to Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
5. Why is sex work not actually work?

Sports

1. Should US sports prepare soccer players better?
2. Should a sport be separated by gender?
3. Should athletes be paid for participating in college sports?
4. Should the designated hitters’ principle be abolished in baseball rules?
5. Should coaches’ and players’ royalties be equal?

Psychology

1. Should parents allow kids to have everything, or will it result in the risk of degrading permissiveness?
2. Is home education less stressful?
3. Should kids learn how to repair the bonds after an argument or instantly leave a toxic relationship?
4. Should psychology be taught in primary school as the main subject?
5. Does child trauma help or interfere with achieving high results in adult life?

To-Do Tips on How to Write a Good Argumentative Essay

Reading all argumentative essay examples will help you to create a general picture in your mind of how to write your own piece. Remember these tips to enhance your persuasion potential in every chapter of your argumentative essay.

• Start the essay with an enticing hook to grab your audience.
• Provide proper evidence to back your arguments.
• Give your readers food for thought.
• Ensure that you’ve answered the essay’s question correctly.
• Provide background to give a voice to the essay.

Tips to Avoid While Writing an Argumentative Essay

• Convincing readers about something that is false or that you are not sure about.
• Depicting facts without your opinion.
• Introducing a new argument in the conclusion.
• Confusing readers by presenting different arguments.
• Forcing your opinion on the readers.

Argumentative Essay Example

Why College Should Not Be Free

The question of whether college and university should be free or not arises in addition to the benefits and downsides of enrolling. As tempting as free college may sound, there are many negative aspects in the background.

First and foremost, the quality of university education would decrease. Professors would not be able to devote themselves properly to the sudden increase of people in the classrooms. Students would certainly not get the necessary knowledge and would not be well prepared for the job market. This leads to the fact that having a degree would lose its importance. A large number of average and below average students would be created.

Consequently, students would value their faculty less. They would be less persistent and focused, as everything would be easily accessible, which certainly leads to failure.
Money cannot just be eliminated. It has to come from somewhere. And its source, instead of students, would be taxpayers. “They will pay for the free tuition while soon-to-be college dropouts use student loans” (Norton).

Some students are not suitable for college at all or like to enjoy perpetual student status. In order to avoid this, Croatia’s example should be followed: free education for exemplary students and (expensive) tuition fees if they fail a year. That seems like a fair compromise.

What people want is commonly not what they need. The focus should be placed on the big picture: the future of students, the success of their education, and even the survival of the college itself, not just the satisfaction of individual preferences. “Citizens must be capable of rising above their own particular interests in order to make disinterested judgements of the general interest” (House 133). Since free college would cause more problems than it would bring benefits, college should not be free.

Works Cited

House, Ernest R. Schools for Sale: Why Free Market Policies Won’t Improve America’s Schools, and What Will (Critical Issues in Educational Leadership Series). Teacher’s College Press, 1998.
Norton, Vince. “Why Free College Is a Bad Idea.” Norton Norris Incorporated, 16 Mar. 2018, https://nortonnorris.com/free-college-bad-idea/.

Writing an Argumentative Essay With the Best Specialists

Speaking honestly, it is not easy for newbies to understand how to write a good argumentative essay. For this purpose, the EssayBulls team works 24/7 to cover all your educational needs. You’ll be surprised with the affordable prices, loyal authors, and their high professionalism in assisting you with any subject.

Visiting our blog, you can not only set up in your mind a general picture of academic writing but also get a concrete argumentative essay example to help you in your research. Therefore, EssayBulls is the right website, which you are currently visiting now! Don’t waste a moment to choose one of the most reliable writers to buy a persuasive essay from and get your inspiration for a future project!

Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels

Related posts

How to Write a Letter to a Friend: Things to Remember

How to Write a Literature Review of Great Quality

How to Write a Causal Analysis Essay