How to Write an Argumentative Essay

Writing an argumentative essay requires more than just conviction on an opinion to convince people you are right. A strong stance does not guarantee success if you don’t structure it properly and connect it with solid evidence and reasoning. Learn about the crucial elements of this form of essay and its structure depending on your audience through this sample essay.

How to Write an Argumentative Essay  | Writing Guide

An argumentative essay typically involves three or more paragraphs explaining why you support a certain position that is your thesis. Make sure each body paragraph covers a particular idea supported by relevant pieces of evidence. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence to help your readers determine what you’re talking about within the section. It should clearly and concisely explain why the reader should adopt your position. A concluding sentence summarizes this position and does not include new information.

Suppose you’ve chosen to write about why people should/shouldn’t get maternity or paternity leave in a particular country, say, the US. How would you go about it?

Related: Argumentative Essay on Immigration

Decide Which Position You Support

Take a position on the issue, supporting or refuting the argument. There are various factors to consider when making this decision. We will assume you have chosen to support paid maternity or paternity leave. Collect more information to support your claim than what you gather for opposing sources. However, read each side’s argument to reinforce your position in case someone challenges it. An unbiased argumentative essay that considers both parties will score higher than one purely focused on your argument.

The next thing to consider is how you will structure your paper. Your best point should appear first as you proceed in order of reducing importance with your weakest one appearing last. This attracts the reader’s attention and provides the best merits first, helping you convince them about the accuracy of your thesis. You should arrest the attention of your audience with reasonable and strong arguments from the paper’s onset. Do not hope they will see the sense in them as you progress, be proactive in your argument.

Examples of Introduction, Body, and Concluding Sections of an Argumentative Essay

Perhaps a visual demonstration of this structure will help show you how to go about the process.

Introduction

Humanity strictly followed a strict gender-based system that separated male and female roles at work and home for centuries. Following World War II, more women in the US joined the workforce. This resulted in an unintended yet important concept for discussion, maternity leave. Women are unilaterally segregated when they decide to start a family. The US should join other countries in advancing paid maternity leave as the best option for its female population considering having a family.

This section shows the need to consider paid maternity leave as it illustrates women are a permanent part of the modern workforce. It has a definitive thesis statement that sets the pace for the following sections.

Body

We cannot stress this enough, start with your strongest arguments with the best supporting evidence. It shows the audience your thesis statement has credible backing and makes them receptive to consider this position valid.

Remember, your topic sentence is only as strong as the supporting evidence you provide. Make sure it has sufficient muscle to sway your audience to your position. Since we have taken a positive approach concerning maternity or paternity leave, here are some strong arguments supporting its integration in the US:

• Women no longer have to choose between having a family and a career.
• Companies can maintain a good member of staff.
• Parents will be able to afford better medical care for the mother and infant.
• Women can enjoy time with their newborns without looming financial concerns.

Conclusion

The final section of your essay is no less important than the preceding ones, so take extra caution rounding up your argument. This lets your readers recognize the truth in your thesis as you may have convinced them with logic and reasoning. Do not introduce new concepts in this section; instead, focus on winding up the paper by restating your thesis statement, albeit in different words.

For instance, the conclusion of our sample could be, “Maternity leave poses a major implication for continued growth in contemporary societies. Changing working landscapes and gender relations push more women to join the workforce. However, slow reform has resulted in segregation as they must choose between personal and professional interests. While we are not talking about full compensation, offering partial payment to female employees as paid maternity leave helps promote employer-employee relations and protects vulnerable women in the country.”

To Sum it Up

An argumentative essay has three or more body paragraphs to promote a thesis and provide a counter argument. It necessitates a writer to provide solid supporting sentences to each claim. The essay aims to convince the reader about the truthfulness of their argument. Argumentative essays are common in academic writing and indicate a writer’s capacity to sway an audience to support a position regardless of their previous stance on the matter.

Writing an argumentative essay requires time and effort to create a masterpiece. Here is an example of a high-quality argumentative essay written by one of our experts. Contact us for customized, distinct essays that set themselves apart from the fray.

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