5 Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay

Writing an argumentative essay will always be a part of your academic journey. Schools and teachers incorporate this activity in their curriculums because it helps students learn and develop new skills. Sometimes, they do not implicitly say that you will make an argumentative essay. But you can spot it based on its structure and purpose. It is a piece of writing that reveals the author’s position on a certain issue. To create an excellent paper, you must state your reasons using logic and showing evidence to support your claim.

However, accomplishing this task may not come easily to you and other people. You might find it challenging to tackle unfamiliar issues. You might also not have time to work on your paper due to time constraints or personal responsibilities. Whatever your reason may be, you can always consider seeking help from custom writing services like EssayKitchen. Their professional writers are capable of providing high-quality essays for you anytime you need them. If you do not have the means to pay them, you can do the task independently. Below are some tips on how to write an argument essay.

• Find a topic that suits you

Part of learning how to start an argumentative essay is choosing your topic. Sometimes, your teacher will give you a specific subject to work on because they want your class to discuss varied topics. This way, there will be no overlapping or copying of assignments among all of you. However, most teachers will give you the freedom to decide on it. This entices everyone to share their background knowledge and interests and work on new things they want to explore. If your teacher does the latter, it would be best to find a prompt that suits you. It can be based on your interests, background knowledge, and availability.

If you have a lot of topics in mind, you can list all of them down on paper or your gadget. You can do some elimination if other topics do not seem appealing. But if you want to have a specific prompt, it would be best to search for lists on the internet. Many websites provide multiple topics according to each field or subject matter. For example, they have lists for topics related to mental health, education, technology, environment, and so on. From there, you can select a prompt that interest you. However, remember that your paper should not only have your opinions as to the author. You must back it up with pieces of evidence from credible sources. Therefore, it would be best to choose a topic that suits your interest and has numerous related literature.

• Research your ideas and organize your findings

As mentioned earlier, a good argumentative essay must have reliable references to prove the author’s thesis statement. To do this, you have to do some research about your chosen topic. If you already have a definite stand, you only need to look for more information from various materials you can find. First, check if there are sufficient materials to back up your main points.

Meanwhile, if you are not yet sure about your position on the issue, you can read articles and other materials. While you are doing this, it would be best to bookmark the sources you have read. This way, you can track the materials related to your topic, whether they show opposition or not. By doing these things, you can ensure that your thesis statement will be substantiated well throughout the paper. Afterward, organize your references according to the main points indicated in your thesis statement.

• Briefly outline your main points

Outlining is an essential step in writing, whether you like it or not. It allows you to organize your ideas that will result in a logical and smooth flow of ideas. Also, it gives you a sense of direction to achieve your purpose. Without this, your insights and references will be all over the place, which leads to a poorly-written paper. Therefore, you must outline first before drafting. Not only does it make your work organized, but it will also save you time in the long run.

You can use different kinds of outlines according to the task or kind of essay you are writing. However, the most common type of outline is the standard one. This means that the introduction, body, and conclusion form the typical argumentative essay structure. You need to put an attention-getter, background information about the topic, and thesis statement in the introduction. Your thesis statement should t least have three main points, which will be discussed in the body paragraphs. Therefore, it would be best to dedicate one body paragraph for each main point. However, you must also consider the required essay length. Lastly, the conclusion restates the claim and main points and leaves the readers with a thought-provoking question or challenge.

• Cite all your facts and evidence

Whether you are writing argumentative essays or not, a citation is crucial in academic writing and research. This is done to give the proper credits to the original author or source. By not doing this, you commit plagiarism, which is a serious offense in the academic community. It can impact you negatively, depending on your school’s rules regarding this issue. Therefore, it would be best to cite all the sources you will use in your outputs.

Before drafting, you must also know what citation style your teacher requires. The commonly used citation styles are APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard. Not using the correct one can lead to some deductions. And by not following the guidelines for each style, you commit plagiarism. So, you must familiarize yourself with them before submitting your work. If you want to ensure that your work is free from plagiarism, you can use free or paid plagiarism checkers online.

• Do not forget about the conclusion

As mentioned above, the conclusion is a part of the argumentative essay format, so it must not be neglected. Even if you think that your work is already lengthy, you must not forget to conclude by summarizing your main points. This way, your readers can still remember what they have read in the body paragraphs. Moreover, you can use this to reinforce your position on the issue and give your readers some time to evaluate their stance.

In conclusion, writing argumentative essays is not easy, but it is exciting. It helps you strengthen and enhance your writing skills as well as your critical thinking and reasoning skills. To do this effectively, you must select a topic that suits your interests. Moreover, it would be best to research your ideas and organize them before outlining them. You must also not forget to cite your sources and conclude your work with a bang. If you want some professional help for this task, you can always use essay writing services online.