Name : Clark Ben Hubert Roring

SRN : 2016-51-010

Argumentative Essay: The Definition, Structure, and Types

When we want to express our knowledge about a scientific and common topic or issue,
we could do it by writing an essay. Writing is a precise choice for anybody who wants to keep
researches or knowledges of common topics or issues. In these days, writing an essay is very
common for college students. There are many kinds of essay. Argumentative essay is one of
those kinds. When we write an argumentative essay, we give reasons to support our ideas for or
against something. Just like other essays, argumentative essay has its own characteristics and
structure that distinguish it from other essays. This essay aims at explaining three key points
about argumentative essay which are the definition, structure, and some types of argumentative
essay.
Argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires student to investigate a topic,
collect, generate, and evaluate evidence to support the topic. This is a part of academic writing.
We may use description, comparison and contrast, or cause and effect to illustrate our points.
Argumentative essay always discusses about a real and scientific topic. It means it’s not fictional
like narrative essay. Therefore, we are required to collect real data and evidence to support our
topic. When we list the points to support our argument, some may be facts and some may be
opinions. Facts are statement that are known to be true. Opinion are personal beliefs that may or
may not be true. It is important to distinguish between fact and opinion in our essay, otherwise,
our essay may not be so convincing. It is also crucial to write an essay in chronological order.
Every essay has its own structure. Argumentative essay in common has at least three
parts:
1. An introduction
2. A body (one or more paragraphs)
3. A conclusion
The introduction has two parts: general statements and a thesis statement. The general statements
give the reader background information about the topic of the essay. These statements should get
the reader interested in the topic. The thesis statement introduces the main idea of the essay. It is
just like a topic sentence in a paragraph. It states the main topic and tells what will be said in the
body paragraphs. The thesis is usually the last sentence of the introduction. The body of
paragraph consists of one or more paragraph. Each of these paragraphs has a topic sentence,
supporting sentences, and sometimes a concluding sentence. The body paragraphs support
whatever is stated in the thesis statement. The body paragraphs are similar to the supporting
sentences of the paragraph. And the last part of the argumentative essay is the conclusion. It
summarizes the main points discussed in the body or restates the thesis in different words. It also
leaves the reader with a final comment or thought about the topic.
As we recall, argumentative essay only discusses about real, scientific, non-fictional
topics. Therefore, we are required to provide a real topic and many ideas that support our topic.
The supporting ideas must be real, logical, and reasonable. This will make our essay is more
convincing. There are some types of argumentative essay. For instance, journals are the most
common works of argumentative essay. It is a record of researches and events in many kinds of
topics such as economy, business, science, health, sports, etc. A scientific journal is written
structurally for academic purpose. It can be used as studying source for students and teachers. It
provides facts and opinions, and supporting ideas for its topics. Another type of argumentative
essay is newspaper. A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about
current events. A factual source, we can find facts and opinions provided by the writer. A
newspaper is also written in chronological order and may contains pictures to support the
discussed event. Textbooks may be the largest form of argumentative essay. Students read
textbooks to find certain and factual information. In academic field, we can find many topics in
textbooks such as math, literature, history, economy, psychology, etc. Textbooks are written to
be learned by people, commonly students and teachers.
Writing an essay, especially argumentative essay is quite challenging. We are required to
define a factual and scientific topic and provide logical and reasonable points to support our
topics, because most argumentative essay are written for academic purposes. We may provide
facts and opinions, but we must distinguish them in order to make our essay is more convincing.
In writing an argumentative essay, a chronological order is crucial because it will make our essay
is more understandable. There are three parts of argumentative essay regarding its structure.
They are the introductory paragraph that has both general statements and thesis statement, the
body of paragraph that consists of the topic explanation, and the last part is the conclusion that
summarizes all the discussed main points. Some types of argumentative essay are journals,
newspapers, and textbooks. Lastly, writing an argumentative essay is a skill that every students
should possess, because this is crucial in many aspects, mostly in academic purposes.