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ARGUMENTATIVE PARAGRAPH

Argumentative paragraph is writing that sets forth an argument. That is to say, it advances
a writer’s opinion or belief about an issue, and it attempts to persuade an audience that this
opinion is correct. It does so buy supporting the opinion with information given in the form
of reasons and examples. The information is often arranged in terms of its importance as
evidence. It either begins with the least important information and builds up to the most
important, or works the other way around, from the most important to the least.

In summary, the following are the most important characteristics of argumentative writing:

1. It gives the writer’s opinion about an issue.

2. It attempts to persuade an audience by means of information in the form of reasons
and evidences.
3. The information is arranged in terms of its importance to the argument, either from
least to most important, or from most to least.

Elements of a paragraph.-

A) Introduction: It introduces the topic to be talk about and presents the topic sentence in
the form of an opinion.

Topic Sentence: It tells the reader what you think of something.

B) Body: It is the event itself which is told in three parts that keep coherence and unity at
the same time.

Supporting sentences: These sentences tell the reader why and how is that you think
in that way. You will need 3 reasons accompanied and 3 pieces of evidence. Each
reason must be accompanied by its respective piece of evidence.

 1st Reason and piece of evidence.

 2nd Reason and piece of evidence.

 3rd Reason and piece of evidence.

C) Conclusion: It restates and confirm your thought or feeling about the topic.

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Concluding Sentence: Here you restate your opinion about the topic. You can use
other words that mean or reflect exactly the same thing you said in your Topic
Sentence.

Evidence Classification:

 Example.- It is an event that takes place in your immediate vicinity.

 Incident.- It is an event that takes place in a society, a country, a continent,

etc.

 Fact.- It is a universally true event. No one can refuted or say the opposite.

 Statistic.- It is a figure , a number expressed in percentage amounts.

 Quotation.- It is the literally citing of the words, opinion of an expert

regarding the topic.

Sentence Connectors:

 Supporting connectors: They glue sentences that complement each other and
make your idea stand stronger.

* Furthermore, * What’s more,

* Moreover, * Besides, * In addition,

 Contras Connectors: They glue sentences together that are actually opposite to
each other.

* But, * Nonetheless,
* However, * Even so,
* On the other Hand * Even though,
* Nevertheless, * In spite of,
* Although, * Despite,

 Concluding Connectors: They summarize ideas taking you to draw a conclusion.

* Therefore, * As a result,
* Hence, * To sum up,
* Thus, * In conclusion,
* In summary,

MODEL PARAGRAPH:

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In my opinion, _____________________________________________________
_______. One reason for this is ______________________________________________
_________________________________________. For example, __________________
________________________________________________________________________
A second reason for this is __________________________________________________
__________________________________________. For instance, _________________
________________________________________________________________________
The most important reason for this is _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
For example, ____________________________________________________________
____________________________. In conclusion, _______________________________
_____________________________________.

PARAGRAPH OUTLINE:

 TOPIC SENTENCE
 REASON 1
o Evidence 1
 REASON 2
o Evidence 1
 REASON 3
o Evidence 1
 CONCLUDING SENTECE

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Everyone Should Vote

Topic In my opinion, every eligible voter should vote in every
Sentence
election. The first reason is that every vote counts. Many
Reason 1
important elections have won by just a few votes. For instance, in
1980 mayoral race in Chickapee was won by just ten votes, and in
Evidence 1
the 1982 senatorial race in Tennessee was undecided until the final
ten percent of the votes were counted. A second reason for this is
that voting is the right that was guaranteed by the founder fathers
Reason 2 of the nation. It is not something to be taken for granted. The
possibility always exists that a right can be lost if people do not
exercise it. For example, history is filled with instances of people
losing their rights and freedoms because they either abused them Evidence 2

or did not use them. The most important reason is that voting
usually leads to the election of the best man. There are those who
Reason 3
argue that all candidates are the same, promising before Election
Day and forgetting after it. But in my city, for example, there
really are differences between the candidates. Thus, voting is a
Evidence 3
Concluding right that every citizen must exercise in democratic society.
sentence

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A College Diploma is for Everyone

Everyone should earn a college degree. One reason is that most

corporations and businesses will not consider hiring a person who does
not have a college diploma. For example, my cousin was hired by the
Apex Corporation as a personnel officer simply on the strength of her
degree. A second reason is that people with college educations are
respected. For instance, a survey conducted by the Holio Group revealed
that ninety percent of the registered voters in the United States would only
vote for candidates with college degrees. This shows that people have
faith in and respect for college graduates. The most important reason is
that earning a college degree is the fulfillment of an American dream. It
is one of the great hopes of most parents and grandparents for their
children and is especially true of immigrants. For example, every foreign
student enrolled in Professor Sand’s English class indicated that one of
the primary reasons their parents had for coming to the United States was
to make sure their children would get college educations. In summary, it
is essential that everyone have a college diploma in order to ensure
success.

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Paragraph Analysis
A. Introduction:

Topic Sentence: ……………………………………………………………………..

B. Body:

Supporting Sentences:

1. Reason……………………………………………………………………

 Evidence:…………………………………………………………………
………..…………………………………………………………………..

2. Reason……………………………………………………………………

 Evidence:…………………………………………………………………
…………………………….……………….………………………………

3. Reason……………………………………………………………………
………

 Evidence:………………………………….………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

C. Conclusion:

Concluding Sentence:
………………………………………………………………...

Answer the following questions:

1. Which example has been drawn from knowledge the writer has about another
person’s life?

How does the example strengthen the reason?

2. Which example has been drawn from information the writer has at hand?

3. Which example is a statistic?

How does the example strengthen the reason?

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ANALYTICAL PARAGRAPH

Analytical writing is writing that analyzes. You use analytical writing when you classify
or break down a subject into its component parts and describe those parts in a logical,
orderly manner. Analytical writing is closely related to descriptive writing. Both forms aim
to make the reader see what the writer sees. While descriptive writing is usually concerned
with one subject, such as a room or a person, analytical writing is usually concerned with
classifying two or more subjects. The writer of analysis examines subjects according to
their similarities and/or differences.
Some TOEFL writing topics will ask you to consider the relationship between two things,
for example, your hometown (that is, the town where you were born or grew up) and your
university town. Such topics may allow you to organize your writing either around the
similarities between these two subtopics (for example, between your hometown and your
university town) or around the differences between them. If you write about the similarities,
the writing will be a comparison writing. On the other hand, if you want to write about the
differences, your writing will be a contrast writing.

Most of analytical writing has the following characteristics:

1. It identifies the major features of two or more subjects.

2. It classifies each subject in terms of those features or characteristics.
3. The writers judges whether the subjects are similar or different in terms of the
shared characteristics.

Focusing on comparing two subjects

Doctors and Teachers

There are many similarities between doctors and teachers. First, both doctors and
teachers are considered professionals by their communities. The classification of
professional is the highest socioeconomic rank an individual can achieve in this society.
Second, both doctors and teachers help others: doctors heal the bodies of sick people and
return them to health, and teachers mold the minds of young people and turn them into
responsible, educated adults. Last, both doctors and teachers are essential members of a
community. It is difficult to imagine a city or town that has no need of either a doctor or a
teacher. Such a place would truly be primitive.

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Answer the following questions:

1. Has the paragraph analyzed similarities or differences between doctors

and teachers?
2. What is the first characteristic analyzed?
3. What is the second characteristic analyzed?
4. What is the third characteristic analyzed?
5. List words and phrases that the writer uses to establish the similarities
between doctors and teachers.

Comparison Paragraphs Organized by Similar Points

Consider the following paragraph:

My hometown and my college town have several things in common. First, both are
small rural communities. For example, my hometown, Gridlock, has a population of only
about 10,000 people. Similarly, my college town, Subnormal, consists of about 11,000
local residents. This population swells to 15,000 people when the college students are
attending classes. A second way in which these two towns are similar is that they are both
located in rural areas. Gridlock is surrounded by many acres of farmland which is devoted
mainly to growing corn and soybeans. In the same way, Subnormal lies in the center of
farmland which is used to raise hogs and cattle…

(Note: The four dots [. . . .] at the end of this paragraph mean that the paragraph contains
more sentences that are not shown here.)

The passage above is from a comparison paragraph. That is, a paragraph which discusses
the similarities between two subtopics. Notice how the ideas in this paragraph are
organized. As usual, the topic sentence is at the beginning of the paragraph. After that, the
paragraph continues by discussing one point of similarity between the towns of Gridlock
and Subnormal, namely, their small population. Specific details are given to support the
statement that "both are small rural communities." Following this, the paragraph briefly
discusses a second point of similarity between the two towns, that is, their geographic
surroundings. Here, the paragraph also gives supporting details to illustrate their similarity,
namely, that they are "both located in rural areas."

As you can see, therefore, this comparison paragraph is structured (organized) according
to the points of similarity between the two towns. This particular paragraph discusses only
two points of similarity, but of course we can imagine a paragraph that gives three, four,
or even more points of similarity. This paragraph, for example, might continue in this way:

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. . . Thirdly, both of these towns are similar in that both contain college campuses. Gridlock,
for example, is home to Neutron College, which is famous for its Agricultural Economics
program as well as for its annual Corn-Watching Festival. Likewise, the town of Subnormal
boasts the beautiful campus of Quark College, which is well known for its Agricultural
Engineering department and also for its yearly Hog-Calling Contest.

(Note: The three dots [. . .] at the beginning of the above paragraph indicate that the
paragraph contains previous sentences that are not shown here.)

We can place the points of similarity and their supporting details in a table in order to see
more clearly how this short paragraph is organized:
Comparison Paragraph -- Organized by Similar Points

Comparison Paragraph -- Organized by Similar Points

TOPIC SENTENCE My (a) hometown and (b) college town are similar.

POINT #1 Both are small rural communities.

DETAIL (a) Gridlock has about 10,000 people.

Subnormal has about 11,000 local residents.

DETAIL (b)
It has about 4000 college students.

POINT #2 Both are located in rural areas.

Gridlock is surrounded by many acres of farmland.

DETAILS (a)
This farmland is devoted to growing corn.
The land is also used to grow soybeans.

Subnormal is in the center of land used for raising hogs.

DETAILS (b)
This land is also used to raise cattle.

POINT #3 Both towns contain college campuses.

Gridlock is home to Neutron College.

DETAILS (a) This college is famous for its Agricultural Economics
program.
It is also famous for its annual Corn-Watching Festival.

Subnormal contains Quark College.

DETAILS (b) This campus is famous for its Agricultural Engineering
department.
It is also famous for its yearly Hog-Calling Contest.

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Comparison Paragraphs Organized by Subtopic

Another way of organizing a comparison is not according to supporting details that are
similar, but according to subtopic. That is, we can organize the paragraph by first
discussing all the relevant points associated to one subtopic, then discussing those of the
second subtopic. Look at the following example, based on the above paragraph:

My hometown and my college town have several things in common. First, my

hometown, Gridlock, is a small town. It has a population of only about 10,000 people.
Located in a rural area, Gridlock is surrounded by many acres of farmland which are
devoted mainly to growing corn and soybeans. Gridlock also contains a college campus,
Neutron College, which is famous for its Agricultural Economics program as well as for
its annual Corn-Watching Festival. As for my college town, Subnormal, it is small, having
a population of about 11,000 local residents, which swells to 15,000 people when students
from the nearby college are attending classes. Like Gridlock, Subnormal lies in the center
of farmland which is used to raise hogs and cattle. Finally, Subnormal is similar to Gridlock
in that it also boasts a beautiful college campus, called Quark College. This college is well
known for its Agricultural Engineering department and also for its yearly Hog-Calling
Contest.

As you can see, after the topic sentence, this paragraph first discusses the relevant details
about Gridlock and then presents the details about Subnormal. As with the paragraph
above, we can illustrate this paragraph's structure in the following way:

Comparison Paragraph -- Organized by Subtopic

TOPIC SENTENCE My hometown and college town are similar.

SUBTOPIC #1: GRIDLOCK

Gridlock is a small town.

It has about 10,000 people.
Gridlock is in a rural area.
It is surrounded by many acres of farmland.
DETAILS ABOUT
This farmland is devoted to growing corn.
GRIDLOCK:
The land is also used to grow soybeans.
Gridlock is home to Neutron College.
This college is famous for its Agricultural Economics program.
It is also famous for its annual Corn-Watching Festival.

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SUBTOPIC#2: SUBNORMAL

Subnormal is a small town.

Subnormal has about 4000 college students.
It has about 11,000 local residents.
Subnormal is in a rural area.
DETAILS ABOUT
Subnormal is in the center of land used for raising hogs.
SUBNORMAL:
This land is also used to raise cattle.
Subnormal contains Quark College.
This campus is famous for its Agricultural Engineering department.
It is also famous for its yearly Hog-Calling Contest.

Focusing on contrasting two subjects

Doctors and Teachers

Although doctors and teachers both have professional status, there are many
differences between the two professions. First, doctors are more highly respected than
teachers by their communities. Second, as a rule, doctors can earn considerably more
money than teachers. For example, an experience surgeon working in an urban area can
earn over $200.000 annually while an experienced high school teacher working in an
urban school district can earn up to $40.000 annually. Last, doctors have many more
career options than teachers. While a doctor can maintain a private practice and, at the
same time, be on the staff of several hospitals, a teacher can only be affiliated with one
school at a time. Moreover, while doctors can easily establish a private practice and
hospital affiliations in another city should they decide to relocate, teachers who have
jobs security in the form of tenure in one school district cannot easily relocate and find
a tenured position. All in all, it is easy to see that doctors have more respect, greater
flexibility, and higher incomes than teachers.

A contrast paragraph discusses the differences between (at least) two things. You can
organize contrast paragraphs in much the same way that you can organize comparison
paragraphs. That is, you can organize them either according to points of similarity or
according to subtopic. Here is an example.

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Even though Arizona and Rhode Island are both states of the U.S., they are strikingly
different in many ways. For example, the physical size of each state is different. Arizona
is large, having an area of 114,000 square miles, whereas Rhode Island is only about a
tenth the size, having an area of only 1,214 square miles. Another difference is in the size
of the population of each state. Arizona has about four million people living in it, but Rhode
Island has less than one million. The two states also differ in the kinds of natural
environments that each has. For example, Arizona is a very dry state, consisting of large
desert areas that do not receive much rainfall every year. However, Rhode Island is located
in a temperate zone and receives an average of 44 inches of rain per year. In addition, while
Arizona is a landlocked state and thus has no seashore, Rhode Island lies on the Atlantic
Ocean and does have a significant coastline.

Here are some contrast conjunctions that you can use:

Short Conjunctions Subordinating Conjunctions

On the other hand,

However,
even though + [sentence]
In contrast,
although + [sentence]
By contrast,
whereas + [sentence]
..., but
unlike + [sentence]
..., yet
while + [sentence]
nevertheless,

The Advantage-Disadvantage Paragraph

In our everyday lives, when a problem arises, we try to figure out the solutions to overcome
it. As we do so, we examine the positive and negative aspects of each solution. In other
words, understanding both advantages and disadvantages of an issue is an analytical
process.
When writing about advantages and disadvantages, we present a balanced look at both
sides of a topic, and in this way inform the readers about the important aspects of an issue.
The following are examples of typical exam questions requiring advantage and/or
disadvantage paragraphs.

1. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using cellular phones.

2. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city
3. Discuss the advantages of studying at an English-medium university in Turkey.

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Useful Expressions to Express Advantages and Disadvantages
Since advantage-disadvantage paragraphs are often explanation paragraphs, some of the
connectors, like ‘for example’, ‘in addition’ in the body section or ‘in conclusion’ as the
concluding connector will also be used in these paragraphs. In addition, connectors that
show a concession (e.g. although, even though, in spite of the fact that, despite the fact
that, yet) and those that show a contrast (e.g. whereas, while, but, however) can be used to
help the reader understand what is and what is not an advantage or a disadvantage.
When writing an advantage-disadvantage paragraph, you should try to use a variety of
expressions to refer to advantages and disadvantages. Below are some of the expressions
that you can use to do so:

a drawback (of) an obvious benefit (of) a negative aspect (of)

a limitation (of) an argument in favor of an objection (to)

the downside (of) a positive aspect (of) a frequent/common criticism (of)

a good point

Which words in the box above are alternative ways of referring to (a) advantages and (b)
disadvantages?

(a) Advantages
_____________________________________________________________________

(b) Disadvantages
_____________________________________________________________________

The Introductory Sentence

The topic is generally introduced at the beginning of the advantage-disadvantage
paragraph. Therefore, advantage-disadvantage paragraphs usually have an introductory
sentence that presents the topic and, preferably, states why it is an important issue at the
present time before the topic sentence. The introductory sentence can come before the topic
sentence or can be included within the topic sentence.

* Cellular phones, which became available in the 1990s, stand out as one of the options for
communication. Although cellular phones offer certain benefits, they have various
disadvantages. (Introductory sentence presenting the topic before the topic sentence.)

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* Cellular phones, which are widely used in accordance with developments in
communications instruments, have both advantages and disadvantages. (Introductory
sentence included in the topic sentence.)

The Topic Sentence for The Advantage-Disadvantage Paragraph

The topic sentence of the advantage-disadvantage paragraph does not have to be persuasive
since a topic is being analyzed and the central idea is found in that analysis. In other words,
the aim is to make readers understand the negative and/or positive aspects of an issue.
Therefore, the topic sentence can simply state the advantages and/or disadvantages to be
discussed. It is also possible to start with an assessment of the situation (whether the
advantages or disadvantages are greater) or include the assessment in the topic sentence.

Sometimes people prefer to save their assessment for the conclusion.

It is important that the topic sentence determine whether the paragraph is an advantage, a
disadvantage or an advantage-disadvantage paragraph:

* Cellular phones offer various advantages to the users.

* Cellular phones have three main disadvantages.
* Although cellular phones offer various advantages to the users, they have three main
disadvantages.

Organizing Advantage-Disadvantage Paragraphs

An Advantage OR a Disadvantage Paragraph
Advantages can be of equal value or importance. However, some can be more important
than others. In this case, the most common principle is the order of importance, that is,
moving from most-to-least important or from least-to-most important advantages, which
most writers usually prefer to keep readers interested.
Furthermore, one should use listing signals to indicate the type of organization:

One positive aspect of cellular phones is that …..

Another benefit is that cellular phones ….. } Ascending order of importance
The final and the most important advantage is that mobile phones …

The first and the most important advantage is that mobile phones …
The second benefit is that cellular phones … } Descending order of importance
The third and the last positive aspect of cellular phones is that …

An advantage or a disadvantage paragraph should follow this pattern:

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1. Introductory Sentence
2. Topic sentence
3. 1st Advantage (or) 1st Disadvantage (Major Support 1)
Minor Support(s) (facts, examples, etc.)
4. 2nd Advantage (or) 2nd Disadvantage (Major Support 2)
Minor Support(s) (facts, examples, etc.)
5. Conclusion

An Advantage AND a Disadvantage Paragraph.

You can either mention the advantages first and then the disadvantages, or vice versa,
depending on the context and what you wish to emphasize. There is often a short sentence,
a transition sentence, which separates the ‘advantages’ part from the ‘disadvantages’ part.

An advantage and a disadvantage paragraph should follow this pattern:

1. Introductory Sentence
2. Topic sentence
3. 1st Advantage (or) 1st Disadvantage (Major Support 1)
Minor Support(s) (facts, examples, etc.)
4. 2nd Advantage (or) 2nd Disadvantage(Major Support 2)
Minor Support(s) (facts, examples, etc.)
5. Transition Sentence/Phrase
6. 1st Disadvantage (or) 1st Advantage (Major Support 1)
Minor Support(s) (facts, examples, etc.)
7. 2nd Disadvantage (or) 2nd Advantage (Major Support 2)
Minor Support(s) (facts, examples, etc.)
8. Conclusion

Conclusion

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The conclusion of an advantage/disadvantage paragraph is the place for assessment and
recommendation. Your assessment of the topic may be new to the reader (if you didn’t
specify it in your topic sentence) or it may be a rephrase of what you said in the topic
sentence. In either case, by the time you reach the conclusion, you should have presented
enough information so that your assessment is not a complete surprise to the reader.

* In conclusion, due to the great risks concerning health, safety and environment, the
disadvantages of cellular phones outweigh the advantages.

In some cases, a recommendation is appropriate in addition to an assessment if the situation

about which you’re writing is something that could be changed based on a
recommendation.

* To conclude, the disadvantages of cellular phones outweigh the advantages due to the
risks concerning health, safety and environment, and for this reason, parents should
thoroughly consider these risks before purchasing a mobile phone for their children.

Read the paragraph and answer the questions that follow.

Web-Based Training

Web-based training (WBT) is the latest alternative to traditional face-to-face

instruction, and it has various advantages and disadvantages that affect the learners,
instructors, and institutions in different ways. Although WBT poses a few limitations, it
offers many advantages to the learners. The first of these advantages is that it offers
geographic independence, that is, the ability to access courses virtually anywhere. Another
positive aspect of WBT is that learners have temporal independence, which means that
they can work at their own pace, and when they feel it is convenient to do so. The final
advantage is that WBT is learner-centered because it requires learners to be responsible for
their own learning and encourages them to explore on their own. The disadvantages of
web-based training, on the other hand, seem to be less significant when compared to the
advantages. One of the disadvantages is related to low-speed connections. Learners who
have only one phone line and low-speed connections could find it difficult to download
information. The cost of network access could also be a limitation, as learners who work
at home must have Internet and e-mail access through a paid-for Internet service provider.
To conclude, although web-based training has a few disadvantages regarding practicality
and cost, it is obvious that the advantages are far greater and that WBT should be
considered as an option for learners, since it provides independence and is learner-centered.

1. Is there an introductory sentence? What is it?

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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________

2. What is the topic sentence?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________

3. Does the topic sentence identify the topic of the paragraph? What is it?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________

4. Does the topic sentence announce the method of development? What is it?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________

5. Is there a conclusion? What is it?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________

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