What is an argumentative essay? What makes a good argumentative essay?

How can you get a

good grade on your argumentative essay? If you’re asking these questions, then you’ve come to
the right place. Let us answer all your questions about argumentative essays for you!

What is an argumentative essay? What makes a good argumentative essay? What steps do you
need to take to write an argumentative essay? What is the structure of an argumentative essay?
How can you get a good grade on your argumentative essay?

What's an Argumentative Essay?

The purpose of an argumentative essay is to establish a stance or position on an issue by

providing reasons and supporting evidence. A well written argumentative essay will:

- Introduce a compelling topic and engage the reader;

- Explain and consider all sides of an issue fairly;

- Address any potential counterarguments to the writer’s perspective; and

- Persuade the reader to adopt or consider a new perspective.

Of course, before you dive in to the writing, it's

The EssayJack app has a few smart templates to support you as you write your essay. Filled with
helpful tips, prompts, and video guidance created by educators you can use the EssayJack
Argumentative Essay template to write your essay today. Sign up for a free trial or learn more
about EssayJack here.

What should a good argumentative essay have?

A clear thesis statement in the introduction.

Logical reasoning and points which support the thesis statement.

Relevant examples or evidence which support the points.

Three steps to writing an argumentative essay

Step 1: Pick a topic and write a thesis statement

A thesis statement is a one or two sentence summary of the central message or main claim of
your essay. A strong thesis statement is vital as it tells the reader what the essay is about so they
can decide if they want to read it or not.

A strong thesis statement will usually state a claim, your stance on the claim, and the main points
that will support your stance within your selected topic. It will also serve as a guideline for you
when you are writing the body points of the essay.
If you’re given the freedom to choose your topic for an argumentative essay, it’s best to follow
your interests or passion. A good place to start would be to start thinking about things that affect
you every day or a subject that you have a strong opinion on. But be careful, for most people’s
opinions are not backed up by solid evidence. So once you think you’ve narrowed down on a
topic or area of interest, begin your research and clarify the stance you will be taking. You'll also
find your writing improves if you plan well ahead and follow the tips in this article during the
writing process.

Step 2: Research your ideas and organize your findings

If you’ve ever experienced writer’s block it is most probably caused by one of two reasons. First,
it’s because you’re staring at a blank screen and unsure how to start. The EssayJack app can help
you past that with prompts, tips, and sentence starters. Second, it’s because you’re unsure of your
thesis statement and supporting points because you’ve most probably not done enough research.
Sometimes, writer's block can be similar to a mental block when you're trying to study so you
can try using some tips outlined here to clear your head and get back into the writing mood.

Planning for any essay is key, especially an argumentative essay because you’re presenting an
argument that you need to defend with solid evidence. Your research should include all forms of
reference sources and materials (books, journals, articles, blogs, documentaries) by credible
sources and industry experts. Keep the following in mind when researching:

- Read broadly to ensure you have a good overview of the topic including the main debates that
have occurred or are occurring, arguments and counter-arguments, and the main experts in the
area. Try using an e-reader for university or college to help you stay focused when you're reading
your research.

- Keep an open mind and attempt to view the issues from the perspective of different individuals
and stakeholders. Acknowledging these views and addressing them in your essay will ensure that
you have a well-balanced essay.

- Keep an eye out for any unique angles that may not have been thoroughly explored yet.

Remember that with Google at your fingertips research might be easy to do but also that you
can’t ever completely research a topic due to the sheer number of resources at your disposal
online. We’d recommend moving on to the next step once you feel have enough material because
you can always do further research if you need it later on.

Step 3: Draft a structure and write your essay

This step involves outlining the content of your essay in a structure that creates a seamless flow
for your argument but also for your reader. EssayJack is a good tool to use to create this outline
and understand better what each section needs (try it for free here).

The structure of an argumentative essay

First Paragraph: Background and Thesis Statement

Your opening statement is where you attempt to grab the attention or ‘hook’ the reader. This acts
as a smooth segue to your background and thesis statement where you later establish your side
on the issue. You can start with a surprising statistic that is not commonly known within the
field. You can get creative here but make sure you’re still following the norms of scholarly or
academic writing. That means no personal anecdotes or inspirational quotes etc. Save those for
your narrative essays.

Next, provide background on your topic to prepare the readers for the rest of your essay. Engage
the reader by answering the following questions:

- Why is this issue important? - What are the root causes of this problem? - Who or what is
affected? - Are there any solutions available? - What can or should be done about it?

For example, if the topic is gender inequality in the workplace, you can share statistics from
research that exemplifies the difference in incomes of the average man and woman who perform
the same role.

Body Paragraphs: Develop your Arguments and Provide Evidence

It’s best to dedicate one paragraph to each supporting point you have for your argument. All
arguments or body paragraphs must always contain the following three parts:

Part 1: Claim

A claim is a statement you make to support your argument. It’s basically a reason that proves
why your thesis statement is true.

Example:

Applying sin tax to products based on the amount of sugar will directly reduce the excessive
consumption of heavily sugary products amongst consumers.

Part 2: Evidence & Explanation

Every claim made should be supported by relevant evidence and explanation of how that
evidence supports your claim. This is where you insert the findings of your research from
credible sources.
Example: Case study of where sin tax resulted in lower consumption.

The Measure D soda tax was approved by 76% of Berkeley voters on 4 November 2014 and took
effect on 1 January 2015 as the first such tax in the United States. The measure imposes a tax of
one cent per ounce on the distributors of specified sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda,
sports drinks, energy drinks, and sweetened iced teas. In August 2016, a UC Berkeley study
showed a 21% drop in the drinking of soda and sugary beverages in low-income Berkeley
neighborhoods after a few months showing that the sin tax was lowering consumption of sugary
drinks.

Part 3: Tie-back to thesis

This demonstrates that imposing a sin tax on sugary drinks is one way to reduce the consumption
of sugar-based products. (Assuming that your thesis is about reducing consumption of sugary
products and ways to do it).

Additional Paragraphs: Challenging Your Own Arguments & Reinforcing Your Claims

A good argumentative essay will also have paragraphs that address counterarguments. This
demonstrates your knowledge of the topic and awareness of existing opposing arguments, which
will impress most readers. However, if you are writing at the university level, this will almost
always be expected of you.

The success of these additional paragraphs will lie in how you refute these counterarguments and
turn them around to strengthen your thesis statement and/or supporting points. It’s always useful
to discuss these counterarguments with classmates or someone with an opposing view to
understand how to break it down and counter it.

Conclusion: Summarizing and Closing with Impact

The conclusion summarizes your thesis statement and main arguments and tries to convince the
reader that your argument is the most valid. Here are some ideas on how to conclude your essay:

- Include a call to action. Inspire and invoke the reader to agree with your argument. Tell them
what they need to think, do, feel, or believe from this point on. - Present hypothetical. Illustrate
the chain of events that will happen if the reader adopts your ideas. Use past or present real-life
examples to ground these depictions to a grounded reality. - Think "big picture." If you are
arguing for policy changes, what are the implications of adopting (or not adopting) your ideas?
How will they affect the reader (or the relevant group of people)?
Once you are done with your conclusion, a good idea might be to go back to your introduction
and see if you want to make any changes to it. While writing the essay, you may have picked up
on or added points that you didn’t have before. You could have phrased your arguments in a
compelling manner that you’d like to replicate in the introduction. This will definitely improve
the flow of your essay.

What’s next? Proofread and Review Your Essay

Yup, the part that most dread after triumphantly finishing their essay, reading all of it! But
proofread you must! Here are a few aspects to pay attention to while you proofread:

Look out for any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes regardless of how minor fix them!
They can derail the focus of the reader and undermine the intellectual integrity of your essay.
Keep your audience in mind. In most cases, it will be your teacher or professor. Make sure your
language reflects this, keep it formal and academic no colloquialisms! Have you got enough
evidence and explained it well? If not, you can always do a little more to strengthen any weaker
arguments.

And you’re done! Yup, it's a long process but one that’s well worth it if you want to improve
your critical thinking and problem-solving skills while getting good essay grades.

Good luck, and have fun!

If you find that you like things broken down for you step-by-step then check out Wize for help
with other subjects like maths and sciences. Wize simplifies concepts through video tutorials,
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