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English
Quarter 3 - Module 1:
Argumentative Essays
Self-Learning Module in English 10
Quarter III – Module 1: Argumentative Essays
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Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
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them.

Published by the Department of Education- Region I

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis-Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado San Antonio
Regional Director: Tolentino G. Aquino
Asst. Regional Director: Ronald B. Castillo
CLMD Chief: Arlene A. Niro

Development Team of the Module

Author: ROY ALLEN C. PEREZ
Editor: LIZA M. MAGALONG
Reviewers: VIRGIL R. GOMEZ
ANGELITA D. MUÑOZ

Management Team
SHEILA MARIE A. PRIMICIAS
ELY S. UBALDO
MARCIANO U. SORIANO, JR.
CARMINA C. GUTIERREZ
MICHAEL E. RAME
RUSTICO P. ABALOS
MARILOU D. ROLDAN

Printed in the Philippines by:

Department of Education – Schools Division Office 1 Pangasinan
Office Address: Alvear Street, 2401 Lingayen, Pangasinan
Telephone: (075) 522-2202
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/deped.gov.ph/sdo1pangasinan/home

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What This Module is About
Anchored on the mission of leaving no learners behind in the “new normal” of
education, this learning material will help you enhance your competencies in English through
variety of purposeful discussion and activities designed for distance learning.
Integrated with learning tasks that are contextualized and differentiated, this module
will cater to the varied needs of learners and provide them with worthwhile learning
opportunities despite being on a distance-learning setting.

Notes to the Teacher:

This module is designed for self-paced learning. As a facilitator of learning however,
you have an important role to play. You are the learners’ most reliable reference, and you
know where and when to scaffold and provide further assistance to them. By frequently
monitoring the learners’ progress, you can provide the needed intervention.

Notes to the Learner:

Be sure to honestly and independently do the activities in this module. They are
intended to help you master the competency at your own pace. Answer keys are provided at
the end to help you self-check your own answers. Should you find that your answer is wrong,
think carefully and review. By doing so, your mistakes are not wasted because you will learn
from them. If you have other concerns, do not hesitate to ask help from your teacher. You can
also use other references to further enhance your learning. Moreover, do not forget to have
fun while learning.

Note to Parents/Guardians:
Your main role is to make sure your child has a conducive place and enough time to
work on this module at home. To maximize learning, you can also help your child if he/she
encounters some difficulties but make sure it is really your child who does all the required
tasks. Finally, just feel free to contact your child’s English teacher if needed

Icons in this Module

What I Need to Know This part contains learning objectives that
are set for you to learn as you go along the
module each day/lesson.

What I Know This is a pretest assessment as to your

level of knowledge to the subject matter at
hand, meant specifically to gauge prior
related knowledge.

What’s New This is an introduction of the new lesson

through various activities, before it will be
presented to you.

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 What is It These are discussions of the activities as a
way to deepen your discovery and
understanding of the concept.

What’s More These are follow-up activities that are

intended for you to practice further in order
to master the competencies.

What I Have Learned These are activities designed to process

what you have learned from the lesson

What I Can Do These are tasks that are designed to

showcase your skills and knowledge
gained, and applied into real-life concerns
and situations.

What I Need to Know

The third quarter of English 10 will introduce you to various styles of writing including
argumentative, informative, persuasive writing, and literary criticism. In this quarter, you will
be taught various techniques in writing that will be helpful in your other academic endeavors.
This module will guide you in writing an argumentative essay. (Quarter III MELC no. 1)
Further, this instructional material will let you accomplish the following specific
objectives:
1. Define an argumentative essay;
2. Recognize the parts of an argumentative essay; and
3. Compose a complete argumentative essay.

What I Know
Encircle the letters of the correct answers.

1. An argumentative essay is written to _____.

A. impress others B. persuade the readers
C. provide useful information D. teach an important lesson

2. Which is NOT needed in an argumentative essay?

A. author's claim on an issue B. narration of experience
C. possible opposing ideas D. reasons and evidences

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3. What does the introductory paragraph of an argumentative essay usually present?
A. opposing arguments B. restatement of the main idea
C. supporting evidences D. thesis statement

4. In which part of an argumentative essay are the reasons supporting the author's position
discussed?
A. body B. conclusion C. introduction D. title

5. In an argumentative essay, the author's claim or position is usually first stated in the
_______.
A. body B. conclusion C. evidence D. introduction

6. A ________ refers to the author's position on an issue or problem.

A. claim B. support C. reason D. evidence

7. Terms are defined and the situation or context is presented. This is found in which part of a
classic argument?
A. introduction B. statement of case C. refutation D. proof

8. Counterarguments or opposing views are written in which part of a classic argument?

A. introduction B. conclusion C. substantiation D. refutation

9. Which is not part of the group?

A. statistics B. facts C. examples D. biases

10. Which is called as the main premise of an argumentative essay?

A. Introduction B. Body C. Conclusion D. Proposition

= What’s New
Make yourself a young senator of the country. State your stand on the following issues
by putting a check mark (/) on the box of your stand and state your brief reason on the
space provided.

1. Are you in favor of returning the franchise of ABS-CBN? YES NO

2. Are you in favor of implementing face-to-face classes in your YES NO

school?

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 3. Do you believe that lockdowns help in solving the pandemic? YES NO

4. Can Philippines beat the COVID-19 pandemic? YES NO

5. Is online distance learning effective? YES NO

What you have done in the previous activity is a practical example of argumentation.
Argumentative essay, just like any other type of essay, has features and structure to follow to
become effective. After tackling the language features of an argumentative text such as
conjunctions, modals, expositions, etc. in the previous quarter, you are now to embark on your
journey towards writing a complete argumentative essay about some current events and social
issues.

What is It

Argumentative Essay
Argumentation tries to change the readers’ mind by convincing them to agree with
one’s point of view. An argumentative essay is a persuasive form of writing that aims to change
the mind of the readers by convincing them to agree with the writer’s point of view.
Highly logical in nature, this type of essay presents and explains the issue or case,
gives reasons and supports these reasons with evidences and refutes opposing arguments.

Features of an Argumentative Essay

A claim refers to the author's position on an issue or problem. This is usually the thesis
statement or main idea of an argumentative essay.
Support is any material that is used to prove a claim. This usually consists of reasons
and evidences.
Reasons are statements made to justify an action, decision, or belief.
Evidence is the specific references, quotations, examples, and opinions that support
a claim. It may include statistics, personal experience, or opinions of experts.

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 Counterargument is an argument made to oppose another argument. A good
argument anticipates opposing claims and provides counterarguments to disprove or answer
them.

As shown in the illustration, your claim or stand should lie on a strong reason which
should be supported by evidences, counter arguments, and supporting details. Missing one of
the features will make the argument weak and flawed. As a writer, bear in mind that these
features can be evident in all parts of an argumentative essay.

Basic Parts of an Argumentative Essay

1. Introduction
The first part is the introductory paragraph. It presents the problem and gives the
background information needed for the argument and the thesis statement or the main idea of
the essay.
2. Body
The body of the argumentative essay contains the reasons. Each paragraph talks
about one reason which includes facts or opinions. The reason is included in the topic
sentence and is supported by details or materials. These supporting materials can be
examples, statistics, personal experiences, quotations, etc.
3. Conclusion
The conclusion restates the main claim and gives one or two general statements that
exactly summarize the arguments and support the main premise.

Structure of a Classic Argument

1. Introduction
This part gives the context and background of the issue. This is also where style, the
tone, and the significance of the issue is established.
2. Statement of Case
In this part, the writer clarifies the topic by defining some terms and by giving
necessary background for understanding.

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 3. Proposition
Here, the writer states his stand or the main premise of the article.
4. Refutation
It is not enough that the author focuses on his stand, he also needs to analyze the
opposing points and summarize them. In this part, the writer refutes or addresses the opposing
points by stressing on out faulty reasoning and inappropriate appeals
5. Substantiation
In this part, evidences and other supporting details are mentioned. Claims are backed
up with statistics, examples, and facts.
6. Conclusion
Lastly, this part reviews the main points and restates the main claim strongly. A typical
argument usually calls for belief to a certain idea or to a course of action.

Take a look at the following example of a classic argument.

Junk Foods should be Junked
In the previous years, school canteens were prohibited to sell sodas and
Context/
junk foods to students in support to the education department’s advocacy on
Introduction Background
healthy living. As a result, these “junk foods” were totally banned from student
consumption.
Junk foods, according to diet experts, are any light to heavy, processed and
packed edibles that has less nutritional contents than the regular ones. These
include chips, sodas, candies, and other processed snacks that are usually Statement
made available for easy consumption. The recent move of Department of Case
education to ban these food products had changed the faces of school canteens
drastically posting the issue: should these food products be banned from
student consumption?
Schools should impose total ban on sodas and chips in the canteens and
cafeterias to ensure that students get proper nutrition even outside home. Proposition
Taking these junk foods away from students’ consumption would let them
have healthy diet which makes students physically fit as they prevent food-
related diseases.
Allowing these kinds of foods for school consumption gives the students a
variety of choice in terms of snacks. Also, most of these foods are easy to eat
making them appropriate for short-time snacks. Practically speaking, chips, fruit Refutation
juices, etc. are relatively cheap thus allowing students who are on tight budget
Body
to munch on something while leaving a portion of their allowance for other
expenses.
Inspite the good taste of these snacks, several researches show that these
foods give low health benefits to students especially to kids who are still in their
formation years. Four out of five kids in the world suffer from imbalance diet due
to too much consumption of junk foods. In contrast with the idea that these
foods let the students eat more, these foods make the students eat less. Substantiation
Another research also shows the relationship of junk food consumption to low /Proof
academic performance and malnutrition. Medical practitioners further link the
consumption of these light foods to acquisition of diseases such as UTI,
diabetes and others.
So, do you want to see your child suffer from malnutrition because of wrong
Conclusion foods in school canteens? Do teachers dream of low performing students who Conclusion
are fond of drinking nothing but sugar? Think twice before it’s too late. Junk
foods should be junked.

What’s More
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 Now that you have learned the features and structure of an argumentative text, let us
hone your knowledge and skills further by doing the following activities. Follow the directions
carefully.

Activity 1: Identify what is being asked in the following items. Write your answers on the space
provided.
__________1. The first part of an argumentative essay where the background and context are
presented.
__________2. The part of introduction of where key terms are defined and/or explained.
__________3. What do you call your stand or position of the author towards a problem?
__________4. This is where an argumentative writer states his claim or main premise of the
write up.
__________5. These are statements that support the claim/stand of the writer.
__________6. What do you call the statistics, studies, and quotations that give justification of
the reasons and claim?
__________7. The part of the essay that contains the evidences.
__________8. These are opposing ideas to the main claim.
__________9. The last part of an argumentative essay
__________10. It tries to change the readers’ mind by convincing them to agree with one’s
point of view

Activity 2: Read the following argumentative essay. Answer the questions that follow.

Confronting Technology’s Dangerous Dominion

by Noellah Macam
The present digital rise has allowed the integration of smartphones, the internet, and
social media – to name a few – in the population’s daily habits. However, alongside this
technological evolution is a culture of virtual harassment, whereas anonymity in the digital
world is taken advantage of by proprietors seeking good laughs without any consideration of
its large-scale negative effects.
Cyberbullying is the use of social media and any device connected to the internet to
inflict emotional and social abuse to anyone being. Millennials, constituting 93% of the internet
users around the world are considered the most vulnerable to this kind of abuse.
While putting a halt on cyberbullies and their malicious remarks would be a good idea,
the underlying solution to this problem is removing the culture of dependence on remarks
yielded from this platform, anchored on the philosophy that technology does not and will never
define someone or dictate his ways of life.
Undoubtedly, social media have secured an efficient and effective avenue of
connecting lives across borders. People are fond of expressing their opinions in any way
possible, and social media is widely tapped to satisfy such desire. Also, the internet has been
a tool that stimulates healthy discussion of socially-relevant issues. Take Gretchen Diez for
example, a member of the LGBT community who had caused an online outrage upon sharing
her experience of being kicked out of a woman’s bathroom for her sexual orientation. Since
then, moral discussions and debates have risen from this issue.

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 However, the fabrication of false stories, emergence of parodies and memes, and
cyber abuse that came thereafter was absolutely uncalled-for. Such attacks, taking form in a
variety of ways, are directly linked to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
The victim, upon excessive exposure to such negativities, may suffer from self-consuming
thoughts that incidentally lead to suicide or attempts of such.
And here is where the validation becomes relevant. If only people would quit the
mindset claiming that social media is everything then such outcomes won’t take place. It is
primarily because of the fact that a lot of people take digitally-generated statements too
seriously that they suffer the consequences and risk their lives. Once cyberbullying is
experienced, the chief solution should be the refusal to respond at all, since the latter could
only escalate the problem. On later stages, deactivation – whether tentative or long-term –
would be ideal to completely detoxify from social media. Furthermore, once it takes a toll on
someone’s mental health, then consultation to psychologists for professional health is the way
to go.
However, it all boils down to keeping true to the essence of this platform – to connect
and disconnect. We should connect to people with similar interests to us, and disconnect from
those who won’t do any good. We should ponder upon the consequence of every click before
pursuing. And most importantly, if an action poses potential of destroying someone else’s life
– despite it being a good source of fun – it shouldn’t be done at all.

1. What was the social issue discussed in the essay? Describe it.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the author’s position towards the issue?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

3. What are some positive effects of social media according to the essay?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

3. What are some examples of cyberbullying according to the text?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

4. How should one avoid the ill effects of internet and social media according to the essay?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

5. Do you agree with the essay’s proposition? Why? Why not?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

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Activity 3: Using the table below, copy the topic sentences of the paragraph that corresponds
to the following structure parts and structure of an argumentative essay.

1. Introduction

2. Statement of
Case

3. Proposition

4. Refutation

5. Substantiation

6. Conclusion

What I have Learned

Complete the following prompt. Write your answers on the space provided.

1. An argumentative essay is ____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
2. An argumentative essay is composed of _________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

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 What I Can Do
As an application of your learnings in this lesson, accomplish the following
activities.

A. Choose ONE from the following topics of argumentative essay.

1. Should uniformed personnel be allowed to stay within schools and colleges’
premises?
2. Should public officials be vaccinated in public?
3. Should kids 10 years-old below be allowed to go out of their residence?
4. Should “Pass-Fail” system of grading for the school year be implemented?

B. Draft your argumentative essay about your chosen topic by filling out the following table.

Guide Questions Answers

1. What is your
chosen topic?

2. What is your
general opinion about
your chosen topic?

3. Explain the key

terms in your topic.

4. What are the

reasons that support
your opinion about the
topic?

5. Search for
evidences that support
your reasons. Write
them down.

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6. What would you like
the people concerned
in the issue to do?

Assessment
A. Encircle the letter of your answer.

1. An argumentative essay is written to _____.

A. impress others B. persuade the readers
C. provide useful information D. teach an important lesson

2. Which is NOT needed in an argumentative essay?

A. author's claim on an issue B. narration of experience
C. possible opposing ideas D. reasons and evidences

3. What does the introductory paragraph of an argumentative essay usually present?

A. opposing arguments B. restatement of the main idea
C. supporting evidences D. thesis statement

4. In which part of an argumentative essay are the reasons supporting the author's position
discussed?
A. body B. conclusion C. introduction D. title

5. In an argumentative essay, the author's claim or position is usually first stated in the
_______.
A. body B. conclusion C. evidence D. introduction

6. A ________ refers to the author's position on an issue or problem.

A. claim B. support C. reason D. evidence

7. Terms are defined and the situation or context is presented. This is found in which part of a
classic argument?
A. introduction B. statement of case C. refutation D. proof

8. Counterarguments or opposing views are written in which part of a classic argument?

A. introduction B. conclusion C. substantiation D. refutation

9. Which is not part of the group?

A. statistics B. facts C. examples D. biases

10. Which is called as the main premise of an argumentative essay?

A. Introduction B. Body C. Conclusion D. Proposition

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B. Using the ideas that you have drafted at the table on pages 12-13, write a complete
argumentative essay about your chosen topic. Your essay should be complete with all parts
and features. Write your argumentative essay on the space provided. You may use additional
sheets if necessary.

_______________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

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Additional Activity

Free Writing. Write an argumentative essay about any current issue that you know. It
should be complete with all the features and parts of an argumentative essay.
Highlight/underline and label the parts your essay just like the example on page 8 of this
module. Write your essay on the space provided. You may use additional sheets if necessary.

_______________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Well done! Congratulations for reaching this far! Your persistence and
determination to learn from the different activities in this module are commendable.
Keep up the good work.

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What I Know /Assessment A
1. B
2. B
3. D
4. A
5. D
6. A
7. B
8. D
9. D
10. D
What’s More
Activity 1
1. INTRODUCTION
2. STATEMENT OF CASE
3. CLAIM
4. PROPOSITION
5. REASON
6. EVIDENCES
7. SUBSTANTIATION
8. COUNTERARGUMENTS
9. CONCLUSION
10. ARGUMENTATION
Activity 2-Answers vary
Activity 3-Key sentences on each paragraph
What I Can Do- Answers vary.
Assessment B- Answers vary.
Key to Corrections
References

Almonte, Liza et al. Celebrating Diversity through World Literature: English G10
Learner’s Material. Pasay City: Department of Education, 2016.
Requillo, Jason. English- Grade 10 Alternative Delivery Mode Quarter 2 –
Module 1: Defining a Term Malaybalay City, Department of Education 2020.
Schiel, J. et.al. PRE-GED Writing, Teck-Vaughn Company, Austin, Texas, 2000
Macam, Noellah. Confronting Technology’s Dangerous Dominion, The Leader Bayambang
NHS Vol 1 s 2019. Bayambang, Pangasinan

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