IAE - Elements of the Argumentative Essay Lesson

Elements of the Argumentative Essay

The Argumentative Essay

The Argumentative Essay, also known as the Persuasive Essay, is an essay that requires you to choose a side regarding a certain topic and investigate the topic to provide evidence supporting your opinion.

For example, an Argumentative Essay topic might ask you to decide if student should be required to wear school uniforms. Your goal as the writer is to prove to the audience with reliable research that your opinion is correct.

View the characteristics of the Persuasive Essay in order to learn how to create a developed argument to support your claims:

Reminder: The Writing Process

Remember that just like writing all other essays, you want to follow the Writing Process when writing an Argumentative Essay: The Writing Process consists of five commonly referred to steps:

  1. Prewriting
  2. Drafting
  3. Revising
  4. Editing/Proofreading
  5. Publishing

Here is a review of the Writing Process from the first module:

The Structure of the Argumentative Essay

There are various similarities and difference among Argumentative Essays and other types of essays. Similar to other essays, the Argumentative Essay should include a clear introduction, a thesis statement, at least two body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. However, including an Opposition Paragraph only occurs in Argumentative Essays.   View the video below for an example of how to create a developed Argumentative Essay:

Now, let's look at an example. Click on the link in the sidebar to view a full essay example of an Argumentative Essay.

Argumentative Essay Thesis Statements

The thesis statement is the most important part of the essay because the thesis reveals the main idea of the essay. The thesis statement for the Argumentative Essay will include:

  • Your main opinion about the topic
  • The reasons you support this opinion

*Do not include "I think", "In my opinion", or any other phrases using "I, me, my, you, us, we, or our" because they weaken your argument.

Examples:

Thesis Examples and Explanations
Thesis: Laws should prevent cell phone use and driving due to the distractions
  • This thesis statement is argumentative because the writer states an opinion about an issue that is debatable, and the writer lists a broad reason for having his or her opinion.
  • The topic sentences for the body paragraphs will expand on the ''many distractions'' cell phones create, so each body paragraph can be about a different distraction (texting, apps, GPS, phone calls, etc.) in order to convince the reader to agree with the writer
  • This thesis statement is argumentative because the writer states an opinion about an issue that is debatable, and the writer lists a broad reason for having his or her opinions.
  • The topic sentences for the body paragraphs will expand on the "life skills and experiences" military service provides, so each body paragraph can be about a different life skill or experience (self-defense skills, understanding authority skills, independence skills, etc.) in order to convince the reader to agree with the writer

Reliable Sources

Remember to only use reliable sources as evidence to support your claims about a certain position. If you are not using Gale or Galileo, review the following information regarding reliable websites. In order to be considered "reliable", your sources should come from websites ending in the following:

.com
Commercial site. The information provided by commercial interests is generally going to shed a positive light on the product it promotes. While this information might not necessarily be false, you might be getting only part of the picture. Remember, there's a monetary incentive behind every commercial site in providing you with information, whether it is for good public relations or to sell you a product outright.

.edu
Educational institution. Sites using this domain name are schools ranging from kindergarten to higher education. If you take a look at your school's URL you'll notice that it ends with the domain .edu. Information from sites within this domain must be examined very carefully. If it is from a department or research center at a educational institution, it can generally be taken as credible. However, students' personal Web sites are not usually monitored by the school even though they are on the school's server and use the .edu domain.

.gov
Government. If you come across a site with this domain, then you're viewing a federal government site. All branches of the United States federal government use this domain. Information such as Census statistics, Congressional hearings, and Supreme Court rulings would be included in sites with this domain. The information is considered to be from a credible source.

.org
Traditionally a non-profit organization. Organizations such as the American Red Cross or PBS (Public Broadcasting System) use this domain suffix. Generally, the information in these types of sites is credible and unbiased, but there are examples of organizations that strongly advocate specific points of view over others, such as the National Right to Life Committee and Planned Parenthood. You probably want to give this domain a closer scrutiny these days. Some commercial interests might be the ultimate sponsors of a site with this suffix.

.mil
Military. This domain suffix is used by the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States.

.net
Network. You might find any kind of site under this domain suffix. It acts as a catch-all for sites that don't fit into any of the preceding domain suffixes. Information from these sites should be given careful scrutiny.

Source Links to an external site.

Contact your instructor for the log-in information to use Gale or Galileo.

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