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Argumentative essays are among the most common writing exercises and assessments during any student’s academic training. There are different types of essays and among the most common we can find descriptive, comparison, cause and effect, and argumentative. The argumentative (or persuasive) essay differs from the descriptive one, for example, in that the author must defend a position; while, in the descriptive essay, a description must be made as objective as possible of the chosen topic, without including personal opinions.
Structure of an essay
The essays share a basic structure that can be observed from a macro level. This structure consists of:
- an introduction in which the topic is briefly introduced,
- a development or body that must have as many paragraphs as arguments you want to present and
- a conclusion that should reinforce the idea presented in the introduction.
In the introduction, the topic should be presented from the most general idea to the most specific one that will touch exactly the argument that you want to develop. In the body of the essay you must write as many paragraphs as arguments you have; Ideally, each paragraph should develop only one idea. In the conclusion the author should restate his main argument in other words to leave the reader with a clear impression of what the main idea was.
According to the academic level in which it is presented, the essay must have more or less recent, verifiable sources and, if possible, close to the reality of the readers. An essay can be about any topic, which can be difficult when you don’t know what to write about.
choose the theme
When we have to choose a topic for the essay, many options could arise. It is advisable to clearly know what you want to write about and develop a text plan that will allow you to write your ideas without delay. The composition of the text plan requires extra effort but we will see its fruits when everything flows smoothly when writing the essay.
Theme selection can come from sources such as personal inspiration, news and current events of interest, as well as controversial or traditionally debated topics. According to the nature of the task, the subject may already be assigned by a teacher, in which case it will only be necessary to establish a position on the matter and argue it.
possible themes
We recommend that you use the following topics to brainstorm. Write down everything that comes to your mind with each topic that interests you so that you can clearly see which one has more points to explore. Brainstorming does not have right or wrong answers, so anything you want to write is welcome. After finishing this part of the exercise you will be able to choose which areas you would like to include in your argumentative essay.
- Climate change
- The use of fossil fuels
- alternative energy
- species conservation
- The nationalization of services in your country
- Same-sex marriage in your country or region
- The decriminalization or legalization of abortion
- Teaching religion in schools
- Access to study opportunities
- Investments in digital currencies
final tips
The argumentative essay gives the author the opportunity to express his agreement or disagreement with some topic and to be able to explain in depth the reasons that support his opinion. It is not a recount of personal opinions and you should always try to have reliable bibliographic sources.
Follow the suggested order and so the reader will be able to walk hand in hand with the ideas presented in your essay.
After writing the text, it is recommended to let it rest for a couple of hours or a day to read it again with greater attention and check its content and spelling.
The topic should not necessarily be controversial. However, it is easier to take a position on issues that arouse strong emotions.
References
- Funds (2021). How to write an excellent argumentative essay . Available at https://www.fundes.edu.co/como-escribir-un-excelente-ensayo-argumentativo.php
- Oller, C. (2013). The academic genre and the argumentative essay . Introduction to philosophy . Available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/296353791.pdf#page=370
