How to Structure an Argumentative Essay: Key to Success
The key point of any written piece is not the information you are going to include, but the way in which you provide it. No matter how exciting and interesting are the thoughts and facts that you have stated in your paper if the whole narration isn't cohesive and coherent enough. That's why you have to make an effort to refine your assignment structure whether it's research paper, thesis, report or any type of essay. This rule is applicable to the structure of an argumentative essay, in particular, because this writing is quite peculiar. What its uniqueness is? The primary task for every student that is faced with an argumentative essay is to explore some phenomenon or idea in detail, and then express and prove a personal opinion about it. You are to sum up all the pros and cons of the subject of your essay and back it with reliable pieces of evidence, real facts, and trustworthy examples. You will need responsibility, diligence, and patience to make your argumentative essay well-structured, and its parts - logically interconnected and grounded. How to structure an argumentative essay to meet all the requirements and hand in a paper that will demonstrate your competence and well-developed skills perfectly? You are already on the right way to success! We have prepared for you an article that will be your guide on the argumentative essay, show you all its pitfalls, and provide you with some tips on how to prepare an ideal essay. Be ready to explore the argumentative essay from A to Z!
Argumentative essay paragraph structure: Step by step
Nobody will be surprised by the fact that the argumentative essay paragraph structure hardly differs from all other essays. The pattern of any essay is familiar to every student, who has written an essay at least once: introduction, body part, and conclusions. All the parts should be held together and have smooth transitions between them to provide a rational presentation of information. This requirement could be met by following a few rules and suggestions about the processing of each component part of the essay. As in was mentioned, you are to make up a minimal five-part essay to cover all the necessary points, and these parts will be:
- Introduction with a thesis statement
- Main Body, composed of three paragraphs with specific purposes
- Conclusion where you summarize major results
But this brief information could hardly be enough for undeniable success in writing an argumentative essay. Let's move to each part of your paper individually and define the peculiarities of their content.
Argumentative essay introduction: Clear, concise, defined
An introduction that is written good plays a vital role in the evaluation of your essay. You are to review what are you going to write about in a paper and present the main subject of the essay. It could be any phenomenon, statement, idea or a particular question, the answer to which you will seek and justify during the essay. Your task while preparing an argumentative essay introduction is to prove to the reader that your essay is going to be enjoyable and original from the very beginning - write about the importance and relevance of your work, and explain why the audience is better to pay attention to the issue that you raise in your paper. Besides, don't forget to make up a thesis statement that will highlight your own main point to introduce a topic and backgrounds of your essay to your reader. These are the main guidelines on how to write an introduction for an argumentative essay, and in case of compliance with them you can make the next step and embark on processing the body part. Also, we want you to take a look on a simple example of introduction, that could help you understand its main purpose better and use it as a template of a refined introduction.
Argumentative essay introduction example for your convenience
Imagine you were assigned to write an argumentative essay on the best minds in the world. How might an excellent introduction for this essay look?
- present the thematics;
- prove the relevance;
- make a thesis statement.
Genius. What does this concept mean? People of different generations have wondered and continue to wonder about what lies under the phenomenon of genius. A lot of people say that today's generation is full of real geniuses, but who are they? Genius can be defined as the ability to come up with something new, an opportunity to make a discovery. Everyone knows the great scientists and artists who were able to turn the world inside out thanks to their talent and genius and have improved and simplified our lives in various ways. But where does the genius come from?
Argumentative essay body paragraph: Back your ideas
So, you have reached the so-called "heart" of your paper. It should content from three to more paragraphs, and here is a tip: each paragraph should be focused on one specific aspect. It would be helpful for two main reasons:
- Interest your reader with a variety of evidence you provide
- Back your main statement from different sides to fully convince the audience
Try to make each argumentative essay body paragraph equally interesting and informative. You are free to use quotes to confirm the reliability of the evidence, as well as different (but pertinent) references to various films, books, articles, previous papers on this topic, etc. However, in you use any quotations, always try to indicate the source and use a quote as it is. It will boost your audience trust and show your competence.
In addition to evidence based on a particular work, it will be good if you analyze the chosen problem through the prism of history. It can be a historical event or a historical figure that is somehow related to your topic or influenced the social understanding of this issue.
The argument found on your personal experience will probably be the most exciting for your audience. Choose a certain event from your life that was thought-provoking and, perhaps, inspired you to write your argumentative essay. Express your thoughts and feelings clearly so that the audience can share your ideas and views with you. So, these are some instructions on how to write a body paragraph for an argumentative essay and make it perfectly structured and grounded. There only one step left - the conclusions. Pull yourself together and make that one final push!
Argumentative essay conclusion: Restate the answer
You did a good job, and now all you have to do is to complete your essay appropriately. How to write a conclusion for an argumentative essay? The solution is very simple: you have to draw a line and make one summarized conclusion, which will be the logical result of what you analyzed and wrote. If up to this stage you have done everything appropriately, then your main idea, as well as the central question, were not lost among all the paragraphs and used materials. There is one useful tip: if your argumentative essay conclusion can be smoothly read right after the introduction part, it means that your essay is structured coherently and all the T's are crossed according to the main essay requirements. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean the use of redundant information. Your conclusion not just restate the results - it gives a more precise understanding of it to your reader. We suggest you avoid any unanswered questions and don't turn your conclusion into another essay. So, don't go too broad in your final part of the essay. Let's try to make up a refined conclusion for our "genius" introduction for you to see the main point and peculiarities.
Argumentative essay conclusion example: Close the circle
So, what does genius mean? It's a talent, the ability to see, understand, realize and create something that someone could only dream about. You can be lucky and have it since birth or develop it through hard work and striving to achieve the goal. Everyone is a genius in their own and unique way, and only we can influence on whether we will become geniuses for the whole world.
As you can see, there is nothing extremely challenging in argumentative essay structure and format. Everything becomes simple and possible if you insure yourself with some necessary information and confidence in your knowledge and skills. Remember, that first steps in your writings are always the most crucial ones, so try not to neglect any additional researching, revising and exploring. Make your academic performance shine bright!
Do you know all the peculiarities of argumentative essay structure? Are you sure about what should be included in this assignment as a matter of course? Don't miss the opportunity to study or recall all of the rules extensively by reading our useful and informative post. Prepare an ideal essay that will deserve only the highest grades!