What Is an Argumentative Essay? Definition and Examples

When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about. For example, you may be asked to take a stand on an issue you have been discussing in class. Perhaps, in your education class, you would be asked to write about standardized testing in public schools. Or, in your literature class, you might be asked to argue the effects of protest literature on public policy in the United States.

• In argumentative essays, you’re presenting your point of view as the writer and, sometimes, choosing the topic you’ll be arguing about.
• The cat could have an undiagnosed health issue, or it could just take a bit of extra work to persuade the cat to choose the scratching post over the arm of the expensive couch.
• A good introduction draws the reader’s attention and reveals the main topic of the text to the reader, and by reading the conclusion, readers can quickly find out the point of view of the author (Syed et al., 2021).
• You might even be asked to write an argumentative essay on any topic related to your field of study or a topic you feel that is important personally.

Emotional associations offer the various levels of meaning a word may have. The essay “What is Poverty” offers multiple connotations of poverty through the numerous illustrations. All authors what is the best definition of an argumentative text wrote and reviewed the manuscript and approved its final version. Overview of the elements of an argumentative text with a definition of each element, based on Stapleton and Wu .

Data Availability Statement

Now, there are some key concepts in those sections that you’ve got to understand if you’re going to master how to write an argumentative essay. To make the most of the body section, you have to know how to support your claim , what evidence and explanations are and when you should use them, and how and when to address opposing viewpoints. To finish strong, you’ve got to have a strategy for writing a stellar conclusion. The body paragraphs of an essay are where the writer presents her or his reasoning and the evidence to support her or his claim.

It helps if your argument is specific; having a broad or general argument means more facets to examine, which can make for a wordy essay. The thesis itself should be the one takeaway you want your readers to leave with. What are you trying to convince them of, or what do you want them to remember after reading?

How to Write a Standout Argumentative Essay

For future research studies, we recommend that raters do not rate the same text holistically as well as analytically. Regarding validity and reliability, Harsch and Martin prefer rating a text both holistically and analytically. In providing feedback to students, this could be very useful. However, research by Hunter and Lee et al. showed that holistic and analytic scores are not always strongly correlated. More research is needed into the implications of merging information from both holistic rating and analytical rating. In this study, we choose to use pairwise comparisons as a starting point for describing results which we then use to make connections to the other rating procedures.

This implies that a text feature to which the rater attaches great importance can be more decisive than another text feature. Other authors, like Stapleton and Wu , describe the weight of the separate text features in a rubric as fixed. This implies that the rater cannot decide the weight of each text feature and this makes analytic rating less free than holistic rating. In academic writing, an argument is usually a main idea, often called a “claim” or “thesis statement,” backed up with evidence that supports the idea.

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As mentioned in the see section “Data Analysis,” an argumentative text ideally includes all argumentative elements. In the theoretical background, we clarified that an argumentative text ideally has a strong persuasiveness, good factual accuracy and uses information originating from the source texts. All mid-range, weak and strong argumentative texts were analyzed on their quality of content by examining these three elements. In addition, text length and writing mechanics were included in this in-depth analysis. In comparative holistic rating, texts are holistically compared to each other to assess the text quality. A well-known comparative holistic rating approach is pairwise comparison.

Are other things we consider unhealthy full of sugar and/or fat, low in nutrition, and made with industrial additives? Fast food hamburgers are unhealthy because they contain high levels of fat, low nutritional value, and are full of chemical preservatives. All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. It may seem to you that no one could possibly disagree with the position you are arguing, but someone probably has.

Logical argumentation

A persuasive essay would present facts and include how safe guns make people feel. Similarly, effective argumentative essays use specific linguistic methods to defend a position on an issue. The persuasive essay is confused with the argumentative essay. However, the persuasive essay employs ethical and emotional appeals, whereas the argumentative essay relies more on logic, evidence, and argumentation. Similarly, the argumentative essay is sometimes conflated with the expository essay.

• Your thesis CANNOT be a mere statement of fact (e.g., “Washington DC is the capital of the United States”).
• Easy definition essay topics are only different because you can explain them using a dictionary.
• In Table 10, the elements of the mid-range argumentative text are summarized.
• Find that one argumentative essay topic you can absolutely conquer.

The final sentence of the introductory paragraph is the thesis statement. A thesis statement is the debatable statement or claim around which the essay will be centered. The purpose of a thesis statement is to introduce the reader to the claim the author will try to support throughout the rest of the essay. Base any conclusions on solid logic, and use transitions to the subsequent paragraphs, repeating this process. Avoid any irrelevant details that will distract from the thesis. Although similar to persuasive essays, argumentative essays are in some ways the exact opposite. While persuasive essays appeal to the reader’s emotions, argumentative essays appeal to the reader’s reason.

Definition Essay Topics about Environment and Nature

The aim of the writing is to persuade the reader to consider the writer’s point of view and perhaps sway them towards their opinion. Rhetorical questions may be used to help with this persuasion. An argument text is a text written about a subject, where the writer is either ‘for’ or ‘against’ the subject. Common argument texts written in primary school highlight the pros and cons of subjects such as zoos, school uniform or the use of computer tablets in education. An argumentative essay arguing for the benefits of organic foods with a focus on defining what organic really means. An argumentative essay calling for an end to the two-party system of government in the United States with a focus on defining what a two-party system really is and what the laws are related to it.

• They are those texts whose arguments defend the thesis from redundancies or reiterations.
• Following this procedure, texts are rated as a whole by assigning a score based on a total impression .
• Argumentative essays are definitely more research intensive than other essays, but don’t think that means it has to be dry and stuffy.
• Write down all the references to the sources you’ve used during your research.
• When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about.

Unlike those essays, argumentative essays require much more extensive research, which can include published sources alongside more empirical research . The purpose of an argumentative essay is to convince the reader of a particular standpoint based on logical reasoning, facts, and evidence. Argumentative essays can be written about most any subject, and the ability to write them is a useful skill in one’s academic and professional life. Writers of an argumentative essay should be sure to address opposing viewpoints in order to present a persuasive and fair message. In this section, known as the rebuttal, the writer presents and refutes the opposing viewpoint. The writer will summarize the opposing viewpoint, or counterargument, and explain why he or she disagrees. Then, the writer must refute the opposing viewpoint by, for example, pointing out logical fallacies in it or providing newer information.

Definition Argument

If they use a specific example, how can they show that the example is typical? They may also need to justify the choice of criteria for the definition. In what follows, limitations regarding the implementation of the rating procedures are addressed. Most material you learn in college is or has been debated by someone, somewhere, at some time.

Arguments while alone in the shower — it’s your time to shine! Go through reasons one by one and challenge them to answer “because” in a credible way. While disproving the other side, avoid insults and a superior tone. In addition, avoid using absolutes such as “always” or “never” because they are rarely the case, so credibility will be lost. Mary Firestone has a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Firestone has experience as an instructor for English, English Composition, Advanced Composition, Contemporary World Literature, Contemporary Literature, and Creative Writing. She has taught at a variety of schools such as Ottawa University Online, Rasmussen College, Excelsior College, and Southern New Hampshire University.

Types of argumentative texts

Human knowledge grows out of such differences of opinion, and scholars like your instructors spend their lives engaged in debate over what claims may be counted as accurate in their fields. In their courses, they want you to engage in similar kinds of critical thinking and debate. Yes, indeed, it’s been a quarter century of quote introductions exceptional writing, exacting argumentation, memorable wit, intramural debate, and unremitting opposition to and merciless mockery of stupid and noxious ideas. Courtney scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT in high school and went on to graduate from Stanford University with a degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology.

Assessing argumentative writing skills is not a straightforward task, as multiple elements need to be considered. In function of providing feedback to students and keeping track of their progress, evaluating argumentative texts in a suitable, valid and efficient way is important. First, we aim to examine the correlations between the three rating procedures and to study the extent to which these procedures differ in assigning scores. In doing so, the more innovative approach of pairwise comparisons is compared to more established assessment methods of absolute holistic and analytic rating. Second, we aim to identify key characteristics that determine the quality of an argumentative text, independent of the rating procedure used. Furthermore, key elements of mid-range, weak and strong argumentative texts were studied in detail. Structured into several different parts, an argumentative essay begins with an introductory paragraph, or introduction, which gives the thesis statement.