Argumentative Essays Explained - Steps to Write, Examples, and Topic Ideas

This blog outlines essential steps for writing compelling arguments, supported by clear examples and practical tips. It also offers a variety of engaging topic ideas to help writers explore and present persuasive viewpoints effectively.

An argumentative essay comprises factual data and evidence to persuade readers of a certain position on a topic. Writing this essay requires strategic planning, in-depth research, and the ability to make strong claims. 

However, many students are in hot waters when their teachers ask them to write an argumentative essay. A study by ResearchGate says that 70% of students feel anxious while writing academic documents. If you don’t want to become one of them, you must follow some writing steps to make your writing process a walk in the park.

To make your journey easier for you the experts of The Academic Papers UK will share what is an argumentative essay and some steps for writing it. 

Let’s start with exploring what an argumentative essay is.

What is an Argumentative Essay?

According to The University of Toledo, “An argumentative essay contains a clear stance or position on a specific point of view and supports it with strong evidence.” The key elements of an argumentative essay include:

• A clear and strong thesis statement that outlines the writer’s stance.
• An engaging introduction comprising the importance of the topic.
• Body paragraphs containing the arguments backed with strong evidence. 
• Refutation of counterarguments.
• A conclusion restating the key arguments.

The prime purpose of this essay is to convince the readers of the validity of the writers’ viewpoints with strong evidence and logical arguments. 

7 Steps To Write a Successful Argumentative Essay

The argumentative essay is the most common essay type that students write during their educational journey. This essay writing requires exceptional critical thinking skills, the ability to understand the topic, and some guiding steps that can make this process easy. 

Are you wondering what these steps are? Continue reading to explore how to write an argumentative essay.

1. Pick a Debatable Topic

Sometimes, teachers provide a topic for the argumentative essay. In that case, you have to start your essay writing by conducting research. But if your teacher did not provide you with a topic for the essay, then you have to select a good argumentative essay topic by yourself. 

When you are selecting a topic for your essay, always choose a debatable topic on which ample information is available. A debatable topic is that which has various perspectives and is to be argued on or against. Moreover, it must reflect the central theme of your arguments so your readers will understand what they are going to explore in your essay by reading it. 

2. Conduct In-depth Research

After choosing the topic, now it’s time to gather information on your topic. This step is the foundational step of your essay writing process as it helps you to gather strong evidence to support your evidence. Follow the below steps to conduct thorough research for your argumentative essay.

• Identify the sources from where you can gather information related to your essay topic.
• Collect data from these sources to support your claim.
• Take notes from these sources. This will help you in quoting these facts during your writing process.
• Evaluate the sources by checking their credibility.

3. Create an Outline for Your Argumentative Essay

Creating an outline is important for a successful argumentative essay writing. This outline helps you to organise your thoughts and structure your essay. Like the other essays, the outline of an essay comprises the following general sections:

• An introduction
• Body paragraphs
• A conclusion

However, this essay has an additional section for counterarguments where you refute or acknowledge the argument. This is the trick section of your essay, usually written after the body paragraphs. You can hire professional essay writers to get their assistance in outlining your argumentative essay.

4. Write a Strong Introduction

The introduction of your argumentative essay comprises the writer’s main claim that he will be discussed in the essay. This section must be engaging and persuasive enough to compel readers to read the document further. 

To write an engaging introduction for your essay follow the below-mentioned steps.

• Start your essay introduction with a captivating hook. This hook sentence must give a clear understanding of your arguments.
• Add some background information that will guide your readers to comprehend your claim.
• Write a thesis statement which must comprise a brief summary of your essay.

5. Develop the Body of the Argumentative Essay

A general essay consists of three to five body paragraphs. These paragraph numbers can be increased depending on your argumentative essay topic. No matter how many body paragraphs are you writing for your essay. All of these have the same structure; a topic sentence, evidence, and a concluding sentence.

Follow the below steps to write a good body paragraph.

• Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence. This sentence consists of the main claim that will be discussed in the paragraph.
• Provide evidence to support your claim. Remember, the more evidence you will be provided, the more your claim becomes stronger.
• End your body paragraph with a concluding sentence. 

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6. Add Counter Arguments

This paragraph is a stepping stone for your argumentative essay which contains the opposite viewpoints that readers may possess against your stance. This paragraph aims to prove the opposite viewpoints wrong by presenting evidence and facts. 

Have a look at the below steps to write a perfect paragraph refuting counterarguments.

• Present all the opposite arguments one by one.
• Address all these counterarguments.
•  Now, refute the counterclaims one by one by presenting strong evidence and facts.
• Conclude this paragraph by presenting your main claim.

7. Conclude Your Argumentative Essay

The conclusion is the last section of your essay which must be concise and inspire your readers to agree with your claim. You can say that it is the last chance to convince your readers that your argument is right and logical.

Below are the key tips to craft an impactful conclusion paragraph for your argumentative essay. 

• Summarise your entire essay and restate your thesis statement.
• Just synthesise and analyse the information; don’t add any new ideas to the conclusion.
• End your essay with a thought-provoking sentence.

Now that you have explored the steps to write an argumentative essay, learn some tips that can make your writing process easier for you.

3 Tips To Follow To Write A Good Argumentative Essay

Unlike other essays, in an argumentative essay, you have to present empirical data and logical data to convince your readers of your claim. Presenting your claims in a logical order can be challenging for students. Therefore, they have to follow some tips to make their writing successful.

1. Always remember argumentative essay is all about presenting arguments backed with evidence. So, never try to convince your readers with the emotional appeal in this essay.
2. In an argumentative essay tone and language the very important, but, unfortunately, students don’t pay attention to this crucial factor.
3. Sometimes, a small typo can ruin all your hard work. Therefore, it is essential to review and proofread your essay to remove spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. You can avail of custom essay writing services to ensure an error-free essay.

Argumentative Essay Example

As you have explored the steps to write an argumentative essay and some writing tips that can make your essay successful. If you are still confused about this essay writing, check out an example by Scribd.

A List of the Best Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

The first step to writing an argumentative essay is to select a suitable topic idea. Choosing the right topic idea for an argumentative essay is sometimes challenging for the students. Some interesting argumentative essay topics are given below as shared by an essay writing service;

1. What is the effectiveness of the death penalty?
2. Young people should have the right to join the military
3. How are human activities changing the global climate?
4. Students should have the right to select interesting subjects
5. How to create fairness in our election process?
6. Advantages and disadvantages of getting an MBA degree
7. What is the effectiveness of getting penalty leave for the men?
8. How can teenagers maintain their weight?
9. What are the impacts of school uniforms on the performance of the students?
10. Is it helpful for teenagers to maintain their weight?
11. How do we control cheating in exams?
12. What is the relationship between food and weight?
13. Can we use animals for research?
14. Effects of sleep deprivation on the health of the people
15. How to ban cigarette smoking?
16. How swimming is helpful for people to lose weight?
17. What are the dangers of mobile phones?
18. Is hockey a dangerous sport?
19. Are law enforcement cameras ensuring security?
20. The production of tobacco should be illegal
21. Are we paying too much to the actors and athletes?
22. Governments should ban the sales of tobacco
23. Are we paying too much to the CEOs?
24. Governments should control the consumption of the alcohol
25. How violent are violent video games creating behavior problems?
26. Governments should ban the production and sales of the energetic drinks
27. Should we increase the alcohol drinking age limit?
28. What is the most suitable age to get the right to vote?
29. Are we give the right to vote to the prisoners?
30. Should the US government decrease the age limit to give the right to vote?
31. Should we legalize same-sex marriage?
32. Do we control the use of animal species for cruel experiments?
33. How is homework helpful?
34. Advantages and disadvantages of globalization
35. How is homework harmful?
36. The impacts of rapid climate changes
37. Are the costs of colleges too high?
38. What are the consequences of earthquakes?
39. Should rich people pay more taxes?
40. Should we change the policies of the public schools?
41. What is the effectiveness of teaching foreign languages in the school?
42. How is corruption dangerous for the economic growth of a country?
43. Is it essential to teach physical education in schools?
44. The government should ban violent video games
45. Are teachers responsible for the low scores of the students?
46. Positive and negative impacts of technology on the education
47. Are the school responsible for the low scores of the students?
48. How is technology limiting creativity?
49. Pros and cons of mobile phones on the academic progress of the students
50. Education should be free
51. How are online friends more effective than imaginary friends?
52. Internet access should be limited for the students
53. First aid medical help should be free for all the people
54. What are the impacts of incentives on the performance of the employees?
55. Governments should finance the social movements
56. Should we ban cloning?
57. What are the roles of the parents in building the character of their children?
58. What is the effectiveness of the current taxation system?
59. Should men and women get equal payments in all the firms?
60. Are test scores the only way to measure the students' performance?
61. How are smartphones helpful for the students in the learning process?
62. Is co-education more beneficial than single-sex education?
63. What are the impacts of fast foods on the health of the people?
64. Is hard work necessary to get success in life?
65. How to make politics clean and fair?

Conclusion

An argumentative essay is an important academic writing which comprises evidence and facts to convince readers of a certain viewpoint. Writing this essay requires the right planning and structure. For this, in this blog, we have shared the key steps for writing this essay. 

These steps include choosing the topic, conducting thorough research, making an outline, writing an introduction, developing an essay body, adding a counter-claim paragraph, and crafting an impactful conclusion. Additionally, we share some writing tips that can make your essay writing process easier for you. For further guidance, you can approach the experts of The Academic Writers UK who know how to write a perfect argumentative essay using evidence and facts.

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