Learn to Write Argumentative Essays

Argumentative essays are similar to persuasive essays, except that an argumentative essay can take different routes more easily, and it is not uncommon for a situation to remain unresolved at the end of an argumentative essay. A good argumentative essay will make points and counter those points. A brilliant essay will mention most of the counter-arguments that the reader thinks up. Here is some help when writing your argumentative essays.

Come up with all the counter arguments your readers may

Let's take the idea of smoking. Your main arguments against may be that it is bad for your health, addictive and makes a person smell. On the other hand, you should be able to counter argue that smoking is fun and relaxing, and that even though it is addictive that a person can stop if in the right frame of mind. One could argue that not all people find the smell of smoke to be a bad one, and that it is worth the inconvenience because smoking is so rewarding and fun. You could argue that it is bad for people, but counter that for many it is worth the risk, that life is already short, that massive amounts of people suffer no ill consequences their entire life.

It is easy to make arguments against smoking because it is a popular form of discrimination these days, but do not forget that there are hundreds of counter arguments you can make and that you need to come up with as many as possible because your readers will.

An argumentative essay can go on forever

What you may take away from the points made above is that an argumentative essay can go on forever. A person may come up and arguments and counter arguments until the end of time. With this in mind, you may have to concentrate on the strongest arguments first and try not to counter, re-counter and counter again. Concentrate on the strongest arguments and counter arguments and try to find some sort of resolution or stalemate before moving on to the next argument or counter argument. At the end of the day, you will have to use your best judgment to figure out what stays in your essay and what doesn't

Plan your argumentative essay with bullet point notes

Any sort of essay plan is a good plan. Lacking a plan means you make your job a lot harder. Creating a bullet point list for your plan is handy because it keeps it simple. You can refer back to it again and again and know what point you are making and why. Below is the bullet point plan for this article, and as you can see, each entry does not need a fuller explanation when you do your plan because you know what each point means.

You are the reader in this situation, so may need each point elaborating, but image you are the writer of this article, you know what each point means, which means you can write about each point without having to build a bigger plan. Below is the bullet point plan that acted as the plan for this article. You can create a similar plan when you write your argumentative essay plan.

Write in a modular fashion to help keep things organized

In other words, every point you make on your plan should have its own little section that you write on its own. Round it off, make it good, and then slot it into your essay in an appropriate place. To the outsider it will look as if the essay was written in one big chunk, but you will know that it was written in parts. Doing this also means you can change the order in which your arguments appear. It also makes it easier to concentrate on one issue or argument at a time.

Add notes in red to your essay to keep track of your points

Your argumentative essay can become confusing as you bounce back from one argument and counterargument to the next. That is why the occasional note in a red font is handy. It helps you review your paper without having to read every word of it. You should delete the red text when you prepare the work to be handed in (your final draft). Adding the notes will help you organize your text too, especially if you are writing in a modular fashion as suggested above. Your red text could even be the bullet points that are in your plan. You can write them in red on the essay wherever they appear in your text. At least that way you can be sure you covered all the points in your essay plan.