ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

Sonia Sánchez Beneitez

Complementos para la formación disciplinar en lengua inglesa

Máster en formación del profesorado en Educación Secundaria – Universidad Isabel I

INDEX

What is an argumentative essay?

Planning an argumentative essay

Structure

What strategies can we use?

Types of arguments

Do’s and Don’ts

Useful Internet resources

What is an argumentative

essay?

In an argumentative essay, the writer wants to persuadethe reader with arguments or examples that contributes tosupport the main topic.

An argumentative essay combines sometimes narration ordescription, but normally, the argumentative essay iscombined with exposition. Thus, you can inform thereader and give him facts before trying to convince him.

In an argumentative essay, you should present argumentsin favour and against (those against are called

counterarguments).In that way, your essay will appear more objective and thenyou can lead the reader to the central idea you aredefending.

Planning an argumentative

essaySome of these points will help you to plan an

argumentative essay:

First of all, make a mind map or a diagram

with arguments (in favour and against)

related to the title of your essay or to the main

topic you would like to discuss.

Planning an argumentative

essay - cont.

Read some literature and articles related to the

topic, so you can gather solid arguments before

the writing stage.

Planning an argumentative

essay - cont.

Then, order these ideas in a coherent andlogical manner and in the way it could bemore convincing to the reader. When doingthis, you should start deciding what to put inthe introduction, in the body and in theconclusion.

Select the specific vocabulary of your topicand the specific discourse markers that willbe useful for your essay.

Planning an argumentative

essay - cont.

Add examples that

can support your

arguments.

Finally, start

writing your first

draft!

Structure

Introduction: in the introduction you present thetopic or thesis statement and you try to catch thereader’s attention.

Body: here you present your arguments and yourcounterarguments, as well as developing moreinformation about your topic and the necessaryexplanations to convince the reader.

Conclusion: in the conclusion, you take into accountall the information given and you conclude the text bymaking some references to the main ideas and/or themain topic.

What strategies can we

use?When trying to give an argument, we can make

use of different argumentative strategies as

we have to give reasons that should not be

questioned by the reader. Some of these

strategies could be:

The use of quotations from experts to support

your point with an element of authority

The use of examples

The use of cause- effect ideas

What strategies can we use? –

cont.

The use of analogies

The use of statistics

The use of facts

The use of surveys

Types of arguments

In Chapter 18 titled Strategies of Argument from the book“The Scott, Foresman, Writer” by Ruszkiewicz et alt.(2010), we can find that there are 5 main types ofarguments:

Argument of fact. In this argument you presentideas that actually happened and are accepted bysociety (Muñoz-Basols, J., Pérez Sinusía Y. y DavidM, 2011).

Argument of definition. After giving some definitionsfrom different resources, you contrast them to supportyour arguments.

Types of arguments – cont.

Argument of evaluation. Here, you present yourargument or idea and give your point of viewafterwards, what can be called “criteria of evaluation”.

Causal argument. In this argument, you express therelation that exists between the cause and the effectof your argument (Muñoz-Basols, J. et al., 2011).

Proposal argument. In your essay, you can proposesome problems and then move gradually to find asolution. As Ruszkiewicz et alt. defined: “Proposalarguments represent attempts to solve problems”.(Ruszkiewicz et alt. , 2010, p.170)

Do’s and Don'ts

DO

use first person plural (“we”) or impersonal/passive sentences.

a logical transition between arguments and ideas.

use counterarguments or objections in some of your paragraphs to strengthen your arguments.

give ideas that are well developed and exemplified.

quote responsibly and fairly from your sources.

take a deductive or inductive approach in your arguments.

Do’s and Don'ts – cont.

DON’T

use the first person (“I”) or second person (“you”)

be superficial in your arguments or conclusion.

give far-fetched examples.

choose a topic that is difficult to debate.

give too many ideas that are not well developed

or unrelated.

develop your ideas in a disorganised way without

any logical order.

Useful Internet resources

http://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/academic

-success-tools/agumentative-essays.html

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/essaywriting/a

/argument.htm

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/argument/

Bibliography

Sánchez Lobato, J. (Coord.), Cervera Rodríguez, A. yHernández García, G. (2006) Saber escribir (pp.377-388). Instituto Cervantes, Madrid: Santillana.

Muñoz-Basols, J., Pérez Sinusía Y. y David M. (2011) El texto argumentativo. En Developing writing skills in Spanish (pp.109-142 ). Londres: Routledge.

Ruskiewicz, J., Seward, D., Friend, C., Maxine, E. (2010). Strategies of Argument. En The Scott, Foresman, Writer. Recuperado de: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/showcase/sf/assetts/cp18.pdf