An argumentative essay is an essay in which you make an argument. In other words, you are persuading readers of something or trying to change their point of view on an issue. To put it simply, you are writing about your opinion on a topic. In a way, you have been writing about your opinions in all of your essays so far. However, in an argumentative essay, you are being asked to pick a side on a two-sided issue.

For example, an argumentative essay topic could be:

Should high school students be required to wear uniforms? 

As you can see, there are two different basic opinions you could have about this question:

1. High school students should be required to wear uniforms.
2. High school students should not be required to wear uniforms.

Pick one side, or one opinion, and then give two reasons for your opinion in your essay.

Here is another example:

Should schools allow students to use artificial intelligence (AI)? 

You can pick one of two sides:

1. Schools should allow students to use AI.
2. Schools should not allow students to use AI.

Again, once you pick a side, you can then write about two reasons for your opinion in your essay.

You might see an argumentative essay topic and already know your opinion. For example, if the topic is:

Should all high school students be required to take art or music classes?

You might immediately think: “Yes, all high school students should be required to take art or music classes.” Or, you might think: “No, all high school students should not be required to take art and music classes.”

However, if you are not sure what your opinion is about the topic, you can make what is called a pros and cons chart. On the pros side, you can brainstorm ideas that support an opinion. On the cons side, you can brainstorm ideas that support the opposite opinion.

Let’s look at an example for the topic about art and music classes:

As you can see, there are many more ideas on the pros side than on the cons side. In this example, there are only 3 ideas on the cons side. Therefore, it would make sense to write our essay about the pros, or the positive opinion, explaining why all high school students should be required to take art or music classes.

Remember that you should only focus on writing about one opinion. If you already know which opinion you have, you do not need to make a pros and cons chart. You can just brainstorm in the usual way.

After you decide on your opinion and brainstorm your ideas, you should group your ideas and create a map in the usual way. Let’s continue with the example about art and music classes.

In the above thesis statement, the basic opinion is that all high school students should be required to take art or music classes. The thesis statement also includes two reasons: cognitive benefits and emotional benefits.

The specific ideas come from the brainstorming list. For the cognitive advantages, the supporting ideas are creativity and better memory. For the emotional benefits, the supporting ideas are lower stress and higher self-esteem.

After you create your map, you can create an outline. The structure of an argumentative essay is the same structure you have been using for other essays this semester. However, in this case, you are focusing on explaining one opinion on a debate or issue and then giving specific reasons that support that opinion. You are trying to show the reader why the opinion you chose is correct.

Here is an example outline based on the map:

I. Thesis Statement: All high school students should be required to take art or music classes because they have cognitive and emotional benefits.

II. Topic Sentence 1: Students who study art or music have cognitive advantages.

A. Supporting Sentence 1: To start, these classes can help students become more creative.

B. Supporting Sentence 2: In addition to creativity, participating in art and music has been shown to benefit the memory.

III. Topic Sentence 2: Furthermore, art and music courses provide students with important emotional benefits.

A. Supporting Sentence 1: In the first place, they give students an outlet to express their feelings during a stressful school day.

B. Supporting Sentence 2: Also, students who take art or music classes experience an increase in their self-esteem.

Notice that the outline uses the same transitions you have learned about in the past, such as “first,” “in addition,” “furthermore,” “in the first place,” and “also.” The outline includes the two main reasons that support why your opinion about this topic is correct. Notice that you can do this without using the word “I”!

Examples

Remember that one of the qualities of good writing is that the reader can “see” what you are talking about. If the reader can imagine what you were imagining when writing, your opinion will be more convincing. This is especially important in argumentative essays, where your goal is to persuade readers that your position is correct. A major way that you can help your reader do this is with examples.

Let’s look at examples in an argumentative essay:

Students who study art or music have cognitive advantages. Supporting Sentence → First, these classes can help students become more creative. Example → When a student is required to make an original piece of art or play a song in her own style, she is creating something new, or, in other words, being creative. Explanation → … Supporting Sentence → In addition to creativity, participating in art and music has been shown to benefit the memory.  Example → For example, there is research that shows that people who are trained to play music are better able to remember more of what they hear in other situations, like when they listen to a lecture at school. Explanation → … Concluding Sentence → Certainly, students should improve their cognitive abilities by taking art or music classes.

Let’s look closely at one of the examples:

Supporting Sentence →  First, these classes can help students become more creative. Example → When a student is required to make an original piece of art or play a song in her own style, she is creating something new, or, in other words, being creative.

Here there is a specific example of how students are creative in these classes: they create a new art piece or a new song. Hopefully, you could picture this scene; that is our goal. We want our examples to be as specific as possible so that our reader can imagine what we are talking about. This makes our argumentative essay both more convincing and entertaining.

Why Examples Are Especially Important in Argumentative Essays

In argumentative essays, examples serve an extra purpose beyond just helping readers visualize your ideas. Examples also provide evidence that supports your position. When you are trying to convince someone that your opinion is correct, you need to show them concrete situations where your reasoning applies.

Think about it this way: if you simply say “art classes help with memory,” the reader might think, “Maybe, but I’m not sure.” However, if you provide a specific example like “people who are trained to play music are better able to remember more of what they hear in other situations, like when they listen to a lecture at school,” the reader can understand the connection between hearing and memory. The example makes your argument much stronger.

Below are both a weak and a strong example. You will notice that the weak example is so general that we cannot imagine what is happening.

Supporting Sentence: In the first place, these classes give students an outlet to express their feelings during a stressful school day.

Weak example: For instance, if a student is anxious, they can show it.

Strong example: For instance, in a visual art class, a student could draw a picture depicting her anxiety about her future.

Do you see how the second example is more specific? This makes it easier to imagine so that the reader can better understand your perspective.

In this course, we are not researching for our ideas, so I encourage you to think about situations you have observed, heard about, or can realistically imagine. I encourage you to paint a clear picture of any scenes you choose to write about The more specific your examples are, the more persuasive your argumentative essay will be.

Remember that in argumentative writing, examples are the evidence that proves your opinion is correct.

Remember that the goal of an explanation is to show exactly what you are thinking and to convince the reader that you are correct. In argumentative essays, the explanation is especially important because this is where you prove that your example actually supports your perspective. This means two things:

1. You cannot take anything that the reader knows for granted. In essays in American English, it is expected that you explain every little step of your thinking.
2. You want to take a strong perspective and show confidence that you are correct.

Let’s look at examples of explanations in an argumentative essay:

Students who study art or music have cognitive advantages. Supporting Sentence → First, these classes can help students become more creative. Example → When a student is required to make an original piece of art or play a song in her own style, she is creating something new, or, in other words, being creative. Explanation → The ability to create new ideas and products is important in all academic courses, like when students need to be creative to design a science project. Creativity can even be useful in the future workplace, where they can use their ability to think of new ideas to solve problems for their work team. Supporting Sentence → In addition to creativity, participating in art and music has been shown to benefit the memory.  Example → For example, there is research that shows that people who are trained to play music are better able to remember more of what they hear in other situations, like when they listen to a lecture at school. Explanation → This memory advantage is important for students’ success now and in the future. Many academic subjects like chemistry require students to use memory to study and do well. Also, memory plays a role in various job tasks, like remembering important instructions from a boss or learning a new skill on a computer.  Concluding Sentence → Certainly, students should improve their cognitive abilities by taking art or music classes.

In argumentative writing, you cannot assume that your reader will automatically understand why your example proves your point. Even if something seems obvious to you, you need to explicitly connect your example back to your argument. The explanation is where you make this connection clear.

Think of it this way:

• Your supporting sentence makes a claim
• Your example provides evidence
• Your explanation shows why that evidence proves your claim is correct

Without the explanation, your reader might think, “Okay, I see the example, but so what? Why does this matter?”

Let’s look closely at one of the explanations:

Supporting Sentence → First, these classes can help students become more creative. Example → When a student is required to make an original piece of art or play a song in her own style, she is creating something new, or, in other words, being creative. Explanation → The ability to create new ideas and products is important in all academic courses, like when students need to be creative to design a science project. Creativity can even be useful in the future workplace, where they can use their ability to think of new ideas to solve problems for their work team.

It might seem obvious that it is good to be creative. But we still need to explain why it is important and how this proves our argument. In other words, here are some questions to think about when writing your explanations in argumentative essays:

1. Why is the example important?
2. What are the consequences or results of the situation in my example?

This explanation answers all three questions. Let’s see how:

1. Why is this important? It is important because it will help students in other classes and in their future jobs.

2. What are the results? The consequences are that children will be able to do school and work projects more easily.

Let’s look at the other one.

Supporting Sentence → In addition to creativity, participating in art and music has been shown to benefit the memory.  Example → For example, there is research that shows that people who are trained to play music are better able to remember more of what they hear in other situations, like when they listen to a lecture at school. Explanation → This memory advantage is important for students’ success now and in the future. Many academic subjects like chemistry require students to use memory to study and do well. Also, memory plays a role in various job tasks, like remembering important instructions from a boss or learning a new skill on a computer.

Again, it might seem obvious that improving memory is important. But we have to explain exactly what we’re thinking and further prove that we are correct. Let’s look at how this explanation answers our guiding questions:

1. Why is this important? It is important because students need a strong memory to do well in other classes and the workplace.

2. What are the results? The results are better grades in their classes and better performance in job tasks.

Always assume your reader is thinking, “So what? Why should I care about this?” Your explanation needs to answer this question by showing the significance or consequences of your example.

How long should my explanations be?

So far this semester, we have mainly been writing explanations that are a sentence long. However, in argumentative essays, you may need longer explanations because you are trying to convince someone who might disagree with you.

For example, if your argument is complicated or if you think your reader might not immediately see the connection between your example and your point, you should write a longer explanation. As long as you fully answer the two questions we talked about above, you have a strong explanation.

In an argumentative essay, you choose one opinion about a two-sided issue and explain why your opinion is correct. Many students enjoy writing argumentative essays because it is a chance to really share their worldview. I look forward to hearing more of your opinions!