Argumentative Essays

You may have heard that all writing is, in some way, an argument. Even when writing an informative essay, you’re still persuading your audience that the information matters. But sometimes, you’ll be tasked with writing an essay that is explicitly argumentative.

Figure 1. When writing an argumentative essay, students must be able to separate emotion based arguments from logic based arguments in order to appeal to an academic audience.

Students often find it tricky to separate emotions from academic arguments, leading to essays that feel too personal. While caring about your topic is great, strong arguments are built on facts and logic, not just opinion. Staying objective helps make your case more convincing and academically sound.

Argumentative essays are common across disciplines. You might take a stance on a social issue in an introductory writing course, argue a healthcare policy in a nursing course, or propose solutions to environmental problems in a conservation biology class.

Because this type of writing is so prevalent, understanding the key elements of a strong argumentative essay is essential.

Techniques

• Causal Arguments: You write about how something has caused something else.

  • For example, you might explore the increase of industrial pollution and the resulting decline of large mammals in the world’s oceans.

• Evaluation Arguments: You can write an argumentative evaluation of something as “good” or “bad,” but you also need to establish the criteria for “good” or “bad.”

  • For example, you might evaluate a children’s book for your Introduction to Educational Theory class, but you would need to establish clear criteria for your evaluation for your audience.

• Proposal Arguments: With this type of writing, you need to propose a solution to a problem. First, you must establish a clear problem and then propose a specific solution to that problem.

  • For example, you might argue for the removal of parking fines on students who use the parking deck on campus.

• Narrative Arguments: For this type of argument, you make your case by telling a story with a clear point related to your argument.

  • For example, you might write a narrative about your negative experiences with standardized testing in order to make a case for reform.

• Rebuttal Arguments: In a rebuttal argument, you build your case around refuting an idea or ideas that have come before. In other words, your starting point is to challenge the ideas of the past. For this type of writing assignment, you have to explain what you are refuting first, and then you can expand on your new ideas or perspectives.

• Definition Arguments: In this type of argument, you use a definition as the starting point for making your case.

  • For example, in a definition argument, you might argue that NCAA basketball players should be defined as professional players and, therefore, should be paid.