When the writer is trying to persuade someone to do something or think one way or another, they are essentially trying to persuade them. Hence an essay that contains such content will be called an ‘Argumentative Essay’. It is much like a debate but in the form of a monologue where the writer gets to control the narrative. If done well, the writer can have substantial impact upon his/her readers and call them forth to action or a change, depending upon what the topic might be.
Table of Contents
How To Start An Argumentative Essay?
The writer must follow the following steps to commence and write an argumentative essay:
- The writer must first choose a clear position or inclination on the topic. Be unambiguous about the point he/she is trying to make and avoid vague or uncertain platitudes.
- The writer must then do their research on the topic. Identify any points that have conflicts and intuit any counter arguments. Also devise counter arguments to those objections that the audience might make. In short, the draft must be thorough and well prepared.
- Next, the writer must do some research about his or her audience. Understand their psyche and cater to it while making the argument. This is a crucial step in order to make your essay memorable.
- Next step is to come up with an outline for your essay. This will help the writer make his or her point in a much more impactful manner. The progressive buildup of the argument helps the audience absorb it and retain it for far longer than if it was stated plainly. The basic outline for any argumentative essay will somewhat look like this :
- Introduction
- Body Paragraphs
- Conclusion
Let’s dive into details of each of these outlines:
Introduction:
Start your introduction with something catchy. It could be a story, a mere fascinating fact or a quote or it could be an anecdote that gets your reader ‘hooked’ into the topic of your argument and get them interested. This is a tricky step and if executed well, could make or break your argumentative essay. Hence, it is essential that the topic is well researched and you yourself are interested, fascinated as well as passionate about the topic. Then and only then you could persuade someone else to give your argument some attention.
Body Paragraphs:
This is where the heart of the essay lies. You must make your argument here and make it clearly and inconspicuously. Know the topic well in order to do this. Provide readers with some background or fundamental understanding of the topic as well so they can actually wrap their head around your argument.
Cater to the reader’s sensibilities, emotions as well as logistical and factual thinking while stating the argument with actual and credible data. Repeat your point if you need to but make sure you don’t lose the reader’s attention to a boring repetition, instead try and be creative even if you are saying the same thing over and over again. Remember- the key is to be authoritative and assertive about your argument, state it unapologetically and do not leave any possibility of a rebuttal and any plot holes in your argument.
Do Checkout: The Importance of Proofreading Your Documents
Making your argument is one thing, another thing the writer must do to draft a memorable argumentative essay is intuit the counter arguments that might arise against his or her essay. Realize them and devise methods to diffuse them. Once you have done that, you must then put it in your essay to cover any chinks in your armor. This will not only solidify your argument even further but also give you an edge over other fellow argumentative essays.
Conclusion:
Once you have made your argument in detail in the body paragraphs, you must then take the essence of your argument, pare out any repetition, cut short all the stories and appeals you might have made earlier and concisely state it one last time in your conclusive paragraph. This must be as precise as the writer can get without losing the basic idea of his or her argument. This must be done in order to drill the argument one last time in the audience’s mind.
Also Learn: How To Write An Expository Essay?
At this point the writer must assume that he has already persuaded and influenced the reader enough to end the essay with a vigorous call to action.
How To Finish Writing An Argumentative Essay?
Once the writer has a rough draft of the argumentative essay, then comes the step to polish it up. Revision and proofreading is extremely necessary in order to sort out any irregularities. Make sure you have cut out any unnecessary and unrelated detail as well as empty phrases. Make sure the argument flows and you haven’t contradicted yourself anywhere. And voila- there you have an amazing argumentative essay.
Are you beginning to get a better understanding of how to write an argumentative essay? Let us know in the comment sections below!
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