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What is an Argumentative Essay
There are many types of essays, but all require you to take a position and support it. For example, if you have been asked to write an “argumentative essay,” the test is still the same: give us your opinion about something. The only difference is that you will need to convince us that your opinion is correct.
So how do you construct an argument? Let’s say that someone has just written a book about whether parents should spank their children or not. This isn’t really relevant, but trust me, it makes for good reading. We’ll call this person John Jiggen smeyer (an impressive name if I ever heard one). You want to write an argumentative essay in which you make the case against spanking children. In other words, you need to convince us that spanking should not be used as a disciplinary method.
Introduction
In the introduction of your paper, you need to state what your position is and why it’s a good one in this case; how it’s best for the child. For example, you might introduce John Jiggen smeyer and explain his beliefs about spanking before explaining why you disagree with him. Although it could be argued that by introducing an author whose opinion is different from yours will make your argument more convincing (assuming you read up on the topic), some instructors see this differently, so I would recommend staying away from doing so unless explicitly asked to.
Body Paragraph
Now we need some logical reasoning to back up your opinion. This means you need to explain why spanking children is bad. One way to do this would be to look at the research of others who have had similar opinions on the topic and present real-life statistics. For example, you can cite Dr. Joan Durrant, professor emerita at the University of Manitoba, who has had more than twenty years studying the effects of corporal punishment (Spanking Kids).
After you’ve explained your position and given us some logical reasoning as to why it makes sense, it’s time to give examples (the meat-and-potatoes part) of how Jiggen smeyer’s philosophy can hurt our children. Spanking isn’t like other disciplinary methods out there that are meant only for “serious offenses.” If a child comes to his parent and asks for help with their homework, the parent might spank him because he was disobedient earlier in the day. This doesn’t make any sense.
And speaking of “making sense,” don’t forget to provide rebuttals against arguments that Jiggen smeyer may have made. It only strengthens your argument when you can point out how illogical his position is while at the same time presenting evidence that supports yours.
Jiggen smeyer’s book claims that children act up so that they can be spanked; they actually seek out punishment (Spanking Kids). But this does not support his position at all; it actually supports yours! He has essentially provided evidence why spanking should not be used as a form of discipline.
Conclusion
Finally, your conclusion needs to restate what you are saying in the paper and why it’s true. You might also want to touch upon whether or not someone could take your position against spanking children seriously if they didn’t read your paper. For example, “Without reading this essay I’m sure you would think that my opinion is ridiculous, but hopefully after reading this piece you understand why I believe what I do.”
That’s all there is to it! Your finished product may look something like the following:
After completing this article, students should know how to write an argumentative essay and use logical reasoning and evidence for support. The key parts will be covered as follows:
-What is an argumentative essay, and why is it important to learn how to write one
-The parts of the argumentative essay (intro, body, and conclusion) and what goes in each section
-How to construct a logical argument against spanking children
-Why examples are crucial when making an argument about something
-The importance of rebuttals in the paper
-A general outline that needs to go into writing any type of paper (argumentative essays included)
