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- Everlyn M, ScholarlyWritings.com
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How to Write a Powerful Argumentative Essay (The Only Guide You'll Need)
Argumentative essays are one of the most common academic writing assignments in high school, college, and university settings. Therefore, writing a winning argumentative essay is a fundamental skill in all academic levels, and mastering it can help sharpen your critical thinking, research, and persuasive communication abilities.
However, crafting a compelling argumentative essay is often challenging for many students. That is why we at ScholarlyWritings.com have created this detailed step-by-step guide to help you generate, structure, research, and present your arguments effectively. Furthermore, if you need any expert writing assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out. Let us learn how to write an argumentative essay.
What Is an Argumentative Essay?
Before defining what an argumentative essay entails, let us first understand what an argument is. An argument arises when you have a message – that is, you have a point to make – and because of your unique idea, it is then possible for there to be an interaction between different views around your message.
Deriving from the above, an argumentative essay is a type of academic writing that requires you to present a claim (thesis) and support it with evidence, reasoning, and counterarguments. Argumentative essays do not rely on emotional appeals as persuasive essays do. They demand logical consistency, credible sources, and factual accuracy.
As a student, you will always encounter argumentation because it forms the cornerstone of academic inquiry and intellectual discovery. All disciplines require students to develop the ability to construct well-reasoned, evidence-based arguments. Importantly, argumentation is not about winning a shouting match. It is about participating in a scholarly conversation to advance knowledge.
Key Features of a Strong Argumentative Essay
Any winning argumentative essay must have the following:
✔ Clear thesis statement or claim – A well-defined position on a debatable topic.
✔ Evidence-based arguments – Facts, statistics, expert opinions, and studies.
✔ Logical progression of ideas – Organized flow from introduction to conclusion.
✔ Consideration of opposing viewpoints – Addressing opposing views strengthens credibility.
✔ Formal and objective tone – Avoids emotional language in favor of reasoned debate.
Step-by-Step Guide to Writing an Argumentative Essay
Step 1: Understand the Assignment
Before you start writing, it is vital to carefully read the assignment prompt. Ensure the following are clear:
- The topic or question you are addressing
- The required format or citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.)
- Word count or page limits
- Specific instructions (e.g., number of sources to include)
Step 2: Choose a Strong Argumentative Essay Topic
It is critical to ensure you select a viable topic. A mistake at this stage will affect the entire essay. Ensure your topic is:
❓ Debatable – It should not be a universally accepted answer (e.g., “Should governments regulate fake news on social media?”).
📚 Researchable – Ensure your selected topic has enough credible sources to support your claims.
🎯 Specific – Narrow enough to cover in your essay (e.g., “ Should developed countries be legally required to provide climate adaptation funding to vulnerable island nations?” instead of “ Is climate change real?”). The specific version takes a stance on a well-defined policy issue, which makes it possible to construct a clear argument, back it with targeted evidence, and address relevant counterarguments.
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Step 3: Conduct Thorough Research
A strong argumentative essay relies on trustworthy and well-researched credible sources. You should use the following sources:
🧠 Peer-reviewed journals (Google Scholar, ProQuest, JSTOR)
🏛️Government and educational websites (.gov, .edu)
📰 Reputable news outlets (BBC, The New York Times)
📘 Books by recognized experts
Avoid: Wikipedia, personal blogs, and biased sources without verification. These sources often lack credibility, academic rigor, and reliability necessary to maintain scholarly standards.
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Step 4: Craft a Compelling Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement forms the backbone of your argumentative essay. It should fulfill the following:
✅ Clearly state your position.
✅ Be debatable (not a fact).
✅ Preview your main arguments.
Example: Although remote work offers flexibility, it decreases team cohesion, increases employee burnout, and blurs the boundaries between personal and professional life, making it an unsustainable long-term model without structural reform.
This example meets the criteria as follows:
✅ Clear position: Remote work is unsustainable without changes.
✅ Debatable: Many advocate remote work as the future.
✅ Previews arguments: Team cohesion, burnout, blurred boundaries
Step 5: Structure Your Argumentative Essay
A well-organized argumentative essay follows a 5-paragraph structure. However, the number of paragraphs exceed this number for longer papers. The essay should ideally follow the following structure:
a. Introduction
🔍Hook – Start with a startling fact, quote, or question.
🌍Background information – Provide a brief context for the topic.
🎯Thesis statement – State your main argument.
B. Body Paragraphs (Number of paragraphs depends on the length of the paper)
Each paragraph should follow the PEEL method:
📌Point – State the topic sentence introducing the argument.
📑Evidence – Provide facts, statistics, authorities, anecdotes, scenarios, cases, and textual evidence supporting the claim in the topic sentence.
💡Explanation – Show how the evidence backs your thesis.
🔗Link – Transition to the next point.
C. Counterargument and Rebuttal
🤔Acknowledge opposing views (e.g., “Critics argue that AI hiring reduces human bias…”).
⚔️Refute with stronger evidence (e.g., “However, studies show AI replicates existing biases…”).
D. Conclusion
🔁Restate thesis (in different words).
📝Summarize key arguments raised in the essay.
🚀End the essay with a call to action or thought-provoking statement that aligns with the thesis statement (e.g., “Without regulation, social media’s divisive algorithms will continue undermining democracy.”).
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Step 6: Drafting the Essay
With your outline as your guide, you can now focus on writing the essay. The ease of this step depends on how clear your outline is.
- Write the body first: Many writers, me included, find it easier to write the introduction last. It is more convenient to start with your body paragraphs and the counterargument, as they contain the substance of your essay.
- Focus on having clear topic sentences: Each paragraph should have one main idea, clearly stated in its topic sentence. This acts as a signpost for your reader.
- Integrate evidence seamlessly: Use signal phrases to introduce evidence (for instance, “According to Albert Stein, a leading sociologist…”). Always follow evidence with your own analysis. Your interpretation is vital to argumentative writing.
- Use transitional words and phrases: In writing your paragraphs, judiciously connect your paragraphs with transitions to ensure a smooth flow. (e.g., Consequently, Surprisingly, Furthermore, In contrast, Therefore). Such transitions holds the foundation of the essay together and enable readers to follow the essay’s argument.
- Write a compelling introduction: If you choose to write the introduction last, ensure the section sets the tone for the entire essay. Start with a hook—an interesting fact, statistic, quote, or question. Provide brief background on the issue and then clearly state your thesis.
Step 7: Revise and Edit
Before submitting your argumentative essay:
- Check for clarity – Are arguments easy to follow?
- Verify citations – Are sources properly cited (APA, MLA, etc.)?
- Eliminate fluff – Remove redundant phrases
- Proofread – Use Grammarly or Hemingway Editor for grammar and readability.
- Read aloud or use a text-to-speech tool
- Consider peer review or tutor feedback
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Common Mistakes to Avoid
Many students know how to write an argumentative essay but still struggle because they commit common mistakes. Experience with students’ argumentative essays reveals these as the most common mistakes that you should be keen to avoid:
❌Weak thesis – Do not use vague or overly broad thesis.
❌ Lack of evidence – Do not rely on opinions without support.
❌ Ignoring counterarguments – Always ensure the essay is not one-sided.
❌ Poor structure – Disorganized paragraphs confuse readers. Structure your essay properly.
❌ Plagiarism – Always cite sources properly.
❌ Writing in a casual or overly emotional tone – Use objective and measured language with claims based on evidence and reasoning.
Valuable Points to Consider in Making Arguments
Elements of an argument
In crafting argumentative essays or any other kind of academic writing with argumentation, consider each argument should contains the following elements:
🗣️Claim: What you want to say | When you write, you need to make a point and convince others of it (claim). It is only a claim if there can be different perspectives. |
📊Data: What is taken for granted | Evidence that is accepted by the discipline (quantitative or qualitative) that supports the claim. |
🔗Warrant: So what? | Link data to the claim– show how and why the data should lead us to believe the claim. |
⚖️Qualifier: Admit the possibility of different views | All knowledge is problematic and open to questioning, and we express the degree of certainty with qualifiers. |
🔄Rebuttal (the counterargument): Different views | There may be counterarguments to the claim, qualifier, warrant or data used. Rebutting strong counterarguments makes your argument stronger, or con ceding to rebuttals helps you to make your position more flexible. |
They Say/I Say Language of Argument
You can follow this template to understand the three main moves that occur in written arguments made in academic text:
- I say: These represent the ideas and thoughts to convey to your readers.
- They say: These are the moves where you convey ideas belonging to other authors. You use this move when you want authors to respond to each other or seek to communicate their ideas to the readers.
- You see: You use this move to constantly signal the readers about what is happening in the conversation. This move draws readers’ attention to something that might not be seen without your help. You use signals such as headings, summaries, references, transition words, hooks, and linking sentences to show what is happening.
The rhetorical triangle below can help explain the source of these moves.
Figure 1: Basic moves and participants in an academic argument (Wentzel, 2018)
As you can see in the figure, the existing body of knowledge represents logos. Knowledge speaks to readers (pathos) through previously published authors. Since the published authors are distinct from you, reference is to what ‘they say”. The author of their own research (ethos) can speak to the reader through ‘you see’ moves or speak to the previously published authors through ‘I say’ moves. Academic arguments rely more on ‘you see’ moves.
How to generate arguments
It is easy to write argumentatively if you know what you want to argue. You first need to generate your claims. To ease how you generate your claims, the following triangle adapted from the rhetorical triangle can help generate arguments in almost any situation.
Figure 2: Generating arguments with the rhetorical triangle (Wentzel, 2018)
As a reminder, logos represent the knowledge that previous authors created on the discipline. Ethos represents what you bring to the argument as the author of your paper. Pathos are the argumentative actions trying to connect to the audience of readers.
Thus, when you write, there is an interaction between you as the author and previous authors, you and your readers, and previous authors and your readers. All this interaction, or conversation, is organized around a specific idea.
In each of the three interactions, we see two general questions opening up the conversation between two parts of the triangle:
- The self-audience interaction: The focus is on the reason why readers should consider your arguments. Readers naturally ask what it is that calls for the argument and why the argument matters.
- The audience-knowledge interaction: The focus is on what readers will want to know about previous authors’ arguments. The readers seek to know what is known as certain and what is inadequate or gaps in previous arguments.
- The knowledge-self interaction: The focus is on showing how your argument adds to previous arguments. You should explain what your argument is and its contribution to the larger conversation around the idea.
If you want to generate arguments around any idea, consider the questions in the triangle to open up the conversation and uncover differences. In exploring the idea, you engage with evidence and warrants, counterarguments and varying perspectives. The conversation ends as you take a position.
This argumentation approach is central to presenting a research design and methodology. These sections should not read like a to-do list. They are part of a continuation of the overall argument of the thesis or paper. In presenting your research design to investigate your research question, as is the case with any academic writing, there is no exact recipe for determining the correct design. It is by asking meaningful questions that reveal what information can help answer the question.
Final Thoughts
Mastering argumentative essays takes practice, but with this step-by-step guide, you’re well-equipped on how to write an argumentative essay. Remember, a successful argumentative essay doesn’t just state opinions; it builds logical, evidence-based arguments while acknowledging and responding to other perspectives. Using frameworks like the rhetorical triangle and the “I say/They say/You see” approach can help you situate your ideas meaningfully within the academic conversation, bringing clarity and sophistication to your writing. Bookmark this guide, and return to it whenever you need to build a powerful, convincing argument or craft a winning argumentative essay.
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Everlyn M.
Everlyn is a seasoned academic writer and researcher with over 5 years of experience helping students succeed through custom-written essays and research papers. She specializes in guiding students through the complexities of academic writing. When she's not writing, she’s mentoring students on how to craft persuasive, well-structured papers that meet the highest scholarly standards.
Sources
Grammarly. (2022, June 2). How to write a standout argumentative essay. Grammarly Blog. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/academic-writing/argumentative-essay/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Argumentative essays. Purdue University. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/argumentative_essays.html
Student Learning Center, University of California, Berkeley. (n.d.). Suggestions for developing argumentative essays. UC Berkeley. https://slc.berkeley.edu/writing-worksheets-and-other-writing-resources/suggestions-developing-argumentative-essays
Wentzel, A. (2018). A guide to argumentative research writing and thinking: Overcoming challenges. Routledge.