Elements of an Argumentative Essay

ENGLISH III CP/ HGT

ROSLYNN D. ELOM

SEPTEMBER 2015

Key Terms

Claim – Your basic belief about a particular topic, issue, event, or idea

Counterclaim – A solid and reasonable argument that opposes or disagrees with your claim

Rebuttal – A written or verbal response to a counterclaim. The object of the rebuttal is to take into account the ideas presented in the counterclaim and explain why they aren’t persuasive enough, valid enough, or important enough to outweigh your own claim.

Question Answer Detail(s) QAD

Question Answer Detail(s)

1.Should the school board allow students and adults to pray publicly in public schools?

  

The school board should allow public prayer in schools

1. Designated times for public prayer

2. School wide prayers in the morning

3. Designated place for public prayer

Question Answer Detail(s) QAD

Question Answer Detail(s) 1. Should the school

board allow students and adults to pray publicly in public schools?

  

The school board should allow public prayer in schools

Opposing Viewpoints:4. People can pray in

schools, but they can’t do it out loud.

5. Prayer has not been taken out of public schools, but there aren’t enough people in the schools who pray.

6. Some people are non-believers and therefore do not pray anyway.

Elements of an Argumentative Essay

IntroductionDevelop your argumentRefute the opponents argumentConclusion

Diagram of an Argumentative Essay

Introduction

As you are writing begin your essay with a hook.

A hook is an attention-getter that draws the reader into your argument.

Hooks can be: a joke, a quote, a rhetorical question, a clean pun, statistic or any other statement that hooks the reader/listener from the beginning.

Example of a Hook If you are writing about why people should eat insects: “For those interested in improving their diets and the

environment, say ‘goodbye’ to eating chicken, fish, and beef and ‘hello’ to eating silk worms, crickets, and caterpillars.” (www.kibin.com)

Another example would be if you are writing about hard work being too strenuous for teenagers or child labor laws.

Example: For those of you who believe that hard work never hurt anyone, I am here to tell you that hard work has killed thousands of kids!

Creating an effective hook

In order to create an effective hook you must be able to answer one of the following questions:

Who cares? Why is this important? Where is this issue prevalent? Why is this the issue at hand? If you can answer any of those questions then you can

create a great hook!

Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is the last sentence of the first paragraph.

This is where you state your position on your topic.

The thesis statement also includes your claims

A claim is the point that you want to expound on later in the speech.

Example of a Thesis Statement

For example: “A diet of insects can help fix problems related to starvation, obesity, and climate change, and therefore, United States citizens should learn to rely on a variety of insects over chicken, beef, and fish as their main source of protein and nutrition.” (www.kibin.com)

This statement includes the word should which tells the reader/listener the position of the speaker.

Example: Children in the workplace is dangerous because work that is strenuous is also hazardous to one’s health; which means that the local sweatshop should limit the amount of time that children can work because hard work is dangerous for those who are trying to meet a quota while working eighteen hours a day.

Develop your Argument

A claim is a statement that supports your argument. All arguments make at least one claim. A claim is an

idea or point that you want to prove that is supported with evidence.

You must have at least one claim that is supported with evidence.

Example of a Claim

For example, “Bugs are highly nutritious and eating them can fix the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the United States.” (www.kibins.com)

After the claim is made you must provide support so that your listeners or readers will believe what you have stated.

Claims must be supported with evidence.

Another Example of a Claim

Creating effective laws that will benefit children is the only way to ensure that hard work does not kill another child in this country.

This claim is stating that once the laws change then more children can be saved from a strenuous work environment.

Evidence

Evidence is reliable/factual information from a source. Evidence supports your claim which makes your

argument more credible to the listener/reader. Evidence is not anecdotal or personal. For example, “Researchers at the Food and

Agricultural Organization of the United States state that ‘Termites are rich in protein, fatty acids, and other micronutrients. Fried or dried termites contain 32–38 percent proteins.’” (www.fda.gov).

Evidence is needed to make your claim believable.

Another Example of Evidence

Example: At this time there are 85 million children who are still working in deplorable conditions as child laborers. This startling fact is the reason that laws are needed to ensure that children are treated fairly in the workplace (http://www.ilo.org).

The Opponents Argument

In this section you will state the opponents point of view and then offer a statement of rebuttal.

For example, “Opponents of insect eating from the Beef Council of America say that it is too difficult and time consuming to catch crickets, so it is not easy to gather enough food for a meal, whereas a cow is large and contains a lot of meat for many meals.”

This example allows the reader to view/hear the evidence from a particular source.

The above statement is the opposing view. Now once you offer the opposing view you must refute the opposing view!

The Opposing View

Example: Children who choose to work are entering the workplace at their own risk. Children who are working to help the family must endure hard work because of their lack of skills to do a job that requires a higher level of thinking.

Refuting the Opposing View

Example: According to researchers Cerritos and Cano-Santana, the best time to harvest crickets is to catch them in the hour just before sunrise when they are least active. What’s more, it is easy to develop the infrastructure to farm crickets in a way that is more sustainable than cattle farming” (www.kibins.com).

You must refute the opposing view before you can move on to the conclusion.

Refuting the Opponents Viewpoint

According to the International Labour Organization, “On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour 2015, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi joined distinguished panelists to say ‘No to child labour - Yes to quality education!’” (www.ilo.org). Again, the children need a chance to have an education so that they can obtain a higher level of critical thinking skills to ensure that they can have better job opportunities in the future.

Conclusion

The conclusion serves two functions: A. The conclusion restates the

importance of your issue.B. The conclusion also paints a picture

of the world if your argument is (or is not) implemented.

Conclusion Reminders The first thing you must do in your conclusion

is restate why this topic is important. Example: “Simply by incorporating insects into

their diets, U.S. citizens can improve the sustainability and nutrition of the American diet.” (www.kibins.com).

By restating the topic you are making the topic relevant to your audience again by restating it in a different way.

Conclusion Reminders The second thing you must do is to make it important

for your audience to reflect on the ramifications of your argument.

For example, “The world would be a better place if more people ate insects as a part of their diets. Fewer people would go hungry, more people would get the vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients they need to live healthy lifestyles, and our planet would be relieved of the burden of an unsustainable food system.”

In other words, you are painting a picture for your audience that illustrates what would happen if your argument is or is not implemented within society.

Conclusion

Children working in deplorable conditions is a problem in our society. This world needs competent workers, but children need an opportunity to get a quality education before they are forced to endure the strenuous requirements that work can bring. Working to earn a living is important, but one must begin working after they have had an opportunity to explore childhood before entering the stressful atmosphere of adulthood.

In this example I have provided a basis for the problem and I have painted a picture that allows the listener/reader to visualize what the speaker is saying.

Source and other Information

For more information on how to use this argumentative outline for your next essay, read How to Create a Powerful Argumentative Essay Outline. Also read The Secrets of a Strong Argumentative Essay.  

www.kibin.com