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Argument Essay

This document provides guidance on writing an argumentative essay, including pre-writing steps, formatting options, and sections to include. It recommends reading the claim and identifying assumptions, determining whether to support, challenge, or qualify the claim, writing a thesis statement, and selecting examples to support the thesis. For the essay structure, it suggests including an introduction, refutation section, support section, and conclusion. The sections provide tips on what to include, such as establishing credibility in the intro, addressing counterarguments in refutation, and concluding with a new insight.

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MrsBrooks1
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124 views

Argument Essay

This document provides guidance on writing an argumentative essay, including pre-writing steps, formatting options, and sections to include. It recommends reading the claim and identifying assumptions, determining whether to support, challenge, or qualify the claim, writing a thesis statement, and selecting examples to support the thesis. For the essay structure, it suggests including an introduction, refutation section, support section, and conclusion. The sections provide tips on what to include, such as establishing credibility in the intro, addressing counterarguments in refutation, and concluding with a new insight.

Uploaded by

MrsBrooks1
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Argument Essay

Review
Pre-writing Steps
1. Read the claim and write down your reaction: “agree”;“disagree”;“yes and no, sort of”
2. Re-read the claim. Mark up and identify ALL parts of the claim.
3. Write down any assumptions that stand out to you – stuff the author is assuming or
implying. Write down any fatal, blatantly obvious logical fallacies.
4. Re-evaluate your initial reaction to reading the claim:
*If your initial reaction was to DISAGREE, do you still feel that you have enough to
go on? Is the claim wrong enough? Did the author assume too much or make a logical
error that destroys the claim’s credibility? [If you answered “yes” to all the preceding
questions, then CHALLENGE the claim. If not, then SUPPORT or QUALIFY it.]
*If your initial reaction was to AGREE, does anything from Step 3 prevent you from still
being able to agree? [If not, then DEFEND the claim. If info. from Step 3 overwhelms your
initial impression, then QUALIFY or CHALLENGE.)
* If you were unsure in your initial reaction, which way are you now leaning? If you still
feel that you only agree with the claim to a certain extent then go ahead and QUALIFY
the claim. [Qualifying requires your thesis to clearly state to what extent the claim is true
and what the author should’ve said to make it a better/more accurate claim.]
5. Write a clear thesis statement that includes why you are defending, challenging, or
qualifying the author’s claim (this may take a couple of quick revisions to make it sound
good).
6. Now that you’ve decided whether to defend, challenge, or quality, jot down 3-6
examples you can use to support your thesis. These must be examples that you can
thoroughly discuss, giving relevant details that can easily link to your thesis.
Formatting Options
 Intro.  Intro
 Refutation  Support
 Support  Refutation
 Conclusion  Conclusion

If qualifying you can have a refutation section in


which you point out the problems/limitations of
the author’s claim essentially, your “refutation”
would be where you qualify the claim followed by
the section in which you support what is right
about the claim. On the other hand, you may
decide not to have a separate “refutation section”
and instead qualify the shortcomings and support
what is right throughout the entire essay
Intro. Paragraph

Intro Remarks:
* Discuss things that will establish your credibility
on the issue including possibly giving some
background info. on the subject:
-Such as the history of it’s importance to
society, or even it’s current importance to society, etc.
* Or perhaps use a quick anecdote
Whatever your intro. remarks are, they should work as a
smooth set-up to your thesis statement.

Thesis Statement
Refutation

 Consider what points people who disagree


with your thesis might bring up. This is
where you fight back against your opponent’s
punches and knock them out!
 In the argument essay, any concession to the

counterargument (your opponent) should be


minimal and only used as a set-up jab for a
knockout counter-punch.
Support
 This is all you.
 The examples come from your knowledge

and experience!
 It would be best to have 1 really in-depth

example per body paragraph (totaling 3-4).


You could feasibly have 2 good, thorough
examples in some of your paragraphs (no
more than 6 total  quality over quantity!)
Conclusion
 Try to say something new!
*A “big-picture” insight?
*A call for action?
*A hope for the future?

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