Argumentative Paper Format
DUSD, Grades 6-12
*Please note that this is only a sample format. There are multiple ways to organize an argumentative paper as shown in the alternate formats at the end. Also, this goes beyond the 5-paragraph structure as we work toward the College and Career Ready criteria.
INTRODUCTION
○ 1-2 paragraphs tops
○ PURPOSE: To set up and state one’s claim
○ OPTIONAL ELEMENTS
*Make your introductory paragraph interesting. How can you draw your readers in?
*What background information, if any, do we need to know in order to understand your claim? If you don’t follow this paragraph with a background information paragraph, please insert that info here.
○ REQUIRED ELEMENTS
*If you’re arguing about a literary work – state author + title*
*If you’re arguing about an issue or theory – provide a brief explanation or your issue/theory.
*If you’re arguing about a film – state the director, year + title*
*STATE your claim/thesis at the end of your introductory paragraph
BACKGROUND PARAGRAPH
○ 1-2 paragraphs tops; optional (can omit for some papers). Also, sometimes this info is incorporated into the introduction paragraph (see above).
○ PURPOSE: Lays the foundation for proving your argument.
○ Will often include:
*Summary of works being discussed
*Definition of key terms
*Explanation of key theories
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE PARAGRAPH #1
○ PURPOSE: To prove your argument. Usually is one paragraph but it can be longer.
○ Topic Sentence: What is one item, fact, detail, or example you can tell your readers that will help them better understand your claim/thesis? Your answer should be the topic sentence for this paragraph.
○ Explain Topic Sentence: Do you need to explain your topic sentence? If so, do so here.
○ Introduce Evidence: Introduce your evidence either in a few words (As Dr. Brown states ―…‖) or in a full sentence (―To understand this issue, it is necessary to first look at statistics).
○ State Evidence: What supporting evidence (reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and/or quotations) can you include to prove/support/explain your topic sentence?
○ Explain Evidence: How should we read or interpret the evidence you are providing us? How does this evidence prove the point you are trying to make in this paragraph? Can be opinion-based and is often at least 1-3 sentences.
○ Concluding Sentence: End your paragraph with a concluding sentence that reasserts how the topic sentence of this paragraph helps us better understand and/or prove your paper’s overall claim.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE PARAGRAPH #2, 3, 4 etc.
○ Repeat above or use the alternate formats below
COUNTERARGUMENT PARAGRAPH
○ PURPOSE: To anticipate your reader’s objections; make yourself sound more objective and reasonable.
○ Optional; usually 1-2 paragraphs tops
○ What possible argument might your reader pose against your argument and/or some aspect of your reasoning? Insert one or more of those arguments here and refute them.
○ End paragraph with a concluding sentence that reasserts your paper’s claim/thesis as a whole.
CONCLUSION PART 1: SUM UP PARAGRAPH
○ PURPOSE: Remind readers of your argument and supporting evidence
○ Conclusion you have most likely written in the past
○ Restates your paper’s overall claim and supporting evidence
CONCLUSION PART 2: YOUR “SO WHAT” PARAGRAPH
○ PURPOSE: To illustrate to your instructor that you have thought critically and analytically about this issue.
○ Your conclusion should not simply restate your intro paragraph. If your conclusion says almost the exact same thing as your introduction, it may indicate that you have not done enough critical thinking during the course of your essay (since you ended up right where you started).
○ Your conclusion should tell us why we should care about your paper. What is the significance of your claim? Why is it important to you as the writer or to me as the reader? What information should you or I take away from this?
○ Your conclusion should create a sense of movement to a more complex understanding of the subject of your paper. By the end of your essay, you should have worked through your ideas enough so that your reader understands what you have argued and is ready to hear the larger point (i.e. the "so what") you want to make about your topic.
○ Your conclusion should serve as the climax of your paper. So, save your strongest analytical points for the end of your essay, and use them to drive your conclusion
○ Vivid, concrete language is as important in a conclusion as it is elsewhere – perhaps more essential, since the conclusion determines the reader's final impression of your essay. Do not leave them with the impression that your argument was vague or unsure.
○ WARNING: It's fine to introduce new information or quotations in your conclusions, as long as the new points grow from your argument. New points might be more general, answering the "so what" question; they might be quite specific. Just avoid making new claims that need lots of additional support.
*If the source is an article, put the title in quotation marks (“Parents Have All the Answers”). If you are word processing and the source is a book or film, italicize the title (The Great Gatsby or Forrest Gump). If you are handwriting and the source is a book, underline the title because that is a printer direction to capitalize (The Great Gatsby or Forrest Gump).
Alternate formats:
Pattern 1 (Abbreviated version of above):
Thesis statement:
PRO idea 1
PRO idea 2
CON(s) + Refutation(s)
Conclusion
Pattern 2:
Thesis statement:
CON(s) + Refutation(s)
PRO idea 1
PRO idea 2
Conclusion
Pattern 3:
Thesis statement:
CON idea 1 -----> Refutation
CON idea 2 -----> Refutation
CON idea 3 -----> Refutation
Conclusion
Student Instructional Helps:
DEFINITION: In this kind of essay, we not only give information but also present an argument with the PROS (supporting ideas) and CONS (opposing ideas) of an argumentative issue. We should clearly take our stand and write as if we are trying to persuade an opposing audience to adopt new beliefs or behavior. The primary objective is to persuade people to change beliefs that many of them do not want to change. Choosing an argumentative topic is not an easy task. The topic should be such that
● it should be narrowed down
X Marijuana should be considered illegal. (Not a good topic because it is too general. In some medical cases, marijuana is prescribed by the doctors and the patients are encouraged to use it in case of suffering from too much pain)
+ Selling and using marijuana in public places should be considered illegal.
● it should contain an argument
X The public should decide whether bicycles or cars are more protected by the law. (The stand is not clear: what does protected mean?)
+ If the public wants to promote healthy lifestyles, bicycle-safety should definitely become a priority.
X Are you one of those who thinks cheating is not good for students? (a question cannot be an argument; also this is too personal with the 2nd-person pronoun.)
+ Cheating helps students learn.
X Considering its geological position, Turkey has an important geopolitical role in the EU. (facts cannot be arguments)
+ Considering its geopolitical role, we can clearly say that the EU cannot be without Turkey.
● it should be a topic that can be adequately supported (with statistics, facts, reason, outside source citations, etc.)
X I feel that writing an argumentative essay is definitely a challenging task. (feelings cannot be supported; we cannot persuade other people)
+ If you believe that you can find enough evidence to support your idea and refute others effectively, you can choose challenging topics as well. You can enjoy writing about such topics:
○ Cheating is beneficial for students.
○ Stress is good for the human body.
SUPPORTING OUR IDEAS
This is the most important part when persuading others. We are asking some people to change their beliefs or actions. We should be supporting our ideas with such facts, statistics, reasons and/or authorities so there should be no room for any doubts. Here are some faulty supports we should AVOID:
Thesis: Leaving the university and starting to work is good for the adolescent because …
• … it makes one feel much better. (feelings, emotional arguments)
• … he would then be able to take his girlfriend to expensive restaurants. (irrelevant examples, wandering off the topic)
• … only then would he understand what it means to be an adult. (oversimplification)
• ... it is a widely known fact that all adolescents look forward to earning money. (hasty generalizations)
• … according to www.doubtme.com, 80% of working men wish they had quit school when they were at the university and started working at an earlier age. (unreliable, even false outside sources)
REFUTING OPPOSING ARGUMENTS
Before we start saying that the opponents are wrong, we should specify their opposing ideas. Otherwise, it would be like hitting the other person with eyes closed. We should see clearly what we are hitting and be prepared beforehand so that he cannot hit us back. We can do this by knowing what we are refuting.
X Some people may say that adolescents should not leave university education; however, they are wrong. (what they say is not wrong. Maybe their supporting idea is wrong /irrelevant /insufficient. We should state their supporting idea specifically to be able to refute it.)
+ Some people may say that adolescents should not leave their university education because they are not physically and psychologically mature enough to cope with the problems of the real world. However, they forget one fact: adolescents can vote or start driving at the age of 18 (in some countries even before that age!), which proves that they are considered physically and psychologically mature at that age.
LANGUAGE
Signposts gain importance in the argumentative essay. They enable the readers to follow our arguments easily.
When pointing out opposing arguments (CONs):
○ Opponents of this idea claim / maintain that …
○ Those who disagree / are against these ideas may say / assert that …
○ Some people may disagree with this idea.
When stating specifically why they think like that:
○ The put forward this idea because …
○ They claim that … since …
Reaching the turning point:
○ However,
○ but
○ On the other hand,
When refuting the opposing idea, we may use the following strategies:
○ compromise but prove that their argument is not powerful enough:
● They have a point in thinking like that, but…
● To a certain extent they are right; however, ….
○ completely disagree:
● After seeing this evidence, there is no way we can agree with what they say.
○ say that their argument is irrelevant to the topic:
● What we are discussing here is not what they are trying to prove.
● Their argument is irrelevant.
Compiled and adapted from: the Odegaard Writing & Research Center http://www.depts.washington.edu/owrc and Bogazici University SFL, 2006