An argumentative essay is one of the most common type of essays in the academic world. It is conceivable that every student will be expected to write an argumentative essay at one point or another in their academic career. These essays are also written by professionals in different fields. To write a good argumentative essay, it is imperative for the writer to know the structure of the essay.
Structure of an Argumentative Essay
There can be no single structure that can fit all argumentative essay. Each essay has its purpose, and one should be careful to determine the audience of the essay in order to use the right language, pattern, and structure. There are, however, certain steps that must be taken when writing an argumentative essay. These measures lead to a situation whereby all argumentative essays have a generally the same structure.
Like all other essays, argumentative essays start with introduction. The introductory part seeks to capture the interest of the reader. It is also important to give some background of the topic under consideration in the essay. Some topic specific information may be needed here; if for example the essay is about a movie, issues like the release date, director and theme of the movie are inserted here. This means that in writing an argumentative essay the writer is required to conduct thorough research of their topic. It should be noted that a reader is either attracted or put off by the introduction. Consequently, the introduction should capture the mind of the reader.
This section is intended to keep the reader abreast with information concerning the topic of discussion. It is here that the writer mentions the writings that are instrumental in his or her argument. Other matters such as explanation of the theory underpinning the writer’s arguments. The writer also needs to explain the meaning of terms that are likely to appear repeatedly in the essay.One should not make an assumption that the reader knows certain terms.
c. Supporting Paragraph
A supporting paragraph is intended to provide proof for a claim in an argumentative essay. Like all proper paragraphs, this paragraph should have a topic sentence. In this context, the topic sentence is a statement of the argument the essay writer wants to prove. Since the topic sentence is just a statement, a writer may want to use the next sentence in the paragraph to break down the topic. The next agenda in the support paragraph is to present evidence to support the premise introduced in the topic sentence. To ensure that what the reader understands the evidence adduced, there should be an explanation provided for the evidence in this paragraph. Usually, explanation of evidence informs the reader on how they should interpret evidence. It also goes one to paint an explicit picture of how the evidence adduced supports the claim made at the topic sentence in the paragraph. This statement of how the evidence supports the topic does not necessarily have to be based on anything solid. It could simply be the opinion of the author of the assay. The last sentence of the paragraph is the concluding sentence which in this case reiterates the claim made at the topic sentence. Paragraphs with this supporting structure should be written over and over until all the writers’ points for arguments are finished.
The intention is to sum up what has appeared in the essay. The write at this point restates the point of discussion, the evidence adduced in the writing and how that argument supports the writers claim. The conclusion should also give the way forward concerning the information that has been presented in the essay.