Have your instructor asked you to submit an argumentative essay? If yes, then first create an argumentative essay outline because it would help you to structure and organize your ideas by dividing them into different sections in a way that is clear and understandable to your readers. In simple terms, an argumentative essay outline is a basic plan that aids you in presenting all the important points in your essay without omitting any. Basically, it is not necessary to sketch an outline, but experts recommend creating it because of the several benefits it provides. Moreover, sometimes, your instructor will ask you to get approval for your essay outline before you begin writing your argumentative essay. In case, you are unsure how to develop an argumentative essay outline, read this blog. Here, we have explained how to write an argumentative essay outline with examples.
What is an Argumentative Essay?
Before we get to know about argumentative essay outline, first, let us see what an argumentative essay means.
One of the most common types of essays is an argumentative essay, which presents evidence to back up an argument on a subject. This type of essay primarily enables you to support your position on a topic with evidence from personal experience, literature, and research findings.
When writing an argumentative essay, you should choose a good topic first. After that, you should compare and contrast the arguments for and against your argumentative essay topics. Mainly, your goal should be to write your essay in such a way that it includes an evaluation of both sides of the issue, as well as an explanation of why the side you support is regarded as the best, supported by valid proofs, statistics, or facts.
A good argumentative essay
- Engages the reader with an intriguing topic or issue.
- Focuses on a problem from all angles.
- Presents the counterarguments from the author’s point of view.
- Enables readers to accept the new perspective.
With all of these considerations in mind, you should write an outstanding argumentative essay with a compelling thesis statement and logical supporting arguments. In a typical argumentative essay, you should try to support your thesis statement with appropriate examples or evidence.
Argumentative Essay Writing Steps
Listed below are the essential steps that will help you to come up with a great argumentative essay.
- Firstly, select an argumentative essay topic that is broad enough to generate a strong argument.
- Secondly, research the chosen topic and gather the major points for discussion.
- Thirdly, with the gathered ideas, create a well-structured argumentative essay outline.
- Next, elaborate on the outline and compose an excellent argumentative essay as per the standard format that includes key components such as the introduction, body, and conclusion. Note that, your argumentative essay should explain your viewpoints with perfect examples or facts that are convincing to your readers. Furthermore, your content should also be written according to the essay writing guidelines or instructions shared by your instructor.
- Lastly, after you complete writing the essay, make sure to proofread and edit it. The final draft of the argumentative essay that is ready for submission should be free from errors and plagiarism issues.
Know How to Prepare an Argumentative Essay Outline
In the essay writing process, creating an outline is one of the most important steps. If you wish to write a persuading argumentative essay, then, first, compose a well-organized argumentative essay outline.
In a nutshell, an argumentative essay outline is a plan with which you can track the important points and structure the raw data effectively. Basically, it provides a clear route for your essay to follow. In case, you want to develop an argumentative essay outline, remember to follow the standard 5-paragraph structure that includes the following essential sections.
- Introduction
- Body Paragraphs
- Conclusion
Argumentative Essay Introduction
The introduction is the opening section that your readers will notice first when they begin reading your essay. So, it should be catchy enough to hold the attention of your readers and should tempt them to read till the end. Furthermore, in this section, you should also educate your readers about your topic by providing brief background information on it.
Do you know how to write a catchy argumentative essay introduction? If you have no idea about it, then follow the tips that are mentioned below.
Start with a hook
Begin writing your argumentative essay introduction with a hook sentence so that you can engage your readers and make them stick to your essay.
Basically, there are different types of essay hooks available. Therefore, depending on the nature of your essay, topic, and target readers, you can choose any suitable hook type.
Never write the whole introduction paragraph as a hook. Just a single catchy hook sentence is enough to grab the attention of your readers. Your essay hook can be an anecdote, a question, an interesting fact, statistics, a controversial statement, or a funny story.
The following are some essay hook examples.
Question hook: Do you know how much plastic waste you produce every year?
Statistical hook: According to the National Soft Drink Association, the annual consumption of soda by U.S. citizens is 600 cans.
Explain your point of view
In the introductory paragraph, after adding a catchy hook sentence relevant to your topic, explain the importance of your essay topic to your readers based on the knowledge you have. In addition to that, also presents brief background information on the topic.
Never add too much information about your topic in the introduction because it will lessen the interest of your readers. By using a couple of lines, concisely inform your readers what topic you are going to discuss in your essay.
Compose a thesis statement
The thesis statement is the crux of an essay. At the end of your introduction, include a strong thesis statement backed up with evidence.
Your thesis statement should mainly describe the purpose of your essay and the key point that your essay topic focuses on. Usually, the body paragraphs of the essay will revolve around the thesis statement. So, you should state a powerful statement associated with your topic.
After you wrap up your introductory paragraph with a concise and to-the-point thesis statement, concentrate on writing the body paragraphs.
Examples of Argumentative Essay Introduction
- In several countries around the globe, laborers are not given the right to freedom of expression. Usually, the lack of freedom of expression will affect the performance of a person. Providing them with their right to strike and speak against violations will encourage them to work well. So, countries all over the globe should allow laborers to go on strike and raise their voices.
- Nowadays, students wake up, spend time with their phones, dress up, and rush to school or college without having breakfast. Actually, many students do not know the significance of breakfast and hence skip it. Studies have stated that breakfast is the essential meal of the day, especially for students.
Argumentative Essay Body Paragraphs
In an argumentative essay, the body paragraphs are the key sections in which you have to present your arguments with evidence. Here, your content should reflect what is mentioned in the thesis statement.
In order to explain your argument, you can use a maximum of two or three paragraphs to support or negate the thesis statement. However, each paragraph should deal with a topic sentence along with supporting details.
Claim, Evidence, and counterarguments are the essential components that you have to include in the body paragraphs of your argumentative essay.
Claim
In an argumentative essay, it is necessary to make your claim. Mainly, in the topic sentence, you should include your claim and inform your audience what that specific body paragraph focuses on.
In general, a claim is used to define the goal, scope, and direction of your argument. So, mandatorily, you should have a claim to compose a top-notch argumentative essay.
Evidence
Just having a claim statement alone in your body paragraph is not enough. Especially, to convince your readers, you must explain your argument with valid facts and evidence.
The evidence you provide should be accurate and original because the reality of your argumentative essay entirely relies on the credibility of the facts that you present in support of your claims.
To prove your thesis statement, you can use any type of evidence such as real-life examples, statistics, authorities, analogies, and hypothetical questions.
Counterargument
Generally, many writers ignore to focus on opposing arguments. But in your argumentative essay, instead of focusing on one perspective, you should particularly present the arguments on both sides of an issue.
Make sure to add opposing views and counterarguments, after presenting evidence for your claims. Also, remember to give evidence to disprove your counterarguments.
Argumentative Essay Conclusion
It is the last section of the argumentative essay outline where you have to conclude the essay. Similar to the introduction, the conclusion section should also be engaging.
Never end your essay abruptly without a strong concluding statement. If you do so, then the entire purpose of writing an argumentative essay will become useless.
So, try to conclude your essay with an impressive conclusion section by including the following.
- Thesis restatement.
- Summary of basic arguments.
- A course of action for your readers.
Remember to write the conclusion section similar to the length of the introduction section. For a short essay, compose the introduction and the conclusion using a single paragraph.
Avoid adding new ideas or extra information in the conclusion paragraph. The whole section should be simple, concise, and effective.
Examples of Argumentative Essay Conclusion
- Sports play a predominant role in maintaining a healthy life. If each one of us plays sports, then we will have a healthier society. However, we should be certain enough to play sports that are not dangerous to our lives. So, always prefer to play sports that are challenging and exciting.
- Children are not better learners than adults. The ability to learn usually fluctuates according to the motivation and enthusiasm level of a person. Hence, the learning capability of an individual should not be generalized based on age.
Template of an Argumentative Essay Outline
While sketching the outline, stick to the below-mentioned standard argumentative essay outline template.
Introduction
- Catchy hook sentence relevant to the topic
- Brief background information
- Thesis statement
Body Paragraphs (1, 2, 3)
- Purpose
- Topic Sentence
- Explain Topic Sentence
- State Evidence
- Explain Evidence
- Concluding Sentence
Counterargument Paragraph
- Purpose
- Include arguments and refute them
- End paragraph with a concluding sentence that reasserts the claim of your paper
Conclusion
- Thesis restatement
- Summary
- Call-to-action
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, by now, you will have gained a better understanding of how to write an argumentative essay outline. Hereafter, whenever you are asked to submit an argumentative essay, first, make sure to develop an outline by following the steps listed in this blog so that you can discuss all the major points without missing any.
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