Writing an argumentative essay involves conducting an in-depth research of a specific topic. Argumentative essays require solid evidence to support your view about the topic. A good argumentative essay entails applying analytical skills to describe the topic.  Any good essay needs to provide a detailed explanation to persuade the reader. Suitable essay topics usually generate strong arguments that support the topic by refuting claims made by other individuals to convince readers.

Writing a perfect argumentative essay is requires an extensive research covering all aspects of topic, it’s important to know the target audience, knowing the target audience will guide the author to carefully select his words avoiding specific terms that might be considered offensive to certain groups of individuals

Planning stage

The first step of writing a perfect essay is to plan and prepare how the essay would look like.  Planning process entails reviewing different topics to choose a good topic that can generate good arguments. Look through a list of several topics to select the final topic. A good topic should generate two different conflicting views with varied conclusions. After picking the topic, the author can test his topic to analyze if the topic can generate two contrary opinions if subjected to discussion among specific groups. Testing the topic is an important step that helps the author refines his ideas to settle on a topic for the essay.

The structure of an argumentative essay

Outline

If the essay topic supports “Why tobacco smoking should be banned“, the following outline would guide the author to present a good essay.

Introduction

Introduce the topic develop a hook and provide a brief background of the topic, for example; Tobacco smoking is the leading causes of death; approximate 5 million die annually. The introduction should be followed by a thesis statement. Tobacco smoking especially public places should be banned.

Develop an argument

After making a claim that tobacco smoking is the leading the leading cause of death, the author should provide evidence why smoking public should be banned. The author needs to provide at least three evidence supporting his claim by providing statistics or research finding on the topic. The needs to highlight some of the dangers associated with smoking.

Refuting other claims

In this section, the author should oppose the opponent arguments with substantial evidence to support his viewpoint.

Conclusion

The conclusion should be the last paragraph at the end of the essay. Conclusion restates the key points discussed. The conclusion should present what would happen if the author’s argument is not supported.

Argumentative Topics List

When introducing the topic to the audience, the writer needs to present the issue at hand by providing the background and also presenting the main argument.  The opening statement needs to be arranged in a logical manner. An argumentative topic should be original and catchy that anybody would want to know more about the discussion.

Below are examples of argumentative topics:

1. Is freedom of speech giving people more space for hate speech
2. Dangerous criminal  deserve death sentences
3. Breastfeeding in public is acceptable
4. Parenting classes should be mandatory for all first-time parents
5. Are there risks of online transactions
6. Why internet censorship is necessary
7. How the current education system is relevant
8. Homeschooling is a basic learning alternative
9. University degree is necessary for future success.
10. Education has been commercialized
11. Drinking age should not be reduced
12. Mothers have more roles in a family
13. Marijuana should not be legalized
14. Good communication is an important element in a relationship
15. Facebook invades our privacy
16. International criminal court is fair in its judgments
17. Academic grading is not helpful
18. Modern art is not real art
19. Abortion is murder
20. Teaching is the best profession

Tips on writing an argumentative essay

An argumentative essay body should be presented into three main segments.

The first part of the essay body is the topic sentence. A topic sentence introduces the main point of arguments in a coherent sentence. For example, if a topic sentence talks about death penalty being inhuman and should be abolished, the audience know what to expect.

The second segment of an argumentative body is a paragraph that analyzes the topic argument. In this paragraph, the writer should state why he supports the claim.

The next paragraph needs to provide supportive evidence for the claim. Evidence provides a detailed explanation about the author\’s claims. The body of an argumentative essay should include a claim and evidence of these claims. Claims are statements used to support the arguments. For example, if the topic is about bugs being nutritious and eating them will minimize hunger and malnutrition. The author needs to support any claim by evidence.  For every claim made the writer needs to support the allegation with concrete evidence. Evidence are factual knowledge from reliable sources that are well researched. For example, when presenting evidence, the statement needs to state that, research conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization reveals that termite is rich in protein and other micronutrients essential for our body.

It is important to state three different sources of evidence to back the claim. After gathering evidence and supporting the claim, the next step is to oppose the opponent arguments. When writing an argumentative essay, it\’s important to support your arguments also support why you do not agree with claims presented by the opposition.

The essay body contains all the relevant information about the topic of discussion with logical explanations from two opposing sides, but the author should present strong points for his counterarguments. After the counterargument, the author needs to state his point of view again providing further evidence about his position.

A credible argumentative essay needs to incorporate relevant quotes from approved sources like journals. When using quotes or facts, it important to use credible sources and gives credit to the person\’s ideas being used in the essay. Argumentative essay is like having a rhetorical situation which requires persuasive language to persuade readers towards a particular direction. Argumentative essay aims at convincing readers based on the author\’s view.

When concluded the essay, it important to state why you support the idea by stating the significance of the topic. The audience needs to be informed about consequences of supporting the author\’s arguments. The conclusion needs to convince the audience about the topic arguments.

Editing and finalizing the paper

After writing an essay, editing is important to make the essay look professional. Editing involves checking for spelling mistakes and essay format. Grammar mistakes make a good essay look unprofessional. A well-structured paper with proper grammar and formatting makes the essay credible.