Paper Towels vs. Hand Dryers: An Argumentative Writing Study

Lesson Plan - Get It!

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Writing an argumentative paper follows the same basic structure of any academic essay.

• introduction (including thesis)
• body paragraphs
• conclusion

However, your approach to each section is slightly different from an essay about what you did last summer.

First, look at crafting a strong argument in essay form before moving on to hand-drying methods.

Introduction

Your introduction mustn't just summarize your essay. A good essay will begin with a hook that will immediately engage the reader and compel them to continue.

The types of hooks that lead to high reader interest are listed below. Check out 7 Sensational Essay Hooks That Grab Reader's Attention to look at examples of each one.

• interesting question
• strong statement
• fact or statistic
• metaphor or simile
• story
• description
• quotation

Your introduction must include a thesis statement.

This is the entire point of your essay in a single sentence. You want it to be efficient — no more words than needed — but effective. Ideally, your reader will be able to identify which sentence in your introduction is the thesis easily, so it must be clear, definitive, and not buried by wordiness.

For some great tips on how to accomplish these goals, check out How to Write an Effective Thesis Statement.

Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph in your argumentative essay will advance one component of your argument with evidence to support it.

You'll want to organize these paragraphs in such a way as to create your desired effect on the reader. Some people like to start with their strongest point first, while others prefer to build toward the strongest point saving the best (most convincing) for last.

Sometimes, depending on your argument, you might want to organize your body paragraphs based on a different idea — and that's okay! Just make sure that the way you choose to present your argument flows well and will make sense to your reader.

Similar to an essay having a thesis statement, each body paragraph will have a topic sentence that clearly states the purpose of that paragraph. It should have the same characteristics as a strong thesis: clear, to the point, and easily identifiable.

The topic sentence states which point in support of your main argument that paragraph will discuss. You expand on that point by providing details, evidence, and commentary to make your argument persuasive.

Explore these tips further with examples to help strengthen your body paragraphs into Strong Body Paragraphs.

Conclusion

Concluding an essay well makes all the difference because this is what you leave your reader with.

That's why avoiding simply summarizing your essay is so important. You want the reader to continue thinking about what you've argued (and hopefully, you've also persuaded them).

Your conclusion may even include a call to action, in which case you hope the reader will follow through and perform an action due to your strong argument.

You want your thesis to "come home to roost" in your conclusion. This means you want to return to your thesis and re-frame it for the reader in light of all of the compelling information you've just presented them.

Initially, they had not heard your argument or all the evidence you've presented. What do you want them to do with it now that they have?

Conclusions has great tips on writing strong conclusions as well as tips for citing your sources — another thing that is crucial in essay writing.

Now that you're familiar with the necessary components of an argumentative essay, click through to the Got It? section to start crafting your argument.

• Do you already know which position you want to take?