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WRITING: WHAT IS AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY?

Overview

In this unit, you will discover why argumentative essays are important, analyze the structure and length of an argumentative essay, and examine prompts for argumentative essays on the AIR Assessment. At the end of the unit, you will review complex and compound-complex sentences.  Above you will find a list of key vocabulary for this unit.  

*Download the attached pdf to take notes during the lesson.

Newspaper editorial sections and blogs offer strong opinions. Press conferences and debates are prolific and essential parts of the political process. Advertisements fill television time and pop up across cyberspace. How are all of these types of communication alike? They all present arguments in an attempt to persuade readers, listeners, or viewers to agree with certain opinions.

This unit will show you how to write a strongly supported and convincing argument of your own.

Argumentative Essays

When you write an argumentative essay, you develop an argumentative text- much like the one we studied in the previous unit. Your goal is to persuade someone to think the way you do. Your words have the potential to convince others that your position is correct, and even have the power to change people's worldviews.

The Argumentative Essay you will write on the AIR Assessment will bewritten with in a formal style and will be based on at least two texts that you are required to read.


Elements of an Argumentative Essay

The first and most important element in an argumentative text is the claim. In rhetoric and argumentation, a claim is an arguable statement-an idea that the author asks an audience to accept. In an argumentative text, the claim is the central idea. In your argumentative essay, the claim will be your thesis. In Unit 1 we defined thesis as a statement of your main idea.

In an argumentative text, the author will develop his or her claim with a series of reasons and evidence. Reasons are more specific statements that support the overall claim. Evidence is a series facts, examples, statistics, and quotes that support the reasons and ultimately the claim. Your reasons will become the topics for your body paragraphs, while your evidence will come directly from the texts you are assigned to read in the form of explicit textual evidence (direct quotes or paraphrases).

If an author presents only his or her perspective and ignores the other side of an issue, a text may be too one sides and mislead readers. A good argument includes information about the opposing argument, in which an author acknowledges that there is a view different from his or her own. However, the author will then provide a strong rebuttal, or counterargument, to refute it, effectively dismissing it with support for his or her own claim.

STOP!  Complete Questions 1 through 6 in the questions section.

Setting up an Argumentative Essay
An Argumentative Essay for the AIR Assessment should be at least 5 paragraph essay with an:

• Introduction,
• Body paragraphs (main points), and a
• Conclusion

Argumentative Essay Prompt Examples:

• Construct a multi-paragraph response in which you support a claim about whether it better to be at the center of one group of friends or at the perimeter of several.
• Construct a multi-paragraph response in which you support a claim about whether it is possible to make friends online.
• Construct a multi-paragraph response in which you support a claim about whether self-driving cars should be allowed on the road.
• Construct a multi-paragraph response in which you support a claim about whether or not juvenile offenders should be sentenced to prison.
• Construct a multi-paragraph response in which you support a claim about whether students should use Wikipedia as a factual source of information.

Let's unpack a prompt...

What is the prompt asking you to do?

Construct a multi-paragraph response in which you support a claim about whether or not juvenile offenders should be sentenced to prison. Use the information from the texts in your response.

Construct a multi-paragraph response... = Write a 5 paragraph essay

...in which you support a claim = Begin with a statement about which side you are on

Use the information from the texts in your response. = Include explicit textual evidence in your body paragraphs using I.C.E.

STOP!  Complete Questions 7 through 12 in the questions section.

Model
Read a model of an Argumentative Essay based on the following prompt:

Grammar Lesson 6: COMPLEX & COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES

• A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause.
• Learn more about complex sentence.

• A compound-complex sentence contains two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause.
• Learn more about compound-complex sentences.
  
  
• In a complex sentence, if the subordinate clause comes before the independent clauses, you must put a comma between the two clauses; if the independent.

Let's Practice

Move the mouse cursor over the sentence to check the answer.

2. Identify if the sentence is complex or compound-complex. Then highlight any independent clause in red and any subordinate clause in blue.

Move the mouse cursor over the sentence to check the answer.

STOP!  Complete Questions 13 through 16 in the questions section.

Below are additional educational resources and activities for this unit.

Sentence Types: Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex