The main question in writing an argumentative essay is why should we write it. Maybe some people do not realize it. But, let us be conscientious about this kind of activity. It is important to realize it, so we are eager to know about it. Therefore, the activity will be reasonable. We are to know the purpose of the writing activity.
We write an argumentative essay because we want to express or explain our assertion about an issue. We are demanded to determine our own standpoint about something, whether we agree or not with the others’ opinion. It means that we have to be responsible to it. Furthermore, an argumentative essay is also aimed to make people think and become interested in the issue we are showing. So, we do not only confirm the others, but also to ask them to criticize the same issue, so that it become debatable.
Our arguments (responsibility), however, must be logical and acceptable. Otherwise, people will not care to what we are talking about. That is why in accordance to make people agree and accept our assertion, we have to show all of the proofs, data, logical reasons and the research we have found. The argumentation must be supported by those kinds of fact. The facts must due to the topic and bear to the conclusion that supports our standpoint. It means that our opinion and standpoint should be based and concluded on those facts.
There are several main manners in an argumentative essay. The first is the writer’s main standpoint or the main statement about the issue or the problem. It is important to show the writer’s manner to the problem too. The second manner is the reasons, data, and the results of some observations. It contains supporting reasons and syllogism, so that it is logical. And the other is the revision of the other argumentations to reaffirm the writer’s position. It is usually called as the conclusion.
Writing an argumentative essay is not easy as talk. It needs a long process. Since it needs a lot of acceptable data, reasonable results, facts, etc., we need to identify and find those supporting ideas. In this case, we need to observe, analyzing, and linking some arguments to find a standpoint.
Making people believe in what we state is difficult too. An argumentative essay tends to be provocative and evokes people to criticize and re-debate it. It must be actual and interesting to be discussed. But, the more emphasize is we are able to argue and make people support our idea.
So, to make our argumentation more acceptable and reasonable, there are several steps as the process how to construct an argumentative essay. These bellow are the steps: §
- Choose the topic (interesting, actual, important, valuable)
- Narrowing the topic to be more specific and focused
- Analyzing the audiences/readers
- Researching the issue/problem to find the supporting data and reasons
- Make an hypothesis of your standpoint according to the research
- Make a revision.
Those steps are helpful to make our arguments logical and acceptable. They support us to argue as systematic as the process. They also help us to arrange an argumentative essay systematically. Besides, the systematic arrangement will also help the readers to catch our standpoint. So, it will not be a misunderstanding argument. If it is acceptable and logical, our purposes are possibly meaningful to the others.
§ Summarized from “How to Write an Argumentative Essay in 9 Easy Steps”
http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-write-argumentative-essay. Accessed on April 27th. 2009
