Writing Argumentative Essays can be Quite Challenging

The argumentative essay is a format that can be intimidating for a lot of students. If you don’t know what exactly it entails, it’s easy to get caught into thinking that it looks hard to write. An argumentative essay is actually one of the easier ones to write. It’s based off of a format that includes an outline, a few body paragraphs or arguments, and then a conclusion. You’ve probably written essays like this before in the past.

How to Outline an Argumentative Essay

The easiest way that you can start and finish an essay is having an outline to follow. When everything is planned ahead of time, you can simple fill in the blanks with a few more words and some quotes from your research, and you’re done! The first step to creating an outline is taking a few minutes to really analyze what your teacher wants. Even with the same type of essay, different teachers can have different specific requirements that they’re looking for. Write down in point form all of these things.

Then, take a new piece of paper or document on your computer and write the headings for each part like “intro” “body” and “conclusion”. Leave some space under each one, particularly the body heading. Now you just need to drop your research into each section for where you want each fact or quote to go and how you’re going to illustrate your point for each argument. Put your beginning and ending quotes or anecdotes in place too.

Now all you need to do is add a few more things to fill it out:

  • Write a brief sketch of what you want to say for each argument. Specifically mention what your point is and how you’re going to make it.
  • Make sure that you include any specific things that your teacher has asked for
  • How long does your essay need to be? Take that into consideration for how many words each section will end up being

If you follow those few tips, you’re sure to have an outline that can serve you through the essay writing process. Just stick to your outline and you’ll end up with a great essay that wasn’t that hard to write. Writing an essay is only as hard as you make it, and with a plan for writing, it saves you both your time and effort.