4.1: Reviewing Arguments and Academic Writing
4.1.1: What Is an Argumentative Essay?
The purpose of an argumentative essay is to persuade your audience of something with a strong thesis, supporting evidence, and convincing research.
Read this article to learn about the goals of writing an argumentative essay, developing claims, and using supporting evidence.
Read this section and complete the exercises, which are designed to guide you through the process of creating a persuasive essay. The final exercise will ask you to write a persuasive essay. For this exercise, write a brief draft essay on your research topic. At this point, you do not need to add in your research or evidence, but use this exercise as an opportunity to develop an argument you will make in your final paper.
Review this sample essay to see an example of a persuasive argument. Based on what you learned earlier, identify techniques of the persuasive rhetorical mode used in this example.
4.1.2: Dividing Your Argument
Read this article. Take notes on the section describing transitional expressions, and develop the habit of always including transitional words and phrases in your topic sentences.