Here's a joke for you. Two actually.
What's a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet? aRRRRRRRRR
What's one type of essay students will eventually have to write for school? ARRRRRgumentative papers!

What is Argumentative Writing?

True to its name, the purpose of argumentative writing is to argue an opinion. Argumentative papers are trying to persuade the reader to join a cause, support a particular opinion, or prove a case. There are four main parts to any good argumentative paper.

Introduction: Introduces your stance
Argument: Making the case for your stance
1. Explain why you believe in your stance (justify your opinion)
2. Weigh the pros and cons of your position
Rebuttal: Address popular arguments that contradict your position
1. Explain why these arguments don't make sense
2. Explain how your stance compares
Conclusion: Wrap it up (Like a mummy!)

Argumentative Research

The first step to writing any "A" worthy argumentative essay is research. Fortunately, researching for argumentative papers is about the same as research for any other type of nonfiction essay.

A few research tips for any paper:

Do extensive research on your topic. You need to become an expert on what you're researching so that you can teach it to the reader in your paper.
Keep track of the websites you use so that citations are easier.
Make sure you're using credible sources. As one tutor put it, "Someone who has a Ph.D. is going to be more credible than an opinionated blogger."
- .gov and .edu are safe to use
- .org and .com can sometimes be credible, so be mindful

Specific notes about argumentative papers:

Make sure you are knowledgeable about BOTH sides of the argument
- Especially if the paper is more opinionated (i.e. "The case for pro-choice policy...").
- You need to write both an argument AND a rebuttal.
- Know the other side's case so you can break it down.
Arguments are more credible when they are backed up by facts
- Ex. Statistics that show a certain method works better than another.
- They show concrete evidence that your argument is valid.
It is okay to research possible opinions and arguments, but be careful about plagiarism.
- Also, don't put pure opinion in your argumentative paper.
- Use it as a starting-off place, but not as an actual source.

Argumentative Essay Writing

Here's the thing about argumentative writing--in terms of writing style, it is pretty much your normal essay, with slight exceptions regarding structure and content. For example, instead of body paragraphs that are dedicated to supporting one claim, argumentative writing features both paragraphs supporting the claim and debunking counterclaims.

To show you what we mean, here are a few examples of argumentative essays:

More examples than you would ever need:

https://www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/ArgumentSampleEssays.html

More resources that explain argumentative writing better:

https://www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/ArgumentDefine.html (See side bar for more content)
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/