Writing

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A R G U M E
Texts
English Language Miss Damai Class
Year 12
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
During this lesson, students will learn the skill of writing argumentive texts,
with a particular focus on persuasive essay. By the end of the lesson
students should have the skills to do the following:

01 02 03 04
Introduce clear, Consider an Develop claims and Write in a formal
precise and opposing reasons fairly and style using precise
knowledgeable viewpoint, make thoroughly using a vocabulary, syntax
claims and sub- certain concessions range of effective and rhetorical
claims and logically and discredit evidence to devices to
sequence them in counterclaims with support each. effectively
order of strength compelling persuade an
and relevance. rebuttals. audience.
Defining
N T A T I V E
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Texts
Introduction
Types of Argumentative Texts
Argumentative Essay
Purpose, Context and Audience
 INTRODUCTION

Arguments are a part of every day life and they can be used for many purposes - to change someone's
point of view, to promote social action, or to ask an audience to accept the writer’s stance on a concept,
issue or problem.

Argumentative texts, also referred to as persuasive texts, are intended to express an argument in order to
support or refute an idea. The writer or speaker's purpose is to convince or persuade their audience to
agree with their opinion, position or belief and they do this in a reasoned, logical way that proves their
validity.

Argument in its most basic form consists of four parts:

3. 4.
1. 2.
Reasons to Evidence to
Claims Counter Claims
support claims support reasons
 TYPES OF ARGUMENTATIVE TEXTS

Written Forms Oral Forms

Might include journalistic texts (articles, editorials, Might include speeches, debates, advertising
opinion columns etc.), scientific texts (e.g. research campaigns and opinion forums.
papers), judicial texts, essays, and more casual forms
such as blogs and open letters.
 ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Argumentative essays look at an idea or issue, consider each side and make a
case for one side in particular. There are four main types of argumentative
essays and each takes a different approach to their structure and content.
These are:

Persuasive Analytical Research Personal

For the purpose of understanding how to structure an argument, we're going to focus on the persuasive
essay form, but note that this structure can easily be adapted to the conventions of other text types.

Persuasive essays present an argument and try to persuade the audience that one side of the argument is
better than the others. They clearly state the writer's viewpoint and use reasoning and evidence to support
it. As different sides of the argument are discussed, the writer should refute these views in order to
persuade the reader that their argument is the right one.
Before you plan your argumentative text, it's always important to consider the following:

Purpose Context Audience

The obvious purpose would be This can include situational, Who are the group of readers
to persuade, but you also authorial, historical, social or or listeners that your text is
might aim to educate, to raise political context. aimed at?
awareness etc.
Where might your hypothetical You'll need to ascertain things
Make sure your specific text be published? What events such as their age, gender,
persuasive purpose is clear. or experiences have influenced ethnicity, socio-economic status,
That is, outline the argument you to write about it? What is knowledge level, concerns,
that you will present and the current social or political values, and possible biases in
consider the action you wish climate surrounding your topic? order to have the best chance
your audience to take if you are at persuading them to agree
successful in persuading them. with your viewpoint.
Planning an
N T A T I V E
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Step 1 - Choose your Topic Step 4 - Consider Counterclaims
Step 2 - Make a Claim Step 5 - Look for Evidence
Step 3 - Develop your Reasons Step 6 - Conclude
 1. CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC

This part will depend on the parameters of your

assignment or task.

Sometimes you will have a topic assigned to you.

Other times you will have a choice from a selection of

prompts.

You also might have free range to select your own topic
or issue of interest.

Either way, you should ensure you can generate a

question worthy of discussion between opposing sides.
To be able to prove your argument effectively, you will
need to consider both sides of the debate.
2. MAKE A CLAIM
A claim is a position or stance that the writer takes on a topic, concept or issue. In persuasive essay
structure, this is known as the thesis statement and it will be found in your introduction. If your topic is
a statement, consider whether you agree or disagree. You will then need to state your viewpoint as a
clear, specific and defensible statement that can be used to guide your argument in your essay.

Ask yourself:
Is the claim stated clearly and specifically? I.e. is it easy to understand (and not too vague or
broad)?
Is it debatable? And would someone be interested in debating it?
Can you support it?

Example:
Standardized testing is an ineffective and unfair way of evaluating student achievement.
3. DEVELOP YOUR REASONS

Often a writer will break down their overall claim, or thesis, into smaller claims. These
are usually stated as reasons or justifications for the writer's argument - in other words,
they are the 'why' behind the claim.

Using your critical thinking skills, identify as many reasons you can think of in support
of your claim. Then, pick your best ones and rank them in order of strength or
relevance.

Example:
It is unfair to certain types of learners e.g. low-income, ESL and students with special needs.
It can be disruptive to student learning and restrict teachers' abilities to teach effectively and
creatively.
It places unnecessary amounts of stress on students, resulting in successful students losing
confidence if they don't perform well under test conditions.
4. CONSIDER COUNTERCLAIMS
Part of writing an effective argument is anticipating opposing viewpoints so that you
can disprove or discredit them in order to strengthen your own argument. A
counterclaim is an argument that works to disagree with and disprove the writer's
claim. The main purpose of including a counterclaim is to address the opposite side of
the argument and provide a rebuttal. A rebuttal is when a writer disproves an
argument.

This means you'll not only work on proving your claim, but on disproving the
counterclaim or the opposition's argument.

Example:
Standardized testing is fair and objective, creating a universal standard of education.
It provides an inclusive opportunity, giving students from diverse backgrounds a chance to prove
they have mastered academic material despite their circumstances.
5. LOOK FOR EVIDENCE

Evidence is information and examples from other

sources that support a writer's reasoning.

It is important because it helps to build credibility and

gain the reader's trust.

If writers cannot support their claims with any

evidence, they could appear to be just opinions, which
are not as convincing.

To effectively use evidence to support each of your

reasons, make sure it comes from credible,
trustworthy, sources and try to identify a range of
different types to make your writing interesting.
Evidence can be split into hard and soft.

Hard Evidence Soft Evidence

This includes things such as: This includes things like:

facts and statistics personal anecdotes
scientific data word-of-mouth information (things heard
carefully controlled observations from another person)
measurements appeals to false authority (quoting from
surveys sources that are not experts on the topic)
case studies Other direct quotes from literary texts or
information and opinions from experts in media texts
particular fields (i.e. quotes from doctors,
psychologists, scientists or academics).

Once you've found your evidence, you'll want to rank it in order of strength and relevance. Make
sure you can effectively link each piece of evidence to your claim through reasoning.
6. CONCLUDE

A good conclusion for an argumentative text shouldn't

sound too repetitive. Instead, emphasise your strongest
points, state your argument in a slightly different way and
finish on a powerful note.

You might use a thought-provoking rhetorical question or

appeal to your specific audiences values or emotions.

If you feel you've successfully convinced the audience to

agree with your claims, you might end with a call to action.
These are specific steps you'd like your audience to take in
order to promote social action and support your cause.
The Language of
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Style and Tone
Rhetorical Devices
Transitions
 STYLE AND TONE
For most argumentative persuasive essays you want to
write in a clear, concise and objective manner with a
mildly persuasive tone. If your tone is too strident or
inflammatory, you risk alienating your audience by
sounding unreasonable.

Relying on facts rather than subjective opinions will

make your essay sound more convincing and
professional, enhancing the legitimacy of your
argument.

However, this does not mean there's no room for

creativity with language features. In fact, mixing up the
writing style in an essay can be more engaging for your
reader and can often make an argument more
convincing.
 RHETORICAL DEVICES
RHETORICAL DEVICES
In argumentative essay, it's best to stick to rhetorical
devices that appeal to ethos and logos. While you can
still include some techniques that appeal to pathos,
these should be limited so that you still sound
measured and reasonable.

Consider language features such as:

Tricolon and tetracolon
Jargon
Direct address
Inclusive language
Repetition
Rhetorical Question
Descriptive language
Parallel sentence structure
 TRANSITIONS
Transition words are used to link phrases, sentences or paragraphs within your essay. They help the
reader to progress from one idea to the next creating coherent relationships between your claims,
reasons and evidence. Different transition words can be used for different purposes. For example:

Adding Ideas Comparisons Examples Concessions

Also Similarly For example Some people think

In addition Like / unlike For instance It has been argued
Furthermore In comparison to Specifically Some may say
One point that shows In contrast to To illustrate While it’s true that
Another way However To be specific Many people assume
Moreover On the other hand This is clearly shown The problem with that

It's a good idea to build up a word bank of transition words so you don't end up relying on the same ones.
Varying your language can make your writing more engaging.
 YOUR TURN
To conclude, learning how to effectively introduce,
develop and structure an argument is a necessary skill
both for academia and in every day life. Being able to
back up opinions and ideas with strong evidence and
sound reasoning is a crucial part of the art of persuasion.

For some helpful supplementary resources on

argumentative writing, check out the following:
Planning an Argument Graphic Organiser
Argumentative Writing Topics Flashcards
Argumentative Essay Planner Worksheet
Argumentative Writing Word Bank Poster