Many students find it difficult to written argumentative essays. They keep staring at the blank paper, not able to muster the courage to write such an essay. The important thing to remember when writing an argumentative essay is to gather material so that you can write point in support of your stated position. Your ability to reason with the help of these arguments decides whether you have been able to persuade the readers to your point of view or not.
The four main components of an argumentative essay are its introduction, development of the argument, rebuttal of counter arguments, and finally the conclusion. Therefore, to be able to write a logical and meaningful argumentative essay, you need to develop ideas to support the thesis or the main statement. It is not necessary to strongly believe in all the points you are giving in support of your thesis. However, your arguments should be persuasive to sway the minds of the readers away from their stated position.
Like all other essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction. You begin with introducing the topic with some background information to catch the attention of the readers. At the end of this introduction is the thesis statement. The sentence that is used to start an argumentative essay is called a hook. It is so called because it plays the most important role of grabbing the attention of the reader. You need to come up with a great hook to make sure your readers are compelled to read your entire essay. The hook could be a quote or any thought provoking question to compel the reader to go through the entire essay.
After the hook comes the background for your essay. The context of your essay is important to establish the thesis you are presenting. You can mention the events leading up to the present situation to highlight the importance of your thesis. It is the background that tells the readers why they should care about your thesis or the main statement. It is the thesis of your essay that forms the last sentence of your introduction. It should clearly spell the position you are going to take in your essay.
You have won half the battle in your argumentative essay if you know how to start it on a convincing note.