An argumentative essay does one thing: it takes a position on a question and defends it with evidence. The challenge is not finding a position — it is making that position specific enough to be genuinely arguable, and then building a rigorous case for it rather than simply asserting it.
What makes a claim arguable
A claim is arguable if a reasonable, informed person could disagree with it. This sounds simple, but most students make their thesis either too weak (undeniable) or too strong (undemonstrably broad).
| Too weak (undeniable) | Too strong (over-broad) | Arguable claim |
|---|---|---|
| "Climate change is a serious issue." | "Fossil fuel companies are solely responsible for climate change." | "Carbon capture subsidies represent a rational political response to fossil fuel industry lobbying but a poor policy strategy for emissions reduction." |
| "Shakespeare was an important writer." | "Shakespeare is the greatest writer in history." | "Hamlet's influence on literary representations of consciousness exceeds that of any earlier dramatic text because it introduces interiority as a subject independent of action." |
| "Social media affects teenagers." | "Social media is destroying a generation." | "Instagram's design features systematically exploit adolescent social comparison mechanisms in ways that Facebook's earlier desktop interface did not." |
The arguable column makes a claim that is specific, takes a real position, and can be tested against evidence.
The five-part structure
1. Introduction with thesis
Establish context, narrow to the specific debate, and end with the thesis. The thesis should be the last sentence of the introduction and should state your position clearly.
2. Background / definitions (optional)
For topics requiring context (legal, scientific, or technical terms), a brief orientation section helps. Keep this short — it is background, not argument.
3. Argument (body paragraphs — 4–6 for a 2,000-word essay)
Each body paragraph advances one sub-claim that supports the thesis. Use PEEL structure:
- Point: the sub-claim
- Evidence: source(s) supporting it
- Explain: why the evidence supports the sub-claim; what it proves
- Link: connection to thesis or transition to next paragraph
4. Counterargument and rebuttal
One or two paragraphs dedicated to the strongest objection to your thesis, followed by a specific response.
The counterargument-rebuttal structure:
- State the objection fairly: "The strongest objection to this argument is..."
- Acknowledge its validity: "This concern is legitimate in the following respect..."
- Respond specifically: "However, [specific reason why argument holds]..."
- Reinforce the thesis: "This qualification does not undermine the central claim because..."
Example:
"The strongest objection to the argument that interleaved practice outperforms blocked practice is the difficulty effect: students find interleaving subjectively harder and report lower confidence during learning (Kornell and Bjork, 2008). If the approach reduces motivation and increases anxiety, its measurable retention advantages might be offset by lower engagement. However, the longitudinal evidence does not support this concern: students who complete interleaved practice do not show reduced course persistence or lower assessment confidence on validated measures (Rohrer et al., 2015). The subjective difficulty is real but does not translate to the negative outcome the objection predicts."
5. Conclusion
Restate the thesis (in light of the evidence presented), synthesise the sub-claims, and answer "so what?"
Using evidence in argumentative essays
Evidence in argumentative essays must be deployed differently from descriptive essays:
Not this (evidence as illustration):
"Several studies have found that practice testing improves learning. This shows that students should use practice tests."
This (evidence as proof of a specific claim):
"The evidence for the superiority of retrieval practice over re-reading is unusually consistent: the advantage has been replicated across laboratory and classroom settings, multiple subject domains, and both short- and long-term retention intervals (Dunlosky et al., 2013). This consistency matters for the argument because it means the finding is not an artefact of specific experimental conditions — it holds under the conditions students actually face."
The second version explains what the evidence specifically proves about the claim, and why that evidence is particularly probative.
Building the sub-claims
The sub-claims are the load-bearing components of the argument. They should be:
- Specific enough to be supported by specific evidence
- Collectively sufficient to prove the thesis
- Logically ordered (from definitional, to evidential, to implication, or from strongest to most nuanced)
Test your sub-claims: If all the sub-claims are true, does the thesis necessarily follow? If not, you have a gap in the argument.
Tone in argumentative writing
Academic argumentative writing is assertive without being aggressive. State claims confidently, use hedging language appropriately (to calibrate certainty to evidence), and engage with counterarguments without dismissing them.
Phrases to avoid:
- "Obviously..." — If it were obvious, it would not need arguing.
- "It is clear that..." — Show that it is clear; do not assert it.
- "Anyone can see that..." — Rhetorical, not analytical.
For argument planning, use the Essay Structure Planner. For how to make a specific, strong thesis, try the Thesis Statement Builder.
Topics
Plan your essay before you write a single word
Use the free Essay Structure Planner to build your argument outline, map PEEL paragraphs, and structure your introduction and conclusion — then take the free Academic Writing Fundamentals course for the complete essay-writing system.
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