Unit 5

Argumentative Essay

Writing Skill 1

Writing Argumentative Essay

Argumentative essay is another important piece of writing that is very important in academic
life and possibly this is the most familiar type of text for most students as they are heavily exposed
to them. However, writing an argumentative essay has always been a challenge for students as they
are usually exposed to the reading but not the writing. In this unit, a comprehensive explanation on
argumentative essay will be given which includes the organization, strategies, and tips. To begin the
unit, let us talk about the definition of an argumentative essay.
Argumentative writing is a genre of writing that requires the student to
investigate a topic; collect, generate and evaluate evidence; and establish
a position on the topic in a concise manner. In short, argumentative
writing is a work that require student point of view about some topic and
proof it with some evidence scientifically. (Purdue OWL, n.d)

To get a better idea of the organization, look at a sample of an argumentative essay below

Topic: Big salary is much more important than job satisfaction. Do you agree or disagree?

(1) Nowadays, there are lots of thing that
people consider when taking a job. Several aspects
that are mostly considered by people are wages,
working hours, and satisfaction (Purdue, p.30,
2011). However, there are still constant debate
regarding which one is much more important. It is
often argued that it is more advantageous to
choose a job with high wage, even if it does not
appeal to you at all. (2) I completely disagree with
this opinion and think that job satisfaction is much
more important than salary.
(3) First of all, I believe that job satisfaction
gives people a sense of fulfillment that no money
can guarantee. (4) This statement is strengthened
by Paul’s (2012, p.27) statement in which he says
that “out of the factors that contributes in choosing
a job, satisfaction has always been the most
important aspect as gaining it can give self-pleasure
that money cannot provide”. Even if someone is
earning a high salary, but feels tensed and
compromises with his conscience, this person will
not enjoy his life. While pursuing one’s interests
will always bring pleasure and feeling of
satisfaction. (5) For example, a lot of famous
researchers made their career choices not because
of appealing wages, but because they were
passionate about science. That is why it is more
important to choose the kind of work that makes
you happy than to look only at a high salary.
(6) Secondly, doing what you like keeps you
motivated and therefore leads to a career growth.
(7) Gary (2008, p.17) states that people with high
levels of job satisfaction tend to stay at a certain
job longer than those who are not. In other words,
there is a strong relation between job satisfaction
and productivity. People who love their jobs can
easily excel in their fields of work and achieve
better results than those, who put salary on the
first place. (8) For instance, Henry Miller decided
to leave his everyday job despite a good wage and
ventured to become a writer. After enduring years
of ups and downs he became one of the most
famous and well-paid authors of the twentieth
century. Thus, advantages of jobs that keep you
satisfied outweigh the drawback of a low salary in a
long-term perspective.
(9) To conclude, as can be seen from the
arguments above, job satisfaction is a much more
important aspect when considering/doing a job as
it provides not only pleasure but also motivated and
produce higher productivity. (412 words)

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 (10) References

Gary, S (2008, November 17). Staying in a job much longer. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com
Paul, A. (2012). Happiness in the working environment. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com
Purdue, J. (2011). Doing the hard work. London, England: Routledge

Practice!
Analyze the sample and answer the following questions.

1. How many paragraphs are there?

2. Look at the bolded numbers in the sample. What do they explain?
(1) ______________________________________________________________________
(2) ______________________________________________________________________
(3) ______________________________________________________________________
(4) ______________________________________________________________________
(5) ______________________________________________________________________
(6) ______________________________________________________________________
(7) ______________________________________________________________________
(8) ______________________________________________________________________
(9) ______________________________________________________________________
(10) _____________________________________________________________________

How to Write an Argumentative Essay 1

Agree/Disagree Essay – Paragraph Formula

Paragraph One – Introduction

Sentence 1-3: Provide a brief background about the topic
Last sentence: State your opinion in regard to the topic.

Paragraph Two – Body Paragraph 1

Sentence 1 (topic sentence): Tell the reader what this paragraph is about by introducing your first point.
Sentence 2: Justify your first point with an experts’ opinion.
Sentence 3: Provide an example to emphasize your argument.

Paragraph Three – Body Paragraph 2

Sentence 1 (topic sentence): Tell the reader what this paragraph is about by introducing your first point.
Sentence 2: Justify your first point with an experts’ opinion.
Sentence 3: Provide an example to emphasize your argument.

Paragraph Four – Conclusion

Sentence 1-2: Rephrase your opinion and sum up your two supporting points.

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Paraphrase, Summary, and Quotation

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to
the closeness of your writing to the source writing. So, what are the differences?

What are the differences?

Paraphrasing
❖ Does not match the
source word for word
❖ Involves putting a
passage from a source
into your own words
❖ Changes the words or
phrasing of a passage,
but retains and fully
communicates the
original meaning
Must be attributed to the
original source
Summarizing Quoting
❖ Does not match the ❖ Match the source word
source word for word for word
❖ Involves putting the ❖ Are usually a brief
main idea(s) into your segment of the text
own words, but
❖ Appear between
including only the main
quotation marks
point(s)
Must be attributed to the
❖ Presents a broad
original source
overview, so is usually
much shorter than the
original text
Must be attributed to the
original source

As writer we use them for several purposes:

✓ Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
✓ Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
✓ Give examples of several points of view on a subject
✓ Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
✓ Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
✓ Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are
not your own
✓ Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Citation and Referencing (Harvard Style)

Another thing you must be aware of when writing an argumentative essay is the way
you take other people’s writing and use them in your writing. This term is called
CITATION and REFERENCING. There are many types of citations but for the sake of this
class, we will be focusing on the HARVARD STYLE.

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Citation
Book • A page number is required if you are paraphrasing, summarizing
or quoting directly:
(Karskens 1997, p. 23)
Ward (1966, p. 12) suggests that

• If you are only citing the main idea of the book:

(Karskens 1997)
Journal • If the page number is required, as it is for summarising,
paraphrasing and direct quoting:
(Kozulin 1993, p. 257)

• If you are citing the main idea of the article only:

(Kozulin 1993)
Online • INCB (1999, par. 5) states that …
article/website
Secondary citation • Gibbs suggests that “because students are aware of their
tutor’s mastery of the subject matter, it is common for them to
assume that their reader has no needs at all” (as cited in
Bowden & Marton, 1998, p. 35).

or:

• Gibbs' study (as cited in Bowden & Marton, 1998) discusses the
assumptions students hold concerning the expertise of ...
More than one • (Gerster & Basset, 1987) or:
author • Gerster and Basset (1987) assert that ...
More than three • First entry: Leeder, Dobson, Patel, Mathews and Marriot (1996,
authors p. 78)
• Subsequent entries: Leeder et al. (1996, p. 78)
No author • If the author's name is unknown, cite the website/page title
and date:
(Land for sale on moon 2007)
No date • If there is not date on the page, use the abbreviation n.d. (no
date):
(ArtsNSW n.d.)
(Kim n.d)

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Referencing
Book Karskens, G 1997, The Rocks: life in early Sydney, Melbourne
University Press, Carlton.
Ward, R 1966, The Australian legend, 2nd edn, Oxford University
Press, Melbourne.

Journal Kozulin, A 1993, 'Literature as a psychological tool', Educational

Psychologist, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 253-265

Website International Narcotics Control Board 1999, United Nations, accessed

1 October 1999, <http://www.incb.org>

No author Land for sale on moon 2007, accessed 19 June

2007, <http://www.moonlandregistry.com>.

No date ArtsNSW n.d., New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, NSW
Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation, accessed 19 June
2007, <http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/awards/
LiteraryAwards/litawards.htm>.
Kim, M n.d., Chinese New Year pictures and propaganda posters,
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, accessed 12 April
2016, <https://collection.maas.museum/set/6274>.

MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT
Write an argumentative essay about the topic
given by your lecturer.

English for Fisheries and Marine Science 5