ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

BY MS CHEW KAH WAI

 ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING
1. DEFINITION – AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY IS AN ESSAY THAT TAKES A
POSITION ON AN ISSUE AND PRESENTS EVIDENCE IN FAVOUR OF THAT
POSITION.
2. BASIC STRUCTURE:
INTRODUCTION (1 PARAGRAPH)
BODY (3 PARAGRAPHS)
CONCLUSION (1 PARAGRAPH)
3. INTRODUCTION (PARAGRAPH #1):

A. HAVE A HOOK TO CATCH THE READER’S ATTENTION:

- ANECDOTE (SHORT STORY)

- CELEBRITY QUOTE (ISAAC NEWTON SAID, ‘…’)

- DEFINITION (THE MEANING OF ‘HOPE’ IS …)

- GENERAL STATEMENT (SINGAPORE IS A MULTIRACIAL

COUNTRY.)

- HISTORICAL REVIEW (THE INTERNET WAS INVENTED IN THE

LATE 1960S.)
 - OPINION (I FEEL THAT SCHOOLS SHOULD …)
- QUESTIONS (DON’T WE ALL WANT TO SUCCEED IN LIFE?)

- SURPRISING STATEMENT (MY FATHER HAS A MISTRESS.) *THE

MISTRESS TURNS OUT TO BE HIS MOBILE PHONE.

- SETTING THE SCENE (IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO

TREES LEFT.)

B. STATE YOUR STAND (BUT DO NOT REVEAL YOUR CONTENT POINTS

HERE).

EITHER SAY, ‘TOTALLY AGREE’ OR ‘TOTALLY DISAGREE’.

4. BODY:
A. PARAGRAPH #2: REASON #1 TO
SUPPORT YOUR STAND.
B. PARAGRAPH #3: REASON #2 TO
SUPPORT YOUR STAND.
C. PARAGRAPH #4: COUNTER-ARGUMENT AND REBUTTAL.

- COUNTER-ARGUMENT – BRING IN THE VIEWPOINT OF WHAT SOMEONE WHO

DISAGREES WITH YOU WILL SAY. PHRASE IT AS, ‘SOME PEOPLE ARGUE THAT …’.

- REBUTTAL – REBUT THE ABOVE COUNTER-ARGUMENT AND SWING THE ARGUMENT

BACK TO YOUR VIEWPOINT. PHRASE IT AS, ‘HOWEVER, I FEEL THAT …’.

- THE COUNTER-ARGUMENT SHOULD BE ONE SENTENCE LONG ONLY AND YOU DO

NOT NEED TO GIVE REASONS FOR YOUR COUNTER-ARGUMENT BECAUSE THIS IS
NOT YOUR VIEWPOINT. JUST PRESENT IT.

- YOUR REBUTTAL SHOULD BE LONGER THAN THE COUNTER-ARGUMENT AND YOU

MUST SWING THE ARGUMENT BACK TO YOUR VIEWPOINT. HERE, YOU MUST GIVE
REASONS AND EVIDENCE.

- THE COUNTER-ARGUMENT AND REBUTTAL SHOULD BE IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH.

DO NOT
- BEGIN AND END BODY PARAGRAPHS IN
THE SAME REPETITIVE MANNER.
- USE ‘FIRSTLY’, ‘SECONDLY’, ‘THIRDLY’.
- REPEAT KEY WORDS IN THE QUESTION.
5. CONCLUSION:

A. SUGGESTIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS / PREDICTIONS.

B. REFER BACK TO THE HOOK YOU USED IN THE

INTRODUCTION, SO THAT YOUR ESSAY COMES TO A NICE FULL
CIRCLE.

DO NOT

- REPEAT YOUR CONTENT POINTS.

- USE ‘IN A NUTSHELL’.