The basic skills for writing an argumentative essay are taught in middle school and used throughout one’s academic career. There are some topics, however, that create more challenges for students because they are uncertain about how to approach the assignment. For instance, the topic of same-sex marriage is one that can be difficult to write about because it stirs so much passionate debate. Here are five helpful hints for writing an argumentative essay against same-sex marriage:
A lot of students wait until the last minute before getting started on their assignment. Not only will your writing suffer but you may not structure your paper effectively enough to make a good case against same-sex marriage. The best approach is to develop a researching and writing plan to stay on track and efficiently use all the days leading up to your due date.
In any argumentative essay you need to find supportive evidence or examples through academic research. It’s extremely important that you don’t misrepresent information or make up evidence to support your claims. Not only will you lose credibility but you can greatly affect your academic integrity in a negative way, thus bring doubt to future arguments you make.
Your thesis statement should be a clear and direct assertive sentence that points out your argument against same-sex marriage. Don’t be overly complex. The reader should be able to easily know what you will be making the case for throughout the paper with this one sentence. A complex sentence often confuses the reader and gets your paper off on the wrong foot.
Too many students get bogged down trying to sound overly academic with long words or confusing sentence constructions. Keep your argument cohesive and succinct. At no point should your reader be confused about any of the points you are trying to make in your case against same-sex marriage. Get right to the point with clear and direct English. Your argument will be much more effective.
Finally, don’t risk getting a lower grade by not spending enough time revising, editing and proofreading your work. Spend ample time doing each one of these steps with care. Ideally, do each at multiple levels, starting at the paper level through the paragraph level and ending at the sentence level.