8/17/24, 2:52 AM 3 Strong Argumentative Essay Examples, Analyzed
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3 Strong Argumentative Essay Examples,
Analyzed
Posted by Christine Sarikas
GENERAL EDUCATION
Need to defend your opinion on an issue? Argumentative essays are one of the most
popular types of essays you’ll write in school. They combine persuasive arguments
with fact-based research, and, when done well, can be powerful tools for making
someone agree with your point of view. If you’re struggling to write an
argumentative essay or just want to learn more about them, seeing examples
can be a big help.
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After giving an overview of this type of essay, we provide three argumentative essay
examples. After each essay, we explain in-depth how the essay was structured, what
worked, and where the essay could be improved. We end with tips for making your
own argumentative essay as strong as possible.
What Is an Argumentative Essay?
An argumentative essay is an essay that uses evidence and facts to support the claim
it’s making. Its purpose is to persuade the reader to agree with the argument being
made.
A good argumentative essay will use facts and evidence to support the
argument, rather than just the author’s thoughts and opinions. For example, say
you wanted to write an argumentative essay stating that Charleston, SC is a great
destination for families. You couldn’t just say that it’s a great place because you took
your family there and enjoyed it. For it to be an argumentative essay, you need to
have facts and data to support your argument, such as the number of child-friendly
attractions in Charleston, special deals you can get with kids, and surveys of people
who visited Charleston as a family and enjoyed it. The first argument is based entirely
on feelings, whereas the second is based on evidence that can be proven.
The standard five paragraph format is common, but not required, for argumentative
essays. These essays typically follow one of two formats: the Toulmin model or
the Rogerian model.
The Toulmin model is the most common. It begins with an introduction, follows
with a thesis/claim, and gives data and evidence to support that claim. This style
of essay also includes rebuttals of counterarguments.
The Rogerian model analyzes two sides of an argument and reaches a
conclusion after weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each.
3 Good Argumentative Essay Examples + Analysis
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Below are three examples of argumentative essays, written by yours truly in my
school days, as well as analysis of what each did well and where it could be improved.
Argumentative Essay Example 1
As online learning becomes more common and more and more resources are
converted to digital form, some people have suggested that public libraries
should be shut down and, in their place, everyone should be given an iPad with
an e-reader subscription.
Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money
because libraries are expensive to maintain. They also believe it will encourage
more people to read because they won’t have to travel to a library to get a book;
they can simply click on what they want to read and read it from wherever they
are. They could also access more materials because libraries won’t have to buy
physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they
need.
However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. First,
digital books and resources are associated with less learning and more
problems than print resources. A study done on tablet vs book reading found
that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and
understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same
information in print. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to
cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes,
headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does.
People who use tablets and mobile devices excessively also have a higher
incidence of more serious health issues such as fibromyalgia, shoulder and back
pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and muscle strain. I know that whenever I read
from my e-reader for too long, my eyes begin to feel tired and my neck hurts.
We should not add to these problems by giving people, especially young people,
more reasons to look at screens.
Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries
offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only
available if the library has a physical location. Some of these benefits include
acting as a quiet study space, giving people a way to converse with their
neighbors, holding classes on a variety of topics, providing jobs, answering
patron questions, and keeping the community connected. One neighborhood
found that, after a local library instituted community events such as play times
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for toddlers and parents, job fairs for teenagers, and meeting spaces for senior
citizens, over a third of residents reported feeling more connected to their
community. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-
thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major
impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others
and get their questions answered, benefits tablets can’t offer nearly as well or as
easily.
While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would
encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite
the myriad issues surrounding them. It would also end access to many of the
benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. In many areas, libraries
are such an important part of the community network that they could never be
replaced by a simple object.
Analysis
The author begins by giving an overview of the counter-argument, then the thesis
appears as the first sentence in the third paragraph. The essay then spends the rest
of the paper dismantling the counter argument and showing why readers should
believe the other side.
What this essay does well:
Although it’s a bit unusual to have the thesis appear fairly far into the
essay, it works because, once the thesis is stated, the rest of the essay
focuses on supporting it since the counter-argument has already been
discussed earlier in the paper.
This essay includes numerous facts and cites studies to support its case. By
having specific data to rely on, the author’s argument is stronger and
readers will be more inclined to agree with it.
For every argument the other side makes, the author makes sure to refute
it and follow up with why her opinion is the stronger one. In order to make
a strong argument, it’s important to dismantle the other side, which this
essay does this by making the author's view appear stronger.
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How this essay could be improved:
This is a shorter paper, and if it needed to be expanded to meet length
requirements, it could include more examples and go more into depth
with them, such as by explaining specific cases where people benefited
from local libraries.
Additionally, while the paper uses lots of data, the author also mentions
their own experience with using tablets. This should be removed since
argumentative essays focus on facts and data to support an argument, not
the author’s own opinion or experiences. Replacing that with more data
on health issues associated with screen time would strengthen the essay.
Some of the points made aren't completely accurate, particularly the
one about digital books being cheaper. It actually often costs a library
more money to rent out numerous digital copies of a book compared to
buying a single physical copy. Make sure in your own essay you thoroughly
research each of the points and rebuttals you make, otherwise you'll look
like you don't know the issue that well.
Argumentative Essay Example 2
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to
people through female Anopheles mosquitoes. Each year, over half a billion
people will become infected with malaria, with roughly 80% of them living in
Sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly half a million people die of malaria every year, most
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of them young children under the age of five. Unlike many other infectious
diseases, the death toll for malaria is rising. While there have been many
programs designed to improve access to malaria treatment, the best way to
reduce the impact of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa is to focus on reducing the
number of people who contract the disease in the first place, rather than
waiting to treat the disease after the person is already infected.
There are multiple drugs available to treat malaria, and many of them work well
and save lives, but malaria eradication programs that focus too much on them
and not enough on prevention haven’t seen long-term success in Sub-Saharan
Africa. A major program to combat malaria was WHO’s Global Malaria
Eradication Programme. Started in 1955, it had a goal of eliminating malaria in
Africa within the next ten years. Based upon previously successful programs in
Brazil and the United States, the program focused mainly on vector control. This
included widely distributing chloroquine and spraying large amounts of DDT.
More than one billion dollars was spent trying to abolish malaria. However, the
program suffered from many problems and in 1969, WHO was forced to admit
that the program had not succeeded in eradicating malaria. The number of
people in Sub-Saharan Africa who contracted malaria as well as the number of
malaria deaths had actually increased over 10% during the time the program
was active.
One of the major reasons for the failure of the project was that it set uniform
strategies and policies. By failing to consider variations between governments,
geography, and infrastructure, the program was not nearly as successful as it
could have been. Sub-Saharan Africa has neither the money nor the
infrastructure to support such an elaborate program, and it couldn’t be run the
way it was meant to. Most African countries don't have the resources to send all
their people to doctors and get shots, nor can they afford to clear wetlands or
other malaria prone areas. The continent’s spending per person for eradicating
malaria was just a quarter of what Brazil spent. Sub-Saharan Africa simply can’t
rely on a plan that requires more money, infrastructure, and expertise than they
have to spare.
Additionally, the widespread use of chloroquine has created drug resistant
parasites which are now plaguing Sub-Saharan Africa. Because chloroquine was
used widely but inconsistently, mosquitoes developed resistance, and
chloroquine is now nearly completely ineffective in Sub-Saharan Africa, with
over 95% of mosquitoes resistant to it. As a result, newer, more expensive drugs
need to be used to prevent and treat malaria, which further drives up the cost
of malaria treatment for a region that can ill afford it.
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Instead of developing plans to treat malaria after the infection has incurred,
programs should focus on preventing infection from occurring in the first place.
Not only is this plan cheaper and more effective, reducing the number of people
who contract malaria also reduces loss of work/school days which can further
bring down the productivity of the region.
One of the cheapest and most effective ways of preventing malaria is to
implement insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs). These nets provide a protective
barrier around the person or people using them. While untreated bed nets are
still helpful, those treated with insecticides are much more useful because they
stop mosquitoes from biting people through the nets, and they help reduce
mosquito populations in a community, thus helping people who don’t even own
bed nets. Bed nets are also very effective because most mosquito bites occur
while the person is sleeping, so bed nets would be able to drastically reduce the
number of transmissions during the night. In fact, transmission of malaria can
be reduced by as much as 90% in areas where the use of ITNs is widespread.
Because money is so scarce in Sub-Saharan Africa, the low cost is a great benefit
and a major reason why the program is so successful. Bed nets cost roughly 2
USD to make, last several years, and can protect two adults. Studies have shown
that, for every 100-1000 more nets are being used, one less child dies of
malaria. With an estimated 300 million people in Africa not being protected by
mosquito nets, there’s the potential to save three million lives by spending just a
few dollars per person.
Reducing the number of people who contract malaria would also reduce poverty
levels in Africa significantly, thus improving other aspects of society like
education levels and the economy. Vector control is more effective than
treatment strategies because it means fewer people are getting sick. When
fewer people get sick, the working population is stronger as a whole because
people are not put out of work from malaria, nor are they caring for sick
relatives. Malaria-afflicted families can typically only harvest 40% of the crops
that healthy families can harvest. Additionally, a family with members who have
malaria spends roughly a quarter of its income treatment, not including the loss
of work they also must deal with due to the illness. It’s estimated that malaria
costs Africa 12 billion USD in lost income every year. A strong working
population creates a stronger economy, which Sub-Saharan Africa is in
desperate need of.
Analysis
This essay begins with an introduction, which ends with the thesis (that malaria
eradication plans in Sub-Saharan Africa should focus on prevention rather than
treatment). The first part of the essay lays out why the counter argument (treatment
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rather than prevention) is not as effective, and the second part of the essay focuses
on why prevention of malaria is the better path to take.
What this essay does well:
The thesis appears early, is stated clearly, and is supported throughout the
rest of the essay. This makes the argument clear for readers to understand
and follow throughout the essay.
There’s lots of solid research in this essay, including specific programs
that were conducted and how successful they were, as well as specific data
mentioned throughout. This evidence helps strengthen the author’s
argument.
How this essay could be improved:
The author makes a case for using expanding bed net use over waiting
until malaria occurs and beginning treatment, but not much of a plan is
given for how the bed nets would be distributed or how to ensure they’re
being used properly. By going more into detail of what she believes should
be done, the author would be making a stronger argument.
The introduction of the essay does a good job of laying out the seriousness
of the problem, but the conclusion is short and abrupt. Expanding it into
its own paragraph would give the author a final way to convince readers of
her side of the argument.
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Argumentative Essay Example 3
As college sports continue to be hugely popular and the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) brings in large amounts of revenue, people have
revived the debate on whether college athletes should get paid.
There are many ways payments could work. They could be in the form of a free-
market approach, where athletes are able to earn whatever the market is willing
to pay them, it could be a set amount of money per athlete, or student athletes
could earn income from endorsements, autographs, and control of their
likeness, similar to the way top Olympians earn money.
Proponents of the idea believe that, because college athletes are the ones who
are training, participating in games, and bringing in audiences, they should
receive some sort of compensation for their work. If there were no college
athletes, the NCAA wouldn’t exist, college coaches wouldn’t receive there
(sometimes very high) salaries, and brands like Nike couldn’t profit from college
sports. In fact, the NCAA brings in roughly $1 billion in revenue a year, but
college athletes don’t receive any of that money in the form of a paycheck.
Additionally, people who believe college athletes should be paid state that
paying college athletes will actually encourage them to remain in college longer
and not turn pro as quickly, either by giving them a way to begin earning money
in college or requiring them to sign a contract stating they’ll stay at the
university for a certain number of years while making an agreed-upon salary.
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Supporters of this idea point to Zion Williamson, the Duke basketball superstar,
who, during his freshman year, sustained a serious knee injury. Many argued
that, even if he enjoyed playing for Duke, it wasn’t worth risking another injury
and ending his professional career before it even began for a program that
wasn’t paying him. Williamson seems to have agreed with them and declared his
eligibility for the NCAA draft later that year. If he was being paid, he may have
stayed at Duke longer. In fact, roughly a third of student athletes surveyed
stated that receiving a salary while in college would make them “strongly
consider” remaining collegiate athletes longer before turning pro.
Paying athletes could also stop the recruitment scandals that have plagued the
NCAA. In 2018, the NCAA stripped the University of Louisville's men's basketball
team of its 2013 national championship title because it was discovered coaches
were using sex workers to entice recruits to join the team. There have been
dozens of other recruitment scandals where college athletes and recruits have
been bribed with anything from having their grades changed, to getting free
cars, to being straight out bribed. By paying college athletes and putting their
salaries out in the open, the NCAA could end the illegal and underhanded ways
some schools and coaches try to entice athletes to join.
People who argue against the idea of paying college athletes believe the practice
could be disastrous for college sports. By paying athletes, they argue, they’d
turn college sports into a bidding war, where only the richest schools could
afford top athletes, and the majority of schools would be shut out from
developing a talented team (though some argue this already happens because
the best players often go to the most established college sports programs, who
typically pay their coaches millions of dollars per year). It could also ruin the
tight camaraderie of many college teams if players become jealous that certain
teammates are making more money than they are.
They also argue that paying college athletes actually means only a small fraction
would make significant money. Out of the 350 Division I athletic departments,
fewer than a dozen earn any money. Nearly all the money the NCAA makes
comes from men’s football and basketball, so paying college athletes would
make a small group of men--who likely will be signed to pro teams and begin
making millions immediately out of college--rich at the expense of other players.
Those against paying college athletes also believe that the athletes are receiving
enough benefits already. The top athletes already receive scholarships that are
worth tens of thousands per year, they receive free food/housing/textbooks,
have access to top medical care if they are injured, receive top coaching, get
travel perks and free gear, and can use their time in college as a way to capture
the attention of professional recruiters. No other college students receive
anywhere near as much from their schools.
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People on this side also point out that, while the NCAA brings in a massive
amount of money each year, it is still a non-profit organization. How? Because
over 95% of those profits are redistributed to its members’ institutions in the
form of scholarships, grants, conferences, support for Division II and Division III
teams, and educational programs. Taking away a significant part of that revenue
would hurt smaller programs that rely on that money to keep running.
While both sides have good points, it’s clear that the negatives of paying college
athletes far outweigh the positives. College athletes spend a significant amount
of time and energy playing for their school, but they are compensated for it by
the scholarships and perks they receive. Adding a salary to that would result in a
college athletic system where only a small handful of athletes (those likely to
become millionaires in the professional leagues) are paid by a handful of
schools who enter bidding wars to recruit them, while the majority of student
athletics and college athletic programs suffer or even shut down for lack of
money. Continuing to offer the current level of benefits to student athletes
makes it possible for as many people to benefit from and enjoy college sports as
possible.
Analysis
This argumentative essay follows the Rogerian model. It discusses each side, first
laying out multiple reasons people believe student athletes should be paid, then
discussing reasons why the athletes shouldn’t be paid. It ends by stating that college
athletes shouldn’t be paid by arguing that paying them would destroy college
athletics programs and cause them to have many of the issues professional sports
leagues have.
What this essay does well:
Both sides of the argument are well developed, with multiple reasons why
people agree with each side. It allows readers to get a full view of the
argument and its nuances.
Certain statements on both sides are directly rebuffed in order to show
where the strengths and weaknesses of each side lie and give a more
complete and sophisticated look at the argument.
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How this essay could be improved:
Using the Rogerian model can be tricky because oftentimes you don’t
explicitly state your argument until the end of the paper. Here, the thesis
doesn’t appear until the first sentence of the final paragraph. That doesn’t
give readers a lot of time to be convinced that your argument is the
right one, compared to a paper where the thesis is stated in the beginning
and then supported throughout the paper. This paper could be
strengthened if the final paragraph was expanded to more fully explain
why the author supports the view, or if the paper had made it clearer that
paying athletes was the weaker argument throughout.
3 Tips for Writing a Good Argumentative Essay
Now that you’ve seen examples of what good argumentative essay samples look like,
follow these three tips when crafting your own essay.
#1: Make Your Thesis Crystal Clear
The thesis is the key to your argumentative essay; if it isn’t clear or readers can’t find
it easily, your entire essay will be weak as a result. Always make sure that your thesis
statement is easy to find. The typical spot for it is the final sentence of the
introduction paragraph, but if it doesn’t fit in that spot for your essay, try to at least
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put it as the first or last sentence of a different paragraph so it stands out
more.
Also make sure that your thesis makes clear what side of the argument you’re on.
After you’ve written it, it’s a great idea to show your thesis to a couple different
people--classmates are great for this. Just by reading your thesis they should be able
to understand what point you’ll be trying to make with the rest of your essay.
#2: Show Why the Other Side Is Weak
When writing your essay, you may be tempted to ignore the other side of the
argument and just focus on your side, but don’t do this. The best argumentative
essays really tear apart the other side to show why readers shouldn’t believe it.
Before you begin writing your essay, research what the other side believes, and what
their strongest points are. Then, in your essay, be sure to mention each of these and
use evidence to explain why they’re incorrect/weak arguments. That’ll make your
essay much more effective than if you only focused on your side of the argument.
#3: Use Evidence to Support Your Side
Remember, an essay can’t be an argumentative essay if it doesn’t support its
argument with evidence. For every point you make, make sure you have facts to back
it up. Some examples are previous studies done on the topic, surveys of large
groups of people, data points, etc. There should be lots of numbers in your
argumentative essay that support your side of the argument. This will make your
essay much stronger compared to only relying on your own opinions to support your
argument.
Summary: Argumentative Essay Sample
Argumentative essays are persuasive essays that use facts and evidence to support
their side of the argument. Most argumentative essays follow either the Toulmin
model or the Rogerian model. By reading good argumentative essay examples, you
can learn how to develop your essay and provide enough support to make readers
agree with your opinion. When writing your essay, remember to always make your
thesis clear, show where the other side is weak, and back up your opinion with data
and evidence.
What's Next?
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