Constructing effective arguments and persuasive techniques

¶ … art by itself." (Manson, 2003) There are various different things that any writer must take note of before writing any argument paper such as planning stage, finding a good topic, gathering evidence and so on. Here in this paper we will study some of the basics which are involved in all of this process.

The basics for writing an essay

First comes the planning stage, for any essay to be effective it must contain many different elements. Therefore planning in the start is utmost important. Secondly, it is necessary to find a good topic. In order to find a good topic for any argument essay the writer should take note of different issues which have at least two conflicting viewpoints or many different conclusions. It is also essential that the writer itself has a strong interest in the topic itself so that its overall task of writing is made easy for him.

Thirdly, the writer should consider both sides of its topic and then take position. Here it should make a proper list of points related to both sides of argument that it chooses. Of course in the end one side has to be chosen as the better over the other and this decision must be taken very wisely. Fourthly, the writer should gather evidence. Here, it must provide the evidence without giving out too much drama since it might complicate the viewpoint of the reader or may even take them to a different topic altogether. "It is better to explore two sides of the topic very briefly then give a proof that why the chosen side is more appropriate than the other one." (Curtler, 2004).

Fifthly, the writing stage. Once the writer has provided itself with a strong foundation to work along with then the writer should start to craft its work. It is very important for any writer to include three parts in its work, the introductory phase, the body and then the conclusion. The overall length of all these parts which includes the number of paragraphs as well as the word count may vary, this variation depends upon the total length of the essay assignment. Now, let's have a somewhat detailed look at how the contents of the essay should be managed.

The first paragraph should contain a brief note on the topic alongside some background information as well as a thesis statement. The thesis should be a statement of the writer's position on any particular topic. "The body of the essay is considered to be the meat of the argument." (Johnson, 2000) It is necessary here to go in much detail about both sides of the controversy here therefore the strongest points of counter-side must be issued. When writer is done describing the counter-side, then it should present its own viewpoints and after that show with evidence why its position with the side that it took is the correct one.