Unlocked by Geeks! College Argumentative Essay Examples That Are Ready to Use

If we get involved in a discussion in everyday life, we often seek facts and details about a certain subject to prove our point. In writing, using previously published materials to support specific viewpoint forms an argumentative essay. The research involved in this genre of writing may seem challenging, but having argumentative essay examples will help you a lot!

This article contains the ultimate guide to writing an awesome argumentative essay, including:

• definition of an argumentative essay
• details on structure and format
• short argumentative essay examples
• 5 paragraph argumentative essay example
• psychology argumentative essay example.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

What is an argumentative essay?

Argumentative essay is a genre in writing that involves preliminary investigation and research, collecting and evaluating evidence, and stating writer’s own opinion on the problem. Therefore, there are three major features of an argumentative essay:

1. Clear viewpoint on the issue
2. Extensive research of the evidence collected from previously published works
3. Evaluation of evidence

These characteristics are essential for an essay to be argumentative.

Writing an argumentative essay requires you to not only collect and evaluate a lot of information but to form and defend your opinion on the problem you are writing about. Let us review the structure and format of an argumentative essay.

Argumentative essay structure and format

Since argumentative essays have specific elements, they are usually organized in a particular manner. By all means, almost any essay can be built by the introduction – body – conclusion format, but for an argumentative essay, it is critical to know what to include in these parts. Let us review all three parts and specific aspects that you should write about in each of them.

Argumentative essay introduction

The introduction is an appetizer of your argumentative essay. Your introduction will provide the readers with essential information about your subject and why it is worth writing about. Your introduction should include the following elements:

1. Hook – attention-grabbing sentence or two at the beginning of the essay that will instantly intrigue the readers. Make sure that your hook is relevant to the topic rather than any attention grabber that you find engaging.
2. Thesis statement in an argumentative essay should be constructed in a specific way. In particular, the argumentative essay thesis statement should include a claim and evidence that supports this claim. The thesis statement is a quintessence of your argumentative essay and is useful for letting your readers know what they are going to read about further.
3. Presentation of the topic and why it is important. In an argumentative essay, your task is to research a topical and urgent issue or topic. In the introduction of an essay, you need to let your readers know why they should care about this topic and why you personally care about it in the first place.

Argumentative essay body paragraph

Body paragraph is the main course of your essay – the part for which the readers came from, to begin with. While writing body paragraph, make sure that it is logically connected to the introduction. Body paragraph of an argumentative essay provides evidential support for the thesis presented in the introduction, meaning that it is critical to keep referring to the main idea of the essay throughout the body. A general guideline for writing a body paragraph is as follows:

1. Dedicate one paragraph to each aspect of the issue you write about. This will help you structure your essay in a clear and concise manner and make it easy to follow for your readers.
2. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to make all key points easy to find and summarize. This is essential to let the readers quickly grasp what the essay is about and let you summarize the essay while writing a conclusion.
3. Explain different viewpoints of the issue. Argumentative essays are usually focused on topics that do not have a generally accepted solution, which means that anyone familiar with a problem is likely to have a different point of view on it. It is essential to acknowledge different points of view and present evidence that support your own stance on the issue.
4. Cite every source you use – it is important to acknowledge all sources and maintain fair use.

Argumentative essay conclusion

This is the dessert of the meal – it has to be well-done because it creates the overall impression of the essay. There are certain specific features that a conclusion for your argumentative essay needs to include:

1. Restate your thesis statement. Don’t just rewrite it as in introduction, but restate it according to your findings.
2. Summarize major evidence covered in the body paragraph with regard to your thesis statement.
3. Avoid lengthy conclusions that repeat the information covered in the body paragraph.

Argumentative essay do’s and don’ts

Do’s

• Do extensive research with regard to the topic
• List evidence and specific sources that support your thesis statement
• Research different stances on the subject before forming your own opinion on it
• Write your introduction last – this will help you adjust the introduction to the body paragraph and conclusion
• Pick credible sources – peer-reviewed journal articles, government websites, websites of international organizations

Don’ts

• Discuss one aspect of the issue in several paragraphs of the body
• Start body paragraphs with vague statements that are not topic sentences
• Focus solely on supporting your own viewpoint of the issue
• Skip thesis statement
• Avoid detailed explanation of the issue

These tips will help you write your argumentative essay in an organized and logical manner. Let us proceed to three examples of argumentative essays that will demonstrate all these tips and recommendations in practice.

Short argumentative essay example

The green car myth?

For a brief moment in modern history, hybrid and green cars had been considered as a panacea for the global problem of air pollution. At the moment, research suggests that hybrid and green cars can solve the issue of greenhouse gas while creating a range of other environmental issues.

Hybrid and green cars use batteries, which will potentially increase battery waste. In essence, batteries are the key problem caused by electric vehicles because half-tonne lithium-ion batteries require utilization process and equipment. At the moment, lithium-ion batteries are used in many devices, especially smartphones and tablets, however, they are small compared to batteries used in electric cars. In the EU, only 5% of such batteries are being recycled. This fact implies that absence of recycling industry for such batteries will cause a serious environmental issue.

Another issue is the cost of recycling lithium-ion batteries, which is currently too high for automakers. The cost of fully recycling a battery reaches 1 EUR per kilo, while the value of raw materials that can be reclaimed is only a third of that amount. In other words, recycling batteries are currently too expensive.

Finally, the recycling process can be harmful to humans. Components of such batteries are toxic for humans unless specific recycling strategies are applied. In this case, Nissan suggests reusing of batteries as energy sources for home instead of recycling to avoid the costly and dangerous process.

Overall, green cars represent serious environmental risks due to their key energy source, lithium-ion batteries. We rely on technologies to solve our problem of environmental pollution, however hybrid and green vehicles currently lack the potential to solve it.

5 paragraph argumentative essay example

Greenwashing vs customer choice: losing the battle

Greenwashing is one of the deadly sins of marketing. As soon as the global society started realizing the severity of environmental issues in the 1970s, corporations came up with the strategy to use eco-friendliness as a selling point. Buying “green” and “eco-friendly” products make customers feel good about their choices and about brands that sell such goods. However, the line between innocent marketing and deceit is paper-thin, while corporations cross it to influence customer decisions, making greenwashing everyone’s problem.

Firstly, greenwashing is manipulation of customer choice. Products that are labeled “green” or “eco-friendly” are usually preferred over goods that are not labeled this way. Greenwashing makes customers think that companies do more to protect the environment than it actually is, which is caused by the broadness of the concept of “eco-friendly” and “green”. Companies usually do not reveal details on how exactly they protect the environment.

Secondly, greenwashing can result in unfair competition in the market environment because “green” claims of some brands translate into competitive advantages. Labels on the packaging that somehow imply environmental sustainability of a brand set new standards for the market, independently on whether they are true or not. In other words, greenwashing provides competitive advantages.

Finally, greenwashing is a new norm that is difficult to eliminate or control. One of the sins of greenwashing is vagueness, meaning that statements can be understood in various ways. This is the reason why greenwashing is difficult to control and there is little chance that this practice will reduce any time soon. On the contrary, skepticism and awareness are much more effective tools that can help customers make correct choices.

Overall, greenwashing is a serious issue in modern marketing because it manipulates the customer decision-making process and negatively influences fair competitive rivalry in the market. This practice is widespread and difficult to control, meaning that customers have to rely on their own knowledge to avoid being deceived.

Psychology argumentative essay example

Do sweet foods truly help people improve mood?

Specific nutrients influence our mood and well-being. Certain foods are known to have specific health benefits that involve the effects of nutrients on different body systems. The stereotypical image of the positive impact of sweet foods on mood is widely promoted in the media, however, there is a much deeper cause and effect connection between the consumption of sweet foods and improved mood.

The intake of such macronutrient as carbohydrates is generally associated with improved mood. A study has shown that intake of both macronutrients and micronutrients influence mood. The connection between carbohydrate intake and improved mood can be explained by the hormonal imbalance and an attempt of self-medication. To be exact, carbohydrate intake stimulates synthesis of serotonin, which alleviates depression and improves mood. In other words, carbohydrate intake is caused by a craving. Another study suggests that depressive mood results in cravings for sweet foods in both animals and humans. In addition, depression scores are generally associated with greater chocolate intake, while chocolate is one of the most common sweet foods that people tend to crave due to bad mood or depression.

The craving for sweet foods can also be attributed to the lack of micronutrients that we require. In particular, deficiency of iron and thiamine can also result in poorer moods and subsequent cravings for sweet foods, especially chocolate. In addition, a study suggests that the reduced intake of sweet foods can contribute to a higher level of anger. It has also been found that chocolate and depression go hand in hand, while it is unclear whether chocolate actually increases the risk of depression or contributes to improved mood. A study suggests that the positive effect of chocolate is short-term, while excessive consumption of this product can result in long-term negative health effects.

Overall, sweet foods can indeed help improve mood, however only in short term. Certain foods, such as chocolate, are found to have a positive impact on mood due to fulfilling the need in macro- and micronutrients. Consequently, poorer moods are found to stimulate eating comfort foods, including sweet foods.