Rules to follow: how to write an argumentative thesis


The purpose of an argumentative thesis is to present your contradictory opinion towards a specific topic or concern. There are two very important elements in this thesis. Firstly the argument and secondly how you convince the reader. Your point of view will be presented through your argumentative thesis statement. Using just this statement not only are you able to communicate with the readers about what you think about the issue but also let them know what you plan on proving in your paper.

Your thesis statement should represent the central idea. Needless to say it should be very clear and specific. It should be written in a manner that it makes it easier for the writer to support it when writing the thesis. But since the thesis statement has a door open for an argument which requires convincing for the readers then, it needs to have some important characteristics of its own such as

  • It should be reasonable and logical. Your reader must want to know what you have to say. Your argument should not be what you would say out of your wit. It needs to be well established from all angles.
  • Bring in an element of controversy. This will be difficult for students who don’t have much experience in argumentative thesis writing. But do present a crucial controversial main argument. You need to have the urge to convince your readers that your point is valid.
  • What you say should be verifiable. That only reflects positively on your thesis statement and shows how effective it is. Support your argument with logical and valid evidence.
  • It must be an opinion. This is pretty much obvious but it is worth mentioning for those students who write fact based papers. They have an idea that giving an opinion on a paper would show bias and therefore it should be avoided. But by now it should be clear to all those who are reading this that all the effective arguments are actually based on these opinions themselves.
  • Your thesis should never be in a form of a question! It should always present your view point, not anyone else’s. Avoid using anyone’s saying or using different words to state someone’s point of view.

Bear in mind that your piece of persuasive writing should be debatable. It must be something that people can either agree to or disagree with. Keep the element of persuasion in mind.