The Elements of Argument Essay Essay Example for Free

The Elements of Argument Essay Essay In an argument essay, a writer simply argues a point or shall we say defend a side to a controversial issue. He defends his points by stating evidences and with logical reasoning. Many essays are basically argument essays. Most of the time we write essays to give out our opinion on something so that we may also persuade other people to have the same opinions. There are two basic elements to an Argument: a thesis and statement of evidence. The thesis of an argument is what a writer defends. An example of a thesis may be: Smoking is very hazardous. The strength of your argument will depend greatly on the strength of your thesis statement. The next element of an argument would be evidence. No argument will be complete without evidence supporting it. Most of time, reasoning alone will not suffice to strengthen your argument because a counter argument may easily be made to invalidate your claim. This is why evidence is very crucial to your argument. There are quite a lot of sources to find evidence for your argument, to name a few, experiences, books, surveys, polls, published articles, etc. Without these two elements in your argument your work will not be very persuasive to other people and so your essay will be no good. So it is very essential to find a good thesis statement and gather enough evidence to back you up. Argument used in The Declaration of Independence It is clearly seen how Thomas Jefferson uses argument in The Declaration of Independence and that the elements of an argument essay can easily be found. In the second paragraph we can find the thesis of the argument which is that all men are created equal and are all with unalienable rights. The main argument is that the King of Britain is clearly using his power to deny people of their rights. On most parts of the declaration we can find the second element to argumentative essays, evidence. Thomas Jefferson states a number of cases where the King of Britain is in clear violation of human and civil rights. These undeniable facts are what makes this essay very strong. The thesis is very well supported. Here we can see how the elements of an argumentative essay effects how good the work will be. The better use of a thesis and evidence makes your point very clear thus making your work more persuasive which is the overall goal of an argument, persuading people to share your idea.