For the English test I’m taking, we have to write 250-300 word essays expressing opinions. The prompts usually deal with social matters such as:
“Should children be allowed to work?”,
“Does money make people happy?”,
“Some people think cigarettes should be banned, others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.”
Is there any resources on how to develop and present ideas on these types of discursive writing? Some model, well-written pieces would be great. I want to make my essays as succinct and persuasive as possible.
averageredditcuck: Thesis, point, evidence, counterpoint, debunk counterpoint, repeat steps 2-5 till satisfied, closing
KittyCatherine11: Not sure how others feel about the thesis statement, but to me the thesis is the most essential sentence in the whole paper. For argumentative, I use this structure:
While some believe (opposite/opposing opinion), I argue (my opinion) because (idea(s)here).
Depending on your age and length of paper, you can set this up to be any amount of paragraphs. It allows you to write a concession paragraph if you want.
250 isn’t a lot of words, so having a solid thesis to guide you will be helpful I think!
Provokyo: In the American parliamentary debate system, the first speech is the most structured and, because the topic can be chosen by the team giving that speech, typically well-prepared and written in advance. Thus, the tips and tricks in presenting the first speech (known as the Prime Minister’s speech) work for presenting an argumentative essay. My school described the strategy and oratory style they used as ‘guerilla warfare’: quick intro, hit them with three points, quick conclusion.
You’ll be tempted to start with the intro. Do not do this. You cannot properly write the intro until you have figured out what you’re going to say in the body. So, start by answering the question yourself, and planning out the three points you’re going to use. Let’s take this question:
> Should children be allowed to work?
So, first, you’ll want to answer Yes or No, and find three points to support your argument. Typically, contrarian perspectives are more fun to argue, so we’ll go Yes for this example. You’ll want three ‘angles’ of support, saying that child labor is better in three ways that have little overlap. You can use the traditional essay-writing angles (GRIPE: Geography, Religion, Industry, Political, Economy), slightly saucier ones (SPERM: Social, Political, Economic, Religious, Military) or make up your own. For this example, we’ll say that child labor is better for children, better for families, better for society.
Write out the body of the essay. You’re in luck with these assignments. At 250-300 words, you won’t have a lot of time to include fluff. You can avoid sentence lengtheners like “It is my opinion that…” or “Those who disagree might say…” and just get to the point. A 250-300 word argumentative essay is like telling your skeptical friend why he’s wrong about the quality of Stranger Things. Your friend is skeptical, so waste no time. But you’re passionate about it, so bring your A game.
For the first point, we want to say it’s better for the children. Here, we can talk about personal development.
> First, it’s better for children. Children learning the value of a hard-earned dollar is a good thing, and learning it at a young age is even better. We all know people who grew up and only learned how to balance a checkbook, save for the future, or work a full 8 hours late in life. We often wonder how they survived this long. Child labor can help transition kids into adults, instead of having 22-year olds who are really just old kids.
Done.
For the second point, we want to say it’s better for families. Here, we’ll talk about surviving and thriving.
> Second, it’s better for families. Think about the families with six kids where only the father is earning income. Allowing that family to earn income through their kids can help supplement and support struggling families.
Done.
For the third point, we want to say it’s better for society. Here, we’ll talk about more broad benefits to child labor.
> Third, it’s better for society. Consider all the labor jobs that could be filled but aren’t because native-born citizens are overqualified for them. Consider the graduates going into the workforce with little to no work experience. Consider the costs that could be saved from the lower wages paid to child laborers, and those cost savings passed down to consumers. Consider all the factories that will not be moving to China, so that their children and their society can take advantage of these benefits. Child labor solves all these problems, and delivers their benefits to us.
Personal development is an easier sell as a talking point. That’s why it’s the first point. The third point will be our weakest one. So we’ll tack on any weak points in here as a way to say “Look, focus on what we really think is important, which is in point 1”.
Great! Now you’ve figured out the meat of what you want to say, you can get to the intro and the conclusion. For the intro, you want to be quick and get to the point. Something like this would be enough:
> Children *should* be allowed to work. It’s better for children, it’s better for families and it’s better for society.
That’s it.
I mentioned debate earlier in this post. In formal debate, there is often a solution attached to the viewpoint, or at least some kind of nuance to argue. If you wanted to dig just a level deeper, you could. You might, for example, add some kind of semantic distinction:
> Children *should* be allowed to work. It’s better for children, it’s better for families and it’s better for society. However, we are not talking about having infants mix cement. Let’s talk more accurately about *juvenile labor*, and how *lowering the minimum age for work* will be better for everyone.
In your conclusion, you might include a counter-point that you would dismiss. For us, that counter-point would be the obvious: that child labor is exploitative. Cook up a quick rebuttal. Finish strong with a clincher.
> It is true that, historically, child labor has been exploitative and dangerous. However, we will not be employing these children in the same context as the kids of the Industrial Revolution. Children today will benefit from the network of legal protections and regulations that modern workers benefit from. Child labor is an advantage we simply aren’t taking, but should be.
The full text, then, will look something like this:
> Children should be allowed to work. It’s better for children, it’s better for families and it’s better for society.
> First, it’s better for children. Children learning the value of a hard-earned dollar is a good thing, and learning it at a young age is even better. We all know people who grew up and only learned how to balance a checkbook, save for the future, or work a full 8 hours late in life. We often wonder how they survived this long. Child labor can help transition kids into adults, instead of having 22-year olds who are really just old kids.
> Second, it’s better for families. Think about the families with six kids where only the father is earning income. Allowing that family to earn income through their kids can help supplement and support struggling families.
> Third, it’s better for society. Consider all the labor jobs that could be filled but aren’t because native-born citizens are overqualified for them. Consider the graduates going into the workforce with little to no work experience. Consider the costs that could be saved from the lower wages paid to child laborers, and those cost savings passed down to consumers. Consider all the factories that will not be moving to China, so that their children and their society can take advantage of these benefits. Child labor solves all these problems, and delivers their benefits to us.
> It is true that, historically, child labor has been exploitative and dangerous. However, we will not be employing these children in the same context as the kids of the Industrial Revolution. Children today will benefit from the network of legal protections and regulations that modern workers benefit from. Child labor is an advantage we simply aren’t taking, but should be.
That’s 291 words. If I’ve done your homework for you, you’re welcome. If you want to use these same tips and tricks so you can do this for yourself in the future, remember this:
The word limit isn’t there because your professor wants you to give him bullshit. So try to avoid using any font tricks to meet page limits, or word tricks to meet word limits (like turning all your big one word verbs into two-word phrasal verbs).
People often don’t trust how persuasive they naturally are. Often all it takes is for someone to ask you “What do you think?” and “Why do you think so?” Just answer those questions, take those answers down, and organize them.
The best teacher is practice. This kind of assignment doesn’t take too long to do and you get better at writing by writing. Give it a few attempts.
Allthingsconsidered-: You and me both!! Please pm me if you come across any good resources. Im desperate right now and I need to improve .
chaosofstarlesssleep: Search r/askphilosophy, and if you’re not satisfied with the answers, post the question there.