Choosing Catchy Argumentative Essay Topics For Middle School Students
Argumentative essays are just one of the many kinds of papers that you’ll have to learn to write during your school career. The first thing you need to know about writing a good one, is what they are. Argumentative papers do exactly what they sound like—they argue a certain position or point of view, and try to persuade the reader of it. The first step in writing an excellent argumentative paper is to choose a catchy topic.
Follow this easy advice for choosing a good argumentative essay topic for middle school students:
- Pick a topic that has two sides
- Don’t try to take on too much
- Think about what is compelling to people
- Choose a topic that people care about
- Don’t be afraid to choose a position you don’t agree with
Though it isn’t a hard and fast rule for argumentative papers, a good approach for picking a good topic is to choose one with two sides. In real life, many issues have more than two sides. But by simplifying it, and sticking to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ issues, you’ll make writing the paper much easier. For instance, if you want to convince someone about whether it is wrong to eat meat, there are basically two possible stances: yes it is wrong, or no it is not wrong.
As with any essay, you want to make sure that you aren’t taking on too much with your topic and your argument. If your teacher has assigned a 3 page essay, think about how much you can fit in those points, and stick to it. This is more important in deciding on your argument for the paper, than it necessarily is for the topic. But if you only have a few pages to write, stay away from very complicated issues that will take a lot of explaining.
The whole point of an argumentative paper is to convince people of something, or to get them to see it differently. To do so, you’ll need to think ‘what about the topic is compelling to people?’ Is there an emotional side about it? Is there a side that excites people? Try to use those aspects to better engage your readers.
While it is possible to form an argument about practically anything, no one really wants to read a paper about why watermelon is your favorite flavor lip balm. Instead, choose a topic that people care about.
Some of the best essays argue the exact opposite of what the author actually believes.