15 Thoughtful Ideas For College Counterargument Essay Topics
A counterargument essay requires you to consider a possible claim against your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning. If you’re given a statement to refute, you should select evidence to prove that your point of view is more solid. Usually, students complete two steps to finish such a paper. First, they turn against their arguments and challenge them. Second, it’s necessary to turn back and re-affirm them. To get started and come up with a topic idea, check out the suggestions below.
What to Write Your Counterargument Essay About: Good Prompts
- Cheating helps students pass science classes successfully.
- Standardized tests don’t measure students’ abilities well.
- Technologies make people more alone.
- Most apps rather waste people’s time than help them in everyday life.
- Learning games can replace a traditional classroom.
- People shouldn’t trust online reviews when looking for a perfect hotel.
- Graffiti should be considered art, along with posters and frescos.
- Girls face much pressure to have the perfect body than the boys do.
- Equal rights for men and women is a myth.
- Some youth sports are too intense.
- National security is far more important than personal privacy.
- Rich people should pay more taxes to support low-income families.
- Birth control pills should be available to teenage girls without a prescription.
- A traditional dating is a thing of the past.
- Scientists should be allowed to conduct any kind of research to beat old age so that people could live longer.
Where to Place Your Counterargument: Different Options
- As a part of your introduction.
- As a paragraph right after your introduction.
- As a quick statement within a body paragraph.
- As a paragraph before the conclusion.
You can put a counterargument before the thesis statement to demonstrate the existence of a different point of view toward the issue.
Sometimes, it makes sense to oppose your argument to prevent the expected reaction of the readers on your main point.
If you provide a counterargument to a particular aspect of your thesis, write a sentence or two in the middle of the paragraph where you discuss that point.
Some writers prefer to prove their position first and then discuss potential objections to what they have argued.
It’s important to mention that turning into opposing ideas here and there may weaken your thesis and, therefore, lower your grade. So, make sure not to overdo it and support your position to be sound.
Remember when you were a kid and each time you went to the store with your mom you asked her for a new toy? When she answered “no,” I’m sure you asked, “why not?”
Her reply: “Because I said so.”
This may have worked for your mom, but this obviously isn’t a good strategy for your upcoming argumentative essay.
So what makes a good argument? And what makes an argumentative essay good?
Keep reading for a breakdown of two argumentative essay examples to find out!
What Is an Argumentative Essay?
An argumentative essay attempts to convince readers. It’s that simple.
In order to write a good argumentative essay, you need four basic parts:
- An arguable topic. If you can’t take sides on a topic, it won’t work for an argumentative essay. You cannot argue whether you need a driver’s license in order to legally drive a car. It’s a fact. It’s not open to debate. You can, however, argue whether hands-free devices are distracting to drivers.
- A strong assertion or stance on a topic. Choose a topic you feel strongly about. If your friend is writing her argumentative essay about the dangers of acrylic nails and you don’t have an opinion one way or another about fake nails, it isn’t a good topic for you.
- Solid evidence to support your argument. An argumentative essay is not an opinion essay. You need solid evidence from credible sources to support your argument. Locate facts, statistics, and quotes that will support your claims and strengthen your argument.
- A counterargument.You need to acknowledge and refute the opposing viewpoint. This strategy shows readers that you’ve done your homework and that you realize there is another opinion. Presenting the other side of the argument actually makes your argument stronger and your writing more credible.
Two Argumentative Essay Examples With a Fighting Chance
Generation Bass (flickr.com)
It’s easy to say that all argumentative essays need a few key things. But it’s not always as easy to put them in your own paper or to identify them in an actual essay.
I’ve evaluated two essays below to help you identify the four key components.
Essay #1 An Argument Against the Proposition of a Later Start Time for High School
This essay is a good example of a basic argumentative essay.
It provides an arguable topic and a focused thesis statement, includes evidence to support claims, and shows a clear counterargument.
In the annotated argumentative essay example below, I’ve noted each of these sections to make it easy to spot effective writing. (You can click each page to enlarge.)
Topic, thesis statement, and counterargument:
Conclusion restates thesis statement:
Take note, though, that this argumentative essay example is missing a Works Cited. Because the essay cites sources and is cited in MLA format, it must include both in-text citations and a Works Cited.
Photographer, D. Sharon Pruitt (flickr.com)
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Essay #2 Organ Donors Should Be Financially Compensated
The second of the two argumentative essay examples, Organ Donors Should Be Financially Compensated is another example of a basic argumentative essay. It contains the key components of an argumentative essay: an arguable topic, a focused argument, evidence to support claims, and a counterargument.
I’ve added some comments to this essay too, to help you identify key sections of the paper and to highlight areas of importance.
Hook and thesis statement:
Evidence and more evidence:
Counterargument and refutation:
Final Words of Wisdom
With a better understanding of what makes an effective argument, you have more than a fighting chance of writing your own stellar argumentative essay.
What’s next? A topic—you cannot very well write an essay without a topic.
Here are 50 Argumentative Essay Topics That Will Put Up a Good Fight.
Most argumentative essays require research. If you need a little help finding sources or just getting started, take a look at How to Write a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Guide.
A Few (More) Final Words of Wisdom
The purpose of an argumentative essay is to convince the reader. Once you’ve finished your argumentative essay, read it over once or twice (and maybe even read it out loud).
Do you believe yourself? Do you find your arguments convincing?
If you think your arguments sound pretty good, but you’re just not sure that readers will be convinced, let a Kibin editor help!
Psst... 98% of Kibin users report better grades! Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays.