An argumentative topic on the amount of control that young people should be afforded when selecting the disciplines to pursue at institutions of higher learning.
Straight from high school and with no prior experience in making good life-impacting decisions, it is a common belief that young people need to be guided on the important decision pertaining to the disciplines that they pursue at the university or college. As an argumentative topic, one side supports the fact that young people are likely to make wrong decisions that may negatively impact their future while, on the other side, it is unanimously agreed that letting these individuals make their own decisions and mistakes is more likely to produce better results because blame will not be shifted in case the students fail to succeed in their respective disciplines. In some circumstances, students that have failed to complete a given discipline have always blamed it on their parents indicating that they practically forced them to pursue a discipline that they were not interested in studying for four years. This may have some truth behind it, but are there circumstances where students are fully told what disciplines to pursue? In this article, which we did in collaboration with Peachy Essay, we explore the best technique to use when writing an argumentative essay on the topic, ‘Do young people have the right to choose what disciplines to pursue?’
It is quite obvious that argumentative writing may be one of the most common writing genres that students face at the university level. Despite its importance, this category of writing has been identified to pose various challenges to students because it needs you to possess sophisticated cognitive and linguistic abilities that allow you to argue your points clearly. Most students are also exposed to challenges simply because they lack the experience and knowledge to write great argumentative essays based on a particular topic. These types of essays need you to come up with a strong thesis statement for your paper and defend it using detailed research. You are also expected to explore the two sides of the coin when it comes to a particular argument which most students consider as time intensive and discouraging. These difficulties, combined with other factors, create significant obstacles for students, especially those who wish to create exceptional argumentative papers. Argumentative essay paper writing is not for the faint-hearted, and you need to take a reasonable approach to succeed in this type of write up. Here are some of the best tips on how to write a good essay on the topic mentioned in this article.
Table of Contents
Create a good introduction that hooks the reader
First and foremost, when you are writing about a sensitive issue that impacts many individuals, it is important to introduce the issue and letting your reader understand exactly what you are trying to argue. This is more like presenting the issue at hand, giving a good background, and putting forth your main argument. Discuss the issue of education among the young people and the dilemma that they face transitioning from high school education to university level education where they are expected to select their disciplines. Let your audience know how students behave after their high school and why it is seen as the role of their guardians to help them select their disciplines. Explore the topic from the student’s point of view and introduce your main arguments all in a logical intellectual and persuasive way.
Always make sure that you get the attention of your readers in the early stages of the introduction. Use quotes, a story, or an interesting question at the start of your introduction to pique the reader’s interest. For example, you can start with the question, ‘Does deny young people the chance to pick their disciplines to interfere with their ability to become the scholars of tomorrow?’ Right from the very start, your reader will keep wondering how these two factors are related and will hence force him/her to continue reading. People are always curious when a good hook is used at the introduction part of the paper, and it is one great way of making sure that the reader remains focussed on uncovering the mystery behind selecting disciplines and becoming a future scholar. One of the most common mistakes that you are likely to make as you create an essay on this topic is to create an introduction that describes arguments or provides an analysis. These belong to the body paragraph, and the main purpose of that section is only to introduce and set up your main points without any supporting evidence. When you do this, it makes it harder to develop a good conclusion, and you should, therefore, avoid it at all costs. Since your introduction is the most important part of the essay and the driver of what to include in your body, you should always ensure that you do it well.
Offer your readers proper background information
When you are writing an argumentative essay, it is best to assume that your readers are not familiar with the topic that you are discussing. Please provide them with good background information and help them understand the issue of young people and their ability to choose what disciplines to pursue. Explain what you know about the topic and use existing research to try and explain some of the key components of this problem and why you found it suitable to investigate the matter. Ensure that all the background information that you present is related to this topic and avoid including irrelevant details that add no knowledge of the issue at hand.
At this point, it will be relevant to only present context and history that will be crucial to explaining and arguing the point of whether young people have the right to choose their own disciplines. This can include a brief history of the issue and some of the major reasons why it has become a topic of discussion. You can also look at the various ways that young people have been denied this opportunity in the past and some of the consequences that it has had on their ability to pursue their dreams. You can also look at some of the ways that giving them this opportunity can help them to better study among other factors.
Show your position by including a strong thesis statement
After all, is said and written on your topic background, it is time to make your readers know what you want to argue in your paper. When you are writing an argumentative essay on such an important topic, it is important to know that your thesis statement will act as the essence of your entire paper. In a single, clear, and concise statement, this hypothesis will sum up the main point that you are trying to make. This is the only way that you will be able to assert your position on a given issue. For example, in the matter of whether young people have the right to choose what discipline to pursue, you can argue whether or not they do. For example, you can say that ‘In this essay, we explore the major reasons why young people should be allowed to choose what discipline to pursue.’
When you take the position, the readers will understand that you are trying to advocate why they should be allowed to choose their own disciplines. Not only does this act as your roadmap when you are writing your essay, but it also acts as a guide for the reader to understand exactly what you are going to discuss. Straight after reading such a hypothesis, your readers will expect you to present solid arguments about why young people should be allowed to choose the disciplines to pursue. The readers will also expect you to present arguments on why other people should not be allowed to choose for them and the major consequences of not following your guidelines. The thesis statement cannot be a fact and should always be one that a reader can potentially argue against. Once you have this statement, the remaining part of your essay should contain discussions and evidence that support your hypothesis and defends your position.
Ensure to present great sources that help to argue out your main points
Apart from using a strong and clever language to convince your audience, there are other important aspects that make up a great argumentative essay. Although your opinion is important, your readers will want to see a well-researched paper that is based on facts and solid evidence. It is thus important to make sure that you conduct detailed research on your topic and show this to your readers through using proper citations and references. Try as much as possible to gather some good statistics and figures that support your position. For example, find a graph that shows the high levels of student dropouts when young people are not allowed to select the disciplines that they want to pursue. Investigate and map out the number of individuals who are not satisfied with their current career paths simply because they were forced to pursue a discipline that they were not passionate about.
Not only does strong evidence offer you with the rare ability to formulate strong arguments. It also acts to convince your audience that you are arguing from an informed point of view which makes it more difficult for them to refute your claims. It is also important to consider the way that you arrange your main points to ensure that you do not confuse your readers or contradict yourself in the process of arguing out your main point. Ensure that you read your work thoroughly to ensure that all the arguments that you present in this part of your paper are in line with your thesis statement; otherwise, your whole essay will lose meaning.
Develop a strong conclusion that ties your entire paper to the main argument
In this part of your paper, you have two options. You can either discuss the main findings or main points that you discussed in your paper and the various ways that they are tied to the issue of letting young people chose the disciplines to pursue, or you can simply reiterate your introduction. The conclusive paragraph of the argumentative essay is very important since it offers you the chance to sign off with a bang. It is the last chance that you have to convince your audience that all your arguments are factual and that your position is the best in a given matter.
Ensure that you take time to write a clear and concise conclusion that leaves an after taste in the mind of the reader. Use your strong writing skill to force your reader to continue thinking about the topic and ponder over the issue. Doing this can be challenging, but if you argued out your main points properly in the body paragraphs, it should not be impossible to achieve.