If you’re getting into the world of critics or adjusting to your new school curriculum, you may come across various tasks demanded by teachers. Some of them require research with a deep insight into a topic that you have never heard of; others can be quite complex and require analysis of a vast range of materials along with a synthesis of new ideas, whereas the third ones can make no sense at first. No matter what kind of task you have, you still need to brace yourself and be ready for upcoming challenges that will enable you to improve your writing and researching skills.
Argumentative essay is a special case that requires carefulness not only since it’s a clear reflection of your understanding of a topic, but also because of its specific structure and necessary approaches.
Though the term argumentative essay seems to be a narrow notion, it includes a variety of methods and strategies that can be used in order to compose one.
The first kind of such a paper is a contrastive essay, which comprises facts and their negation or affirmation based on references to different sources. The purpose of this approach is to either oppose to a common belief or support it by providing sufficient arguments.
Also, you can decide to be completely supportive of opinion, and conduct research whose purpose is to find the most persuasive arguments that testify that such an opinion is authentic and trustworthy. If you decide to follow this structure, then you’ll end up having a supportive argumentative essay.
On the other hand, a topic can be quite controversial especially when your teacher wants you to demonstrate the most critical abilities. For this, you can approach argumentation from a neutral perspective and compose a pros and cons paper that will both support and argue the integrity of an opinion. In this case, you’ll have to conclude the work with a statement that balances the flaws and applicability of an opinion, while your position is still unknown to a reader.
Normally, an argumentative essay has a similar structure a simple article on the expression of one’s opinion. It consists of an introduction comprising general information about a topic, a thesis statement and an opening to a discussion. Then it has a body consisting of arguments for and against a topic and their supportive or opposing facts, which are mostly drawn from credible sources. The last section is a conclusion that is a summary of everything stated in the previous parts but a concise and framing manner and a reference to the thesis statement in the introduction.
Choosing an approach of writing an argumentative essay is an essential step towards composing one. If you wonder how such work should look like feel free to have a look at a sample essay right after this paragraph.
Essay Sample
Are video games a means of relaxation or a steep hill leading to an addiction?
The 21st century has gifted humanity with impeccable technological advances that have been intertwining with our life on a daily basis. The high-speed Internet and an opportunity to communicate in an instant are simplifying our routine and contribute to our social life. Alongside this, people can plunge into mysterious and undiscovered worlds of virtual reality, where they find a resort to make new friendships, become someone they have always dreamt of becoming and simply relax by playing video games. But is it true that video games are just an innocent way of embellishing one’s sullen reality or, maybe, it’s a sinister invention that deprives people of the sense of presence?
It’s believed that video games have come into our lives as a creation of IT technologies and the elaboration of sophisticated computer improvements. The advocates of the games’ harmlessness assure that engaging yourself in virtual reality has a therapeutic function since it reduces the level of stress and calms down the symptoms of anxiety. Moreover, the supporters state that people who play video games are likely to improve their ability to concentrate and disperse anger by practicing from 2 to 4-hour playing sessions a week.
In addition to this, video games are seen as a great way for people who suffer from social anxiety and other traits of socialization lacking. The communication and engagement in co-operation with individuals from all over the world, if it’s an online game, and merely observing the artificially represented human relationship patterns, as they say, can be an effective way to developing the sense of basic social interaction and, therefore, can be favorable in the end.
On the other hand, constant and repetitive abuse of playing video games is considered by psychologists a dangerous and disruptive activity. According to the statistics, every second household in the USA is, to some extent, engaged in playing video games. This is almost 72% of the state’s population, where every 4th inquired person demonstrates symptoms of the addiction. The rave of plunging into virtual reality is becoming more and more popular with the sophistication and modifications of the product. It’s established that people, especially children, who abuse playing video games suffer from sleep disorders, headaches, sensitivity and instability of the nervous system which causes aggression, irritability, apathy and, even, delusions.
All in all, the problem of extensive video game playing has been one of the most discussed topics among psychologists due to its influence on everyday life and adult’s and child’s psyche and their mental health. There are two main parties with opposing opinions about virtual reality and its role in the contemporary society. The first one consists of advocates who support an idea that playing video games has become a part of our lives due to its ability to reduce stress and help people who struggle with depression, anger issues, and social anxiety. The second group is non-supportive individuals who are convinced that constant engagement in virtual reality and spending time at a computer are the main causes of mental health-related problems.
The truth is that abuse of any kinds is likely to be causative to problems for one’s well-being. The best way to avoid trouble is not to completely eradicate a factor, but to learn how to cope with it and incorporate it with the most of benefit for society.
