Argue

Whatiswritingtoargue?

Writing to argue is when you try to convince someone to do something. You could be trying to promote your own point of view. You can use many of the language features for writing to persuade. The difference between persuading and arguing is that you provide the opposing argument and suggest why it is incorrect.

Languagetechniques

Use some of these phrases to help you organise your ideas and write a convincing argument:

1) To introduce your ideas/arguments. You need clear arguments for your point of view. Remember to plan these prior to writing. Use the following phrases to help you:

I believe…..

I firmly believe….

In my opinion…..

I strongly believe….

I feel…..

Everyone must agree that……

2) To reinforce/ add to your ideas. It is important to expand and develop your ideas. Remember to use the following phrases:

In addition I think…….

Furthermore……

Moreover you could argue that..

A further point is that……..

Current research shows….

Statistics prove………..

3) Connectives to help organise points logically. Structuring your ideas clearly is really important. These phrases might help:

Firstly…..

Secondly……

Finally…….

To conclude…….

4) To introduce opponents’ views. In writing to argue, you should aim to provide the counter argument. This recognises the other viewpoint. These phrases help:

However, others may argue that..

Some people believe that…….

It could be argued that……..

On the other hand,…….

In contrast, some people think……

5) To counteract opponents’ views. Once you have mentioned the counter argument, you must state why you believe it is incorrect. These words might help:

However, I would argue that…..

It has been proved that…….

I still think that……..

It is still my view that……

In spite of….. I still feel…..

6) To end your argument. This suggests that you have looked at both sides of the argument. These phrases might help:

Taking everything into account

I firmly believe that………

To conclude, I definitely believe

My overall view remains that……

Exampletext

Look at the following text. Can you find any examples of language devices within the paragraph?

“Other people might believe that recycling is a waste of time and energy. This disgusting and disgraceful viewpoint is selfish and unattractive. Yes, it might take time out of your busy life but what better use of time is there than donating time to save the planet? It is the time of our children’s future that we are saving.”

Createyourownwritingand Assess

Use the example questions to create your own responses:

1. Write a letter arguing that your local government should invest more money into caring for your local community.
2. Write a speech arguing that your headteacher should ban uniform.
3. Write an email arguing that your local community should complete more activities together.

Remember that you must use persuasive devices. Furthermore, you must use the correct text layout.

What is the difference between writing to argue and writing to persuade?

What is the counter argument?

What is a rhetorical question?