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Prompt: Crafting Social Argumentative Essays
1. Common Essay Types
2. Step-by-Step Approach
3. Essay Crafting Methods
Crafting Social Argumentative Essays
Social argumentative essays aim to assess the knowledge, life skills, and thoughts of learners on prominent societal issues. These essays often focus on socially relevant matters, offering educational value and shaping human development. By identifying and evaluating societal issues, learners gain accurate insights and essential life experiences.
I. Common Types of Social Argumentative Essays
There are 2 common types of social argumentative essays:
+ Arguing about a Social Phenomenon: This involves expressing viewpoints, opinions, and discussions on prominent social phenomena currently under societal scrutiny.
Example: The phenomenon of smoking, school violence, superstitions, etc.
+ Arguing about an Ethical Ideal: This entails presenting viewpoints, discussions, and evaluations on ethical, philosophical, and existential matters.
Example: Tolerance, solidarity, the will to live, etc.
II. Steps in Crafting Social Argumentative Essays
- Step 1: Determine the prompt requirements
Thoroughly read and understand the prompt to identify whether it requires arguing about an ethical ideal or a social phenomenon.
- Step 2: Outline your ideas
Purpose:
+ Record ideas for the article, prevent forgetting or omitting points.
+ Facilitate a scientific and coherent presentation with consistent content.
+ Take the initiative in developing the main points/arguments of the article, focusing on important arguments, avoiding unnecessary elaboration on less crucial content.
- Step 3: Writing the Essay:
Based on the main arguments outlined in the essay outline, you can develop a comprehensive essay. However, for the essay to be engaging and persuasive, pay attention to the following points:
+ Establish connections between arguments and ideas to highlight the subject matter requiring persuasion.
+ Introduce relevant evidence, ensuring practicality and objectivity.
+ Develop a concise and focused argument
+ Incorporate personal viewpoints and evaluations (agreement, disagreement, praise, criticism...)
+ Highlight lessons in perception and advocate for action.
III. Approach to Crafting Argumentative Essays for Specific Essay Types:
Example: Topic: Social essay on happiness.
- Direct opening: Everyone hopes for a happy and fulfilling life. However, not everyone fully understands the true meaning of happiness in their own lives.
- Indirect opening: Some people spend their entire youth, their entire lives searching for the answer to happiness, but in the end, when the pillow is worn out, the back is bent, looking back at the path they've taken, they don't feel they've gone in the right direction. There are also those who live simply, just living and enjoying life. They are not too selective or strict about the concept of happiness. When their hair turns gray, and their skin bears the marks of time, they smile with true contentment. This makes us always wonder what happiness is, how to achieve it, or whether we have been happy,... It is always an unsolvable problem, similar to when people ask about love. But perhaps happiness is simply the way we perceive issues and life - Happiness comes from the soul of each individual.
>> See detailed sample essay HERE.
b. Body of the essay:
- Clearly explain the content of the philosophical ideas:
+ Analyze the meaning of words, terms, uncovering their original and hidden meanings (if any).
+ Summarize the general significance of the philosophical ideas, or present the author's perspective and evaluation of those ideas.
- Analysis and proof:
+ Highlight the correctness of the philosophical ideas.
+ Provide evidence through specific analysis and examples.
+ Emphasize the significance of the philosophical ideas to human life.
- Commentary, expansion, real-world connections:
+ Identify and criticize the existing distortions in society.
+ Provide specific examples as evidence.
- Draw cognitive and actionable lessons.
c. Conclusion:
- Summarize the value of the discussed philosophical ideas.
2. Writing a Social Phenomenon Argumentative Essay:
a. Introduction:
Introduce the social phenomenon that needs argumentation.
b. Body of the essay:
- Briefly explain the phenomenon mentioned at the beginning of the essay.
- Explain the reasons leading to the discussed social phenomenon (subjective and objective reasons).
- Present the current situation of the phenomenon in daily life.
- Identify the impact and influence of that phenomenon on human life.
- Propose solutions to rectify (for negative phenomena) or develop (for positive phenomena) the situation.
- Extract cognitive lessons and actions for oneself.
In conclusion:
- Summarize the discussed issue.
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Reinforce additional methods for tackling essay types that students may not feel entirely confident about. In addition to the essay on social argumentation provided above, students can refer to: Writing a reflective essay on a literary work, Crafting an engaging expository essay, Analyzing poetry and achieving high scores in poem analysis. Also, consider writing a descriptive essay effectively.
