Argumentative Text

​Reader Tips Authors write argumentative texts for specific purposes. Usually, authors want to share opinions or ideas about certain issues or topics. Sometimes, authors want to persuade readers to think or feel certain ways about the issues or topics. Authors also write argumentative texts for specific audiences. Audiences are the people authors want to educate or to persuade about the topics or issues. Argumentative texts have several important features.  

​The claim is the main argument or point the author expresses in the text. Often, the claim is an idea the author tries to persuade the audience to agree with. The claim is usually directly stated in the text. For example, an essay about recycling might include the claim that all schools should have recycling programs.

​Facts and relevant details are needed to support the claim. Facts and relevant details help the reader know the author's claim about the argument can be trusted. In the recycling essay, the author might include facts and details about how plastic litter pollutes playgrounds to support the claim that schools should have recycling programs.

​Techniques such as anecdote capture the reader's attention and help the reader connect to the issue or topic. An anecdote is an experience related to the topic or issue that has a personal connection to the author. In the recycling essay, the author might share an anecdote about a time when he or she was running on the school playground and tripped over a discarded plastic bottle.

​Using a graphic organizer might help you understand an author's argument when you read texts.