Argumentative Essay Terms

What is an argument?

• A speaker's thoughts about a problem or issue.

• A claim supported by reasons and evidence.

• A declaration made to explain an action or belief.

What is a claim?

• A series of facts that support a position. It's embedded within a body paragraph.

• To prove something wrong or false.

• A speaker's opinion or position on a problem or an issue. It's the first sentence or two in a body paragraph.

Identify correct elements and order of an argumentative essay.

• Counterclaim, Thesis, Claim, Reasons, Rebuttal, Conclusion

• Claim, Counterclaim, Support, Rebuttal

• Thesis, Claims, Reasons, Evidence, Counterclaim, Rebuttal, Conclusion

What is the purpose of a conclusion in an argumentative essay?

• To convince the reader to agree with your position

• To convince the reader to argue your position

• To balance out both sides of the position

• To inform the reader about a topic

What is a thesis statement?

• A concluding sentence

• A detail of the sentence

• A summary of the main points of an essay, sometimes also called the central claim

• A question about something

What is a counterclaim?

• Support of my claim

• Opposite of my claim

• Concludes my claim

• My ending rebuttal

the specific pieces of information that support a claim; can be facts, quotations, examples, statistics, personal experiences, etc.

• evidence

• claim

• argumentative essay

• counterclaim

the opposite view or position of yours

• con

• pro

• rebuttal

• counterclaim

when you respond directly to your opponent's argument and show why they are wrong.

• evidence

• purpose

• reason

• rebuttal

referring to a source to give credit or proof

• cite

• refute

• claim

• evidence